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May 4, 2007

Next week: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson

Put two contrarians together and shake well.

Ted Olsen

Newsweek had Rick Warren vs. Sam Harris.

Beliefnet had Harris vs. Andrew Sullivan.

Next week, ABC’s Nightline has Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort vs. the BlasphemyChallenge.com guys.

No. Really. Nightline has tapped Kirk Cameron to be fidei defensor.

I suppose we could have asked Cameron, too. Or maybe Lisa Whelchel, Mr. T, Willie Aames, Justine Bateman, or Gavin McLeod.

Instead, we’d rather hear from Douglas Wilson, author of the new book, Letter from a Christian Citizen (American Vision). Wilson is senior fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College and minister at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. He is also the editor of Credenda/Agenda magazine and has written (among other things) Reforming Marriage and A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking. His Blog and Mablog site inevitably makes for provocative reading.

Wilson will be corresponding with Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Twelve Books). Hitchens is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a visiting professor of liberal studies at the New School. He is the author of numerous books, including Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man," Letters To a Young Contrarian, and Why Orwell Matters. He was named, to his own amusement, number five on a list of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect.

You'll enjoy the discussion regardless of whether you're already familiar with Wilson and Hitchens. But if you are familiar with their work, you'll know that it promises to be anything but boring.

posted by Ted Olsen | Comments (7)

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Comments

So where is this going to be happening. I'd like to watch/read/hear it.

Posted By: Cyboman | May 4, 2007 5:38 PM

Wow, I can't wait for this!

Posted By: Austin Storm | May 7, 2007 10:52 AM

The first installment (Hitchens, then Wilson) will begin tomorrow as an article on our main page, not here in CT Liveblog.

Posted By: Susan Wunderink | May 7, 2007 3:22 PM

Can't wait for this to start!

Posted By: John | May 7, 2007 5:36 PM

Although he is deceased, the materials and audio tapes by Greg Bahnsen (cmfnow.com and American Vision.com) will more than adequately de-fuse the "squiggle-factor" approach as well as legitimate questions raised by the "better quality" atheists out there.

Any number of high-quality Christian philosophers (ie. Gary DeMar, Doug wilson) can address the atheist's challenge using versions of Bahnsen's materials which build upon Cornelius Van Til's presuppositional apologetic method.

Posted By: Blaine Kemendo | May 7, 2007 5:57 PM

Gary Demar is not a "high-quality Christian philosopher". We should reserve this title for the Bahnsen's, Van Til's, Plantinga's, etc., and not a pop-level apologist and philosopher. It's a little like calling a Hank Hanegraaf a "high-quality theologian". Good? Sure, but he is pop-level.

I look forward to the exchange, especially since it is in writing and both appear to be gifted writers. Good stuff, Christianity Today.

Posted By: Jon Rollen | May 8, 2007 11:48 AM

Mr. Olson's comments mocking Kirk Cameron's ability to defend the historic Chrisatian faith is elitist, religious, and childish (Mr. T asked me to put that one in). The scripture encourages all believers to be able to defend their faith, giving a gracious answer to anyone asking them why they believe what they believe. If it takes the faith of a child to be saved, then certainly the Holy Spirit can fill the mouth of any biblically literate believer with a wise and astute answer to anyone, be they a king or not. It is this kind of mocking that I believe keeps our USA arm of the Kingdom so biblically ignorant, being the one's most susceptible to be swallowed up by the Mormons and Jehovas' Witnesses. Please. Get back to the basics. Preach the law until the heart is convicted, Then give them the grace they need for repentence and salvation. Bible 101. Oh, all the other stuff can be fun to discuss, but often leads down rabbit trails. I want to win souls, not debates. Cameron is more than qualified.

Posted By: David Jones | May 14, 2007 4:12 PM