Doug Wilson defended the belief of a Christian God in the debate "Does The Christian God Exist?" in the SUB Ballroom on Friday night. Tyler Macy/Argonaut

More than 200 students and families packed the University of Idaho’s Student Union Building ballroom Friday to hear two speakers argue the topic whether the Christian God exists.
Collegiate Reformed Fellowship, a campus organization that promotes the ministry of Christ Church and Trinity Reformed Church to college students in Moscow, sponsored the debate. 
Arguing in the affirmative was Douglas Wilson, the pastor of Christ Church and author of several theological books and writings, including “Letter from a Christian Citizen,” a direct response to atheist Sam Harris’ New York Times bestselling book “Letter to a Christian Nation.” He has debated prominent secular author Christopher Hitchens in an online format.

Wilson holds a B.A. and an M.A. in philosophy from UI.
His opponent was Edward Tabash, a constitutional and civil rights lawyer, political activist and a member of the California State Bar Association.  He chairs the First Amendment Task Force for the Council for Secular Humanism, a committee of lawyers and academics who monitor actions that might violate the separation of church and state, and the national legal committee of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The event was a repeat of a similar debate that occurred six years ago in which Wilson debated Tabash on the same subject.

Speakers were given 20 minutes to form their arguments in relation to the debate topic and then 10 minutes for a rebuttal. Following this was a 15-minute cross-examination period in which both speakers were allowed to ask the other three questions. Finally, the debate concluded with a 30-minute audience participation segment where members of the audience asked the speakers questions relating to the theme of the debate.
The debate was not officially judged apart from an informal audience survey. Results from the survey were not available. 
The points of debate ranged from radiometric dating as evidence to the age of the universe, the reliability of biblical eyewitness testimony, the literal or natural interpretation of the Bible and the role God serves in creating moral standards.

Many points centered on the treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust and the Christian interpretation of these events, a personal topic for Tabash whose father was an orthodox Rabbi and whose mother was an Auschwitz survivor.
Despite both men’s acknowledgement of the seriousness of these issues, the debate produced incidences of laughter from the audience as the speakers poked fun at each other on their positions.
“We are both on a horse; his horse is dead, and I am going to beat it some more,” Wilson said.
Another topic of debate was the presence of miracles in modern times.

“Why can’t we have miracles today?” Tabash said. “When I go back to Los Angeles, let me find no traffic.”
According to Matt Gray, campus minister and director of Collegiate Reform Fellowship, the audience was composed primarily of Christian supporters.
“I’ve attended these things before, and it is probably about 85 percent Christian,” Gray said.
Tabash reiterated his position about debating in front of a Christian majority.
“Unless debates like this occur frequently… unless atheists like me bring our arguments to bear, we will not be able to get our arguments out,” Tabash said.

Some Christian audience members attended the event primarily to hear Wilson, while others came to hear the opposing point of view.
“As a Christian, I thought it would be interesting to hear the atheist side,” said Nancy Charles, a freshman. “It is a lot of information... both of them had really good points, but it is repetitive.”
Reactions from the audience included support and criticism for both men.

“I feel that overall they both did a really good job,” said Abbey McDonald, a freshman at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow. “I feel that Tabash lacks logic in his arguments, but also Wilson could attack him more on the issues.”
Others offered a reflection on the issue as a whole.
“There definitely was a dichotomy in the room,” said Jacob Sellen, co-president of the Free Thought Society, a secular student group. “When you are dealing with the extremes such as this, there are certain dispositions about our reality that need to be debated.”

	1. 18-10-2008 18:19
	... there are certain dispositions about I'm still urked that the arg cut off the quote from the only student atheist in the printed version. Plus, there's a picture of only Doug Wilson. I know who he is. Couldn't you guys have put in a picture with both of the debaters?    Besides, who seems more credible. A philosophy major, who can sweet talk his way in and out of anything, even justifying slavery, against Tabash who is a lawyer and knows how the law functions. The law needs to be maintained without religion.    Christians sponsored this debate. Why? Probably because they want to believe that their particular idea of god exists. What kind of Christian doesn't want their god to exist?    I just had to put that out there. No response needed. Registered

J2N

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