Dinesh D’Souza and John Loftus debate the questions “Does the Christian God Exist?” This was held in 2010.
John Loftus is an interesting figure who was a pastor before rejecting the faith to become an atheist. He holds numerous degrees in theology and philopsophy of religion, including one from Th.M. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he studied under Dr. William Lane Craig. He has become a strong voice for atheism (which he tends to downgrade to an atheist-leaning agnosticism).
Dinesh D’Souza is an evangelical Christian who was and advisor to the Reagan White House, and is now a research fellow at Stanford and President of King’s College in New York. He is the author of numerous books including the NY Times Bestseller What’s So Great About Christianity which was a response to Christopher Hitchens’ book “God is Not Great.”
This was a very interesting debate which ultimately left Dinesh as the clear winner. Many atheists felt like one who said he “left with his tail between his legs.” The discussion following the debate among atheists focused on whether Loftus was capable of continuing to be their representative voice. However, the real discussion should be whether they will learn the lesson that was clearly demonstrated: Atheism’s arguments against God are irrational.
One phrase Loftus repeated over and over in discussing the scientific data that supposedly provides some reasonable demonstration that God is not needed for the creation of the Universe is, “We don’t know, but scientists are studying this.” It strikes me how double-minded the atheist position is in needing to assert “We don’t know” while at the same time saying with certainty that they do know “God doesn’t exist.”
Here is the debate:
Does the Christian God Exist? A Debate >>>
Here is a follow up interview with D’Souza about the debate and the fall out for Loftus and the atheists:
Faith by Hearing 