It is not an infrequent occurrence while reading discussions to see someone responding to someone else’s argumentation by dismissing it as an argument from silence. And of course, there are arguments from silence that are inadequate. If, for instance, I read some fragmentary remains of an early church father and find therein no discussion of the Holy Spirit, it is an inadequate argument from silence to conclude that the man was a heretic.
However, I do think there is a place for arguments from silence. There may be a form of argument from silence in Hebrews 7:14, for instance. And I think it would be possible to lay down a general principle that would serve to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate arguments from silence. When a situation arises where a certain paradigm, if it exists, would function and it does not, there is a strong suggestion that said paradigm does not, in fact, exist. A small illustration from the physical world. A battery backup is supposed to come on if the electricity should cut out enabling one to save important work before calmly shutting off one’s computer. Now, if the electricity cuts out, and the computer dies, it is an indication that there is no battery backup (or that it malfunctioned, but let us think of an ideal world where they always work). And I believe we can test this statement on a case from Scripture, where what is in one case an argument from silence is explicitly set out elsewhere. Galatians 2:3, ESV, reads: But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Had the paradigm of the absolute necessity of circumcision been in existence, been functioning, it is unthinkable that Titus would have been left uncircumcised. So the permission for the continuance of the non-circumcision of Titus is evidence that the other apostles did not regard circumcision as being absolutely vital. And confirmation of that is found, of course, in Acts 11 & 15.
Thus the test case seems to corroborate the principle, and I feel justified in concluding that not all arguments from silence are evil. They must be properly contextualized, naturally; but they still have their legitimate place.