Last night, the UNC Christian Apolgetics organization hosted Bart Ehrman and Dinesh D'Souza to debate on God and the problem of suffering. Prior to the debate, I knew Ehrman was an articulate speaker and extremely familiar with the Bible because I took his New Testament class as a sophomore. However, I didn't know anything at all about D'Souza until I heard about the debate. Nevertheless, my expectations for the debate were extremely high and I anticipated solid arguments from both sides.
Once both speakers gave their opening statements and rebuttals, my expectations were crushed. Honestly, I think D'Souza did a poor job of representing a biblical, Christian worldview and its response to the problem of suffering. For the most part, he seemed to avoid Ehrman's questions and he weakly presented general arguments. With that said, D'Souza did make some valid points. I feel Ehrman argued much more persuasively. He asked the tough questions and called D'Souza out for not clearly answering them. In my opinion, Ehrman won the debate decisively.
Needless to say, I am disappointed about the outcome of debate. But I trust in God's sovereign purpose for the debate. I was thrilled to see the packed auditorium with so many people interested in intellectually wrestling out this big issue. I'm glad D'Souza and Ehrman took time out to debate. Finally, I encourage all to read J.D. Greear's most recent blog post . It sums up my overall thoughts and feelings on the debate.
In Him,
Mark
Once both speakers gave their opening statements and rebuttals, my expectations were crushed. Honestly, I think D'Souza did a poor job of representing a biblical, Christian worldview and its response to the problem of suffering. For the most part, he seemed to avoid Ehrman's questions and he weakly presented general arguments. With that said, D'Souza did make some valid points. I feel Ehrman argued much more persuasively. He asked the tough questions and called D'Souza out for not clearly answering them. In my opinion, Ehrman won the debate decisively.
Needless to say, I am disappointed about the outcome of debate. But I trust in God's sovereign purpose for the debate. I was thrilled to see the packed auditorium with so many people interested in intellectually wrestling out this big issue. I'm glad D'Souza and Ehrman took time out to debate. Finally, I encourage all to read J.D. Greear's most recent blog post . It sums up my overall thoughts and feelings on the debate.
In Him,
Mark
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