The Campus Crusades for Christ organization presented “Does God Exist” on February 16th at the Downtown campus. Roughly forty students were in attendance for the recorded debate between known author, journalist and self proclaimed atheist, Christopher Hitchens and William Lane Craig, an Evangelical Christian apologist, theologian and analytic philosopher. Each candidate had approximately twenty-five minutes to present their initial argument followed by the contender’s rebuttal.
Hitchens maintained a collected demeanor and was very articulate. He claimed that there is no plausible reason to think that a divine entity exists and referred to the idea as “arrogant assumption.” Hitchens also claimed that the whole concept of Christianity was a “wish for the absence of free will.” If everything that we did was planned out for us by a divine entity then free will does not exist.
Craig also maintained poise as he made his argument. His statements were researched and articulate, however the lack of occasional humor sometimes made his speech “preachy”. Craig’s rebuttal stated there is no reason to believe that atheism is true. He also addressed the hypocrisy in Hitchen’s argument that morals exist because of the belief in God and then later referred to anti-moralic acts that occurred in the name of God. If Hitchens believes in morals doesn’t that mean he should also believe in God?
Both arguments were justifiable, however the jargon was sometimes difficult to follow. The attention level of the audience was indicative of who agreed with whom and also who was a philosophical novice.