Newsweek has The God Debate between pastor Rick Warren and atheist author Sam Harris.
I didn’t get a chance to read the whole debate, but it seems Warren is a little out gunned. Warren is a pastor of a growing megachurch and the author of a best-selling book about finding purpose in God. He is not a philosophical Ph.D. with all the facts to match wits with Harris.
I think Warren does a decent job, but I believe many others could have given a much better defense of the belief in God.
A pastor, even one of a giant church, is not always equipped and informed in areas of apologetics and science. Warren is an intelligent man, but it almost seems like Newsweek set him up.
Sam Harris is one of the leading atheists thinkers alive today. He writes books about his philosophy. He rountinely deals with this type of discussion and debate. Warren spends his time as a pastor. Those two are not the same.
There are numerous Christian scholars who can defend the faith against Harris and any others. But Newsweek chose a “name” instead of someone with the expertise.
One area where Warren did expose Harris was “spirituality.” Harris wanted to maintain some sense of being “one with the universe,” while still clinging to the fact that everything he believes is grounded in logic and science. How do you justify atheistic materialism with “You can close your eyes in meditation and lose the sense of your physical body, totally.” How can that statement be defended logically or scientifically?
It is interesting to see how Allahpundit, a conservative atheist, responds to the interview.
