Argument From Silence
An argument from silence is when someone makes a conclusion based on what is not mentioned in a text, rather than on what is explicitly stated. It assumes that if something is not mentioned, it didn’t happen, wasn’t known, or wasn’t important-but this isn’t always a reliable assumption.
Just because Jesus didn’t explicitly command His disciples to write down His teachings doesn’t mean he didn’t care about written records.
This conclusion would be based on silence-the absence of a command in the text-and doesn’t account for other possible reasons why such a command isn’t mentioned, like the oral tradition being the dominant form of teaching at the time.
The danger of arguments from silence is that they rely on what’s missing, which can lead to speculative or weak conclusions.