Christopher Hitchens Debate Analysis

Superior Essays
This was a very interesting debate. The topic of the debate was, “Is Christianity the Problem?” I had a difficult time at first because I felt personally offended while listening to Christopher Hitchens speak, which caused an actual uncomfortableness in my chest. I told my husband that I didn’t want to listen to this debate and he said for me to listen objectively and to try and keep my opinions from coloring what I was hearing. After listening and then re-listening to get my notes for the debate completed, I concluded that Dinesh D’Souza won the debate.

Mr. D’Souza presented facts and evidence, not opinions, as he debated Mr. Hitchens. Phillips, Brown & Stonestreet (2008) wrote when teaching on putting worldviews to the test, “What is
…show more content…
I was formulating conclusions in my mind, trying to make sense of it all. A question came to mind. Did Mr. Hitchens ever get any kind of revelation from God? I thought about this some more and then started flipping pages as fast as I could because I thought I read somewhere in our books that God reveals things to us and it is one of the first things He does. Sire (2015) wrote, “…as Christians, we get our knowledge about what first things are supposed to be not from human self-reflection but from revelation. As human beings we are finite. We can know nothing about God unless he tells us. This he has done in small part in the natural order but mainly in Scripture revelation – the gift of knowledge about what we would scarce have any knowledge at all – must necessarily precede what we understand God to be. So it must come first” (p. 88). He also wrote, “We receive what is put before us through the general revelation of God in the world and the special revelation of God in Scripture” (p. 88).

I am sure Mr. Hitchens has read the Bible. Wouldn’t have God revealed something to him? Mr. Hitchens has since passed away. I wonder if he reached out to God prior to dying.

One last question, do you feel that you can have as a friend someone who is totally against your worldview and your God?

