Disillusioned JW, one of the reasons I began ‘doubting’ atheism is because I realised just how bad some of the atheist arguments being promoted at the time were. See this video by Joe Schmidt, himself an agnostic, detailing weakness of arguments by Dawkins, Harris, Dennett and others:
https://youtu.be/1w6MRwyEsjQ
To me the argument that makes the best case in favour of God is Plantinga’s argument against naturalism. Basically he argues that if naturalism is true then we are the product of a natural process that favours survival over truth. If that is so, then we have no basis for trusting our senses and our mind to reflect reality truthfully. If that is so then we have no basis for trusting that our view of naturalism is correct because it was derived from our perception and our mind. Therefore naturalism is internally incoherent.
The way out of this paradox is to assume that we are not the result of a natural process that has no regard for truth, but that we are the intentional result of God’s decision to create humans as creatures with an ability to perceive the world around us.
I also find the work of Donald Hoffman very interesting in confirming the idea that naturalism does not produce accurate perceptions in conscious beings. But instead of throwing out our understanding of reality, I think it’s simpler to throw out the idea that we are entirely the result of natural processes. The Bible says we are unique because we are made ‘in the image of God’. Science is now catching up with what that uniqueness entails. I find the work of Simon Conway Morris interesting in showing that evolution may have a direction and purpose baked into the process itself which best explained by God’s intention for the universe to be home to intelligent creatures who can perceive it and self reflect.
It also seems to me that the belief that the universe and intelligent life arose from nothing and for no reason is a pretty big ask. As I currently understand things, a simpler and more satisfactory understanding of our existence and our ability to perceive the universe is the proposition that we are the intentional result of a mind that is outside of time and space.