Is Christianity good for the world?

5 Replies to “Is Christianity good for the world?”

1. Hey Kelsi,

   The point of real interest for me came at the end when the moderator asks Doug Wilson about Christopher Hutchins’ eternal security and Wilson replies, “The point is that Christopher is not going to be accepted by God maintaining what he is currently maintaining.” Hutchins then replies, “For a moment I thought I was copping a plea. I knew that you’ld have to remind me of that.”

   It makes me think, is God’s acceptance based on what I think about him? Is the good news that “If you believe correctly, God will love you?” Now I am a “died in the wool” protestant” (I don’t know what color or why wool and not cotton but I digress) which means that I believe that faith plays a big role in my relationship with God but I suspect that my tradition may be guilty of overestimating faith sometimes. Just ask yourself the question, “At the core of my relationship with God is it ‘my faith” that enables God to finally accept me? Is it ‘my belief’ that makes room for me in God’s heart?

   In short, was there another way for Doug Wilson to talk about Christopher’s relationship to God and to eternity, especially given the fact that Christopher seemed to anticipate Wilson’s “good news” of “non-acceptance”?

   Good stuff. Thanks for keeping the dialogue going.

2. Christianity is objectively beautiful. This is what played over again in my head as I watched this clip. Christianity, in its origin is beautiful, but we have… I have distorted its natural beauty, by misrepresenting Christ. And then I wonder why my approach to evangelism isn’t effective. The world and those around me can no longer see the beauty of Christ reflected in my life. We should watch this movie.

3. I have trouble seeing Hitchens as anything but a jerk with an agenda. He is the guy who not only went after Mother Teresa (seriously, whether she was naive or not, who takes shots at Mother Teresa??), but cheap shots at a fragile old lady, months before she passed away. That being said, I think the above is a powerful testament to the potential of dialogue. Obviously, Hitchens will more than likely not convert. But to see him actually talk of a believer in positive terms, even in disagreement, startled me. It seems he toned down his usual rhetoric quite a bit. I’m fighting more cynical interpretations, but maybe, just maybe, actually listening to him and taking his arguments seriously has enabled Wilson to get some respect and a forum that otherwise may not have been available.

4. Mmmhmm interesting comments. Ashley, I agree, I get disgusted with a capital D (I don’t know, it just came out) when I think about both my witness as an individual and the witness of the church as a whole. Agghhh! I am seriously wrestling with that right now (ok, for the past…13 ish years), and probably not in the most redemptive, restorative ways. But nonetheless, I am not ok with the disconnect I see between the Christ I read about in the gospels, and then the churchianity, Christendom, consumer take over I see in the church today. (You can call it the 3 C’s, but just remember I came up with it first.) It truly breaks my heart.

   Back to this clip though. Yes, Luke, my initial thought was, that’s awesome that someone who’s main endeavor is to prove that “God is not great” (Hutchin’s book title) is willing to travel around and actually dialogue with this man. It’s awesome Wilson is willing to be challenged as well. Undoubtedly, they are both thoughtful, intelligent beings with two strong arguments. I am encouraged when a pastor/theologian is willing to be faced with and explore the difficult and probing questions of an atheist. I think this only helps Christian’s witness as a thoughtful people who are not afraid to think, struggle, be challenged and sometimes, simply not have all the answers.

5. I think Hitchens has cooled down a lot. He actually wrote an article on slate.com a couple days ago about his experiences debating religious people around the world.

   Here’s what he has to say:

   I haven’t yet run into an argument that has made me want to change my mind. After all, a believing religious person, however brilliant or however good in debate, is compelled to stick fairly closely to a “script” that is known in advance, and known to me, too. However, I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.

   I of course am perfectly fine with no one being converted via argument. Relationships though, now that’s a different story.