It's common for Christian groups at universities around America to host debates on the existence of gods, the truth of Christianity, evolution, etc. What is the purpose of these debates, however? Do they truly intend to educate and convert people? What is the reason that so many people who are already Christians attend these debates? What do they expect to learn?

Michael Rue, a Christian, writes about his thoughts following a debate hosted by the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship on his campus:

[I]f it was known that the primary audience (though unintended) was Christian, did the debate then shift from an intellectual discussion and evangelical outreach to a sport-like mockery or exploitation of someone else’s beliefs? Please don’t misunderstand me, I do believe that without authentic belief and repentance in Jesus Christ alone, one will perish eternally in Hell. And I do certainly believe that we as Christians are called to witness the Gospel to every living creature. However, when the idea of reaching the lost turns into an action of exploitation it is completely against anything the Holy Scriptures would say. [...]

When attending a debate like this, are you (Christian) more concerned with the Christian debater “winning” or “beating the other guy” than you are with the Gospel being proclaimed and someone coming to repentance? Are you coming to a debate with the prideful thought of, “I can’t wait to see atheist yo-yo is going to say?” Or are you coming to a debate with a broken heart over someone that is so lost as to come in front of a group and proclaim that Truth does not exist while possibly drawing others to think the same way?

Michael Rue makes some very interesting points here. It’s certainly possible that some Christians attend these debates in order to learn new arguments and ideas, but debates are not the best way to do this — debates are formats where is can be difficult, if not impossible, to draw out the very best and most interesting philosophical arguments.

Debates like these have much more in common with events like political debates rather than the scholarship you can find in political or philosophical journals. Where would you expect to learn the most? It’s more, I suspect, that Michael Rue has identified a plausible reason for attending the debates: to see a Christian “win” against some atheist.

Of course, this raises the question of why Michael Rue was there himself. It was very insightful of him to ask these hard questions about his community, but it would have been an even better piece had he included himself in the questions — even if he could have reasonably concluded that he had no unethical motivations himself.

 

Read More:

• Guide to Ethics and Morality
• News About Ethics