Is Christianity Good For The World? (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
A fairly well-argued debate by both Hitchens and Wilson can be found here. Both make key mistakes during the course of their arguments though. Hitchens makes the mistake that Dawkins, Harris and other "New Atheists" do in making the same kind of bread, unprovable assertions of which they accuse theists. Additionally, Mr. Hitchens, who I consider one of the greatest public intellectuals of the postwar era, tends to discount the validity of belief systems based on the failure of adherents to abide by their respective tenets. As for Mr. Wilson, he would have served his argument better by arguing from an Aristotelian viewpoint that there is A God, rather than attempting to logically argue the truth of one particular faith. This would have necessarily changed the debate; but it would have changed it in a productive way. A better debate would have been arguments for and against God's existence; not only because, even here, Hitchens dwells a great deal on this question, but because it is lends itself more to objective argumentation than the question of whether Christianity is beneficial or true. Applying the principles of Ockham's Razor, it can be argued that there has to be a prime mover. This would have been a preferable approach on the part of Mr. Wilson. Wilson does make a good argument about morality being either objective it of no real consequence. As much as I enjoy and admire Hitchens' writings, etc., he falls short in providing a satisfactory answer here. Really enjoyable to read. It is interesting to note, when reading the other reviews on this book, that atheists seem to all agree Hitchens "won" the debate hand's down and Christians are all duly impressed with how well Wilson knocked it out of the park. I fall into the latter category, proud that not only can a Christian defend the faith logically and succinctly but also with wit and patience and humor. No stodgy Christian here.Hitchens does what any atheist MUST do and that is, evade the first and foremost question of where an atheists gets his/her morals. But one thing I found interesting about Hitchen's view is that he correlates God with a tyrannical marionette show the likes of 1984. It had never occurred to me that anyone would/could conceivably think of God as such but it is helpful for me to realize that this is a possible philosophy. Also, how to address it. Bravo, Doug Wilson.
What do You think about Is Christianity Good For The World? (2008)?
how come these guys (the new atheists) never anwser the question? oh thats right. they cant.
—nathalie
Great little book, a very fair debate from two good minds
—pirate19
