What's So Great About Christianity

Dinesh D'Souza's "What's So Great About Christianity" presents a comprehensive defense of Christian theism aimed at contemporary secular audiences, particularly responding to the New Atheist movement of the mid-2000s. Writing as a public intellectual rather than an academic philosopher, D'Souza synthesizes arguments from multiple disciplines to construct what amounts to a cumulative case for Christianity's intellectual credibility and cultural superiority.

The work systematically engages with atheistic criticisms popularized by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. D'Souza's method combines historical analysis, scientific argumentation, and philosophical reasoning to counter what he perceives as misrepresentations of Christianity's intellectual heritage and contemporary relevance. His approach differs from traditional academic apologetics by focusing extensively on Christianity's positive contributions to Western civilization, including the development of science, human rights, and democratic institutions.

Philosophically, D'Souza employs variations of classical theistic arguments while updating them with contemporary scientific findings. His presentation of the cosmological argument draws on Big Bang cosmology to argue for a transcendent cause of the universe, directly challenging naturalistic explanations. The design argument receives particular emphasis through discussions of cosmic fine-tuning and biological complexity, where D'Souza contests evolutionary materialism's explanatory sufficiency. These arguments function within a broader cumulative case strategy that seeks to demonstrate Christianity's superior explanatory power across multiple domains of human experience and knowledge.

The work's significance lies not in philosophical innovation but in its synthesis and popularization of theistic arguments for educated lay audiences. D'Souza positions Christianity as intellectually robust rather than faith-based wishful thinking, directly confronting the New Atheist narrative of religion's irrationality. His integration of historical, scientific, and moral arguments represents a holistic apologetic approach that moves beyond purely philosophical discourse.

Critics within academic philosophy often find D'Souza's arguments insufficiently rigorous and his historical claims tendentious. However, the work's influence extends beyond academic circles, shaping popular discourse about religion's compatibility with reason and science. By presenting Christianity as both intellectually defensible and culturally beneficial, D'Souza contributes to broader debates about secularization, religious epistemology, and the relationship between faith and public life. The text exemplifies how contemporary Christian apologetics adapts traditional arguments to address specific cultural moments and intellectual challenges.