If I could give Mr. Hitchens one thought from one of our texts, it would be this, Sire (2015) “The world without God is cold. With him, we know why there is warmth in the winter” (p.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Rogerian Argument, coming from Carl Rogers’ theory, is an effective analysis within written arguments. Essentially, it involves adopting the role of a once therapist to aid in solving or coming to a compromise of an issue. The passage “Letter to a Southern Baptist Minister” written by Edward O. Wilson, argues that religion and science could potentially join together. The author uses restatement, which just manipulates the words of the speaker to change their understanding. He proves his point by not confronting his opponent in an adversarial argument.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jonathon Edwards wrote the sermon “A Divine and Supernatural Light” to preach to the people that God alone can give you the Spirit to be able to discern the Gospel. Edwards preached rationally and biblically on the matter of spiritual knowledge to understand the bible. Edwards breaks down this idea in steps of, the blessing of Peter, God is the author of all power, and power of a divine light, biblically and rationally. Blessing of Peter The sermon starts with the blessing of Peter.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the April of 1992, Chris McCandless set out from South Dakota to Fairbanks Alaska. Five months later, McCandless's body was found rotting inside an abandoned bus. Chris McCandless had run away from his family and had hoped to survive in the wild with only the bare necessities. McCandless was a fool for what he did, he was a hard working, and vigilant man, yet he embarked without a backup plan, nor the proper supplies to survive out in the wild.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His new found knowledge of religion evokes many questions.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Philosophical analysts and scientists all over the nation continue to raise arguments when looking at the story of Chris McCandless and his journey. While some recognize him as a romantic hero following a life immersed in the nature of the world, some choose to see him as a fool for thinking he could live this lifestyle. When looking at both arguments, it comes down to the issue of morals, and the lifestyle the person analyzing has grown up in. Morals and values heavily influence the opinions of what Chris McCandless did with his life, even though it was his right to do as he pleased. To begin, by looking at both sides of the argument I believe my social environment helps shape my opinion of this story.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Callarman’s argument is the most accurate view of Into The Wild and Chris McCandless’s decision. Chris made an ignorant decision based on his current feelings and how his parents treated him. You can’t succeed in the future with your actions at this point and time, but you sure can throw out your future with your current actions. And that is exactly what Chris did, he went from graduating from Emory University, to moving into the Alaskan wilderness and dying. He had the foundation of his life set, ready to take on the next step of his life, but he believed that the wild would hold something valuable for him to find.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Christopher McCandless was born on February 12, 1968 in California. He ended up studying at Emory University, and after graduating gave the $24,000 in his bank account to charity before disappearing from his family. McCandless then travelled around the country by means such as hitchhiking, and identified himself as Alex Supertramp. Alex arrived in Fairbanks Alaska in 1992, with the intent of living off the land, and his dead body was found a few months later about 19 days after McCandless’ death. Many who hear of McCandless’ story claim he died a meaningless death, and was foolish for it.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Paine was a renowned pro-American writer and author of some of the most persuasive texts of the American Revolution. Paine wrote in a manner that appealed to the masses, not just American elites. He often quoted the Bible in his arguments in an attempt to engage people of all classes in the struggle for American independence and for a rejection of government based on hereditary monarchy. In Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense, it said the Colonists should aim for complete independence from Britain. He argued that Britain governed the Americans for its own benefit, not theirs, and that the distance between the two nations made governing from England very inefficient.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the House of the Lord, a man appears to be walking down the aisle to arrive at the pulpit to serve as the connoisseur of the Bible. He wears a long black trench coat and sets down his notes on the podium. He stares out onto his followers and beings reading in a monotone voice. Although people should be uninterested in this man, he captures their attention. He entrances his audience.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Dying Art of Disagreement Bret Stephens Bret Stephens is an American journalist, editor and political commentator. The text focused on the decline of civics, and how we need to revive the art of disagreement because it is the foundation of intelligent democratic life. The Dying Art of Disagreement was a lecture given at the Lowy Institute Media Award dinner on September 23rd, 2017. The text of the lecture was published on September 24th.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Nancy Wood’s published her book, Perspective on Argument, in 1995. Throughout the text, Wood refers to a variety of books that help further the reader’s understanding. She cites these sources with footnotes, as they are located at the bottom of each page. She uses small sections of a variety of sources. Also, Wood uses sources published in the 1990’s.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Public discussion is frequently a positive platform for opening discussion topics and easy worldwide access. However, in Merchants of Doubt authors Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway presents the dangers of relying on the public or popular platform. One of the major issues is the public platform is the number of people in the discussion only fuels to the argument, thus it takes longer to achieve their objectives. The other issue is the stakes and implications the debates have on policy. In general, Merchants of Doubt teaches readers it is important to understand the source of the issue versus what is being debated and to further examine the purpose behind each side.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In viewing many online debates between Christians and non-believers concerning the matter of God, often times it is the non-believer who obtains the upper hand in the argument. When confronted with difficult questions concerning God’s revelation, many Christians are unable to properly defend the questions of objectors or even the Christian faith. For many Christians, God’s revelation is through the lens of a less than Christian worldview where knowledge of God is imperfect and clarified through societal norms, preconceptions, and judgments (McGrath, 2014). Lacking the biblical knowledge to fend off a non-believers questioning concerning matters of faith, God’s revelation included, Christians resort to their own reason based off theirs and…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this assignment I will attempt to unpack Donald Trump’s logic in the tweet above. Explicitly, Trump’s tweet in its current arrangement appears to be a disjunctive/hypothetical syllogism hybrid: P1: We, as a country, either have borders or we don 't. C : If we don 't have borders, we don 't have a country. Being charitable and filling in implicit premises, Trump’s argument takes on the following format: P1: All countries have borders P2:…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction Knowing God is a influential evangelical book by James Innell Packer and holds to be the authors best-known work. Packer was an Oxford graduate who was influenced greatly by another famous Christian author, C. S. Lewis, and eventually committed his life to Christian service where he spent a brief times teaching in different places and eventually ended up back in Oxford to study theology, then later he became the Regent College Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology in 1996. Soon after receiving this title Packer began his writing of Knowing God and it became a great success, much due to his previous lengthy experience in Christian studies. Summary In the book Knowing God, by J.I. Packer the author breaks the book into three main sections Know the Lord, Behold Your God!…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays