Looking for open debate on apologetics

[doubtingmerle]

I am looking for a Christian forum on the web that encourages open debate between Christians and skeptics. Does anybody know of a site like that?

 

[Hentenza]

Why would Christians want to "debate" with unbelievers?

 

[drich0150]

I am looking for a Christian forum on the web that encourages open debate between Christians and skeptics. Does anybody know of a site like that?

Christian Apologetics - Christian Forums

You may have to change your faith Icon to get in. If you do you won't have been the only one.

 

[Hentenza]

Christian Apologetics - Christian Forums

You may have to change your faith Icon to get in. If you do you won't have been the only one.

Mmmm...that would be dishonest, don't you think? Plus it is against CF posting rules.

Forum Restrictions
Do not enter inaccurate details in your profile in order to gain access to restricted forums.

 

[doubtingmerle]

Christian Apologetics - Christian Forums

You may have to change your faith Icon to get in. If you do you won't have been the only one.

Interesting.

Do you know any place on the Internet that allows open debate on Christianity, that does not require a person to pretend to be something he isn't to participate?

 

[doubtingmerle]

Why would Christians want to "debate" with unbelievers?

Why not?

Are you suggesting that unbeliever have nothing worthwhile to say?

 

[doubtingmerle]

Oh, I'll be happy to give you an answer for the hope that I have but I won't debate it with you.

Oh, I see. You would be happy to share the hope that you have, but you have no interest in the hope that I have?

Why not?

 

[Hentenza]

Why not?

It all boils down to motivation. Amateur debate boils down to one attempting to prove the opposing view wrong not about learning. There are a plethora of websites to get answers to your Christian questions or you can go talk to a pastor.

Are you suggesting that unbeliever have nothing worthwhile to say?

Never said that.

 

[Hentenza]

Oh, I see. You would be happy to share the hope that you have, but you have no interest in the hope that I have?

Why not?

Are you telling me that no one has shared the Gospel of good news with you?

 

[doubtingmerle]

Amateur debate boils down to one attempting to prove the opposing view wrong not about learning.

I'm not interested in debates where nobody learns. I am interested in debates where people listen and learn.

There are a plethora of websites to get answers to your Christian questions or you can go talk to a pastor.

Been there, done that. And the answers I hear seem so feeble in comparison with what I have learned in recent years. I was looking for a place to compare what I have learned with the answers that are commonly given by Christians.

Are you suggesting that unbeliever have nothing worthwhile to say?

Never said that.
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Oh good, so you agree that the unbeliever may have something worthwhile to say?

So then it might be worthwhile to have a dialog, with the Christian listening to the worthwhile things that the unbeliever says, and vice versa?

So have I answered your original question: "Why would Christians want to 'debate' with unbelievers"? Do you understand now why some Christians might want to do that?

​

 

[doubtingmerle]

Are you telling me that no one has shared the Gospel of good news with you?

This is a rather odd response to my question, "You would be happy to share the hope that you have, but you have no interest in the hope that I have?" For that seemed to me what you were saying.

And yes, of course, many have shared the gospel with me. I also shared the gospel with many back when I was a believer.

But now my hope is built on something else.

 

[doubtingmerle]

Peter's command here is that we give an explanation of the Hope that we have. This is not a command that we all debate endlessly or until the unbeliever is satisfied with the effort of the believer. We are to simply give an account of our Hope, whatever that may look to us personally. Not explain it in an irrefutable manner to those who wish to drill the hope out of us.

Yes of course, I am not interested in debating endlessly or drilling the hope out of people. I was looking for open dialog, in which we could compare the merits of my hope with the merits of the hope that believers have.

 

[Hentenza]

I'm not interested in debates where nobody learns. I am interested in debates where people listen and learn.

Unfortunately that is not the way that those debates work. I am yet to see one that does not degenerate into mocking. We used to have a general apologetics forum a couple of years ago and closed it for that reason.

Been there, done that. And the answers I hear seem so feeble in comparison with what I have learned in recent years. I was looking for a place to compare what I have learned with the answers that are commonly given by Christians.

Those are the same answers that you will get from Christians in an internet forum. Nothing feeble about them.

Oh good, so you agree that the unbeliever may have something worthwhile to say?

Sure but not about Christianity. lol

So then it might be worthwhile to have a dialog, with the Christian listening to the worthwhile things that the unbeliever says, and vice versa?

Why? What are you trying to achieve? What is your motivation?

So have I answered your original question: "Why would Christians want to 'debate' with unbelievers"?

Not really. I don't mean to be disrespectful and I hope you don't take my comments that way.

 

[Hentenza]

Yes of course, I am not interested in debating endlessly or drilling the hope out of people. I was looking for open dialog, in which we could compare the merits of my hope with the merits of the hope that believers have.

With all due respect, there are no merits to your "hope" since your "hope" ends at physical death.

 

[doubtingmerle]

Unfortunately that is not the way that those debates work. I am yet to see one that does not degenerate into mocking. We used to have a general apologetics forum a couple of years ago and closed it for that reason.

Can you understand that not all debates involve mocking? I was looking for respectful discourse that does not involve mocking.

Those are the same answers that you will get from Christians in an internet forum. Nothing feeble about them.

OK you say the answers you get from the Christian apologists on the Internet are not feeble. I have found those answers to be weak. How shall we determine who is right?

Sure but not about Christianity. lol

So you don't think I have anything worthwhile to say about Christianity? Why not? After all, I was a dedicated, born-again Christian for 25 years. Isn't it possible that in all those years, I might have learned one thing about Christianity that is worthwhile?

 

[doubtingmerle]

With all due respect, there are no merits to your "hope" since your "hope" ends at physical death.

What is wrong with a hope that leads to a fulfilling life here and now, and then one day ends? That sounds appealing to me.

If existence went on forever, would our lives not eventually fall into a repetitious rut? After all, there are only a finite number of people to meet, a finite number of conversations to participate in, and a finite number of things to do. With an infinite number of years, but only a finite number of things to do, wouldn't we eventually have done everything possible? So what is the use of repeating conversations an infinite number of times for eternity?

A good movie that ends is better than a good movie that starts repeating itself, and never seems to end.

 

[Hentenza]

Can you understand that not all debates involve mocking? I was looking for respectful discourse that does not involve mocking.

Have not seen it yet in all the different forums out there (and I've been to many). Most devolve sooner rather than later.

OK you say the answers you get from the Christian apologists on the Internet are not feeble. I have found those answers to be weak. How shall we determine who is right?

Well, if you find them weak then maybe the internet is not the place for you to seek them. Or maybe you find them weak because the answers do not conform to your expectations. You know, sometimes the answer is much simpler then we think they are.

So you don't think I have anything worthwhile to say about Christianity? Why not? After all, I was a dedicated, born-again Christian for 25 years. Isn't it possible that in all those years, I might have learned one thing about Christianity that is worthwhile?

With all due respect, you might have thought of yourself as "born again" but that is impossible. What has been born again of Spirit can not be unborn. Is like adding alka seltzer to water. You don't have simply water any longer and you can't turn it back into just water again.

I can relate to you though. I was a Christian for the first 22 years of my life and even attended seminary for one year. I then became disillusioned with Christianity and became first an agnostic and then a full blown atheist. I was happy being an atheist. I became successful both financially and socially during that time. Somehow God stirred my heart 12 years ago and changed my life. I only thought I was successful before. Now my life has a much deeper meaning and focus.

 

[Hentenza]

What is wrong with a hope that leads to a fulfilling life here and now, and then one day ends? That sounds appealing to me.

How come? All that you are, your thoughts, knowledge, etc. is basically buried with you. You remain a thought to those that love you and a fading memory to those that knew you until eventually nothing remains. I don't see the appeal.

If existence went on forever, would our lives not eventually fall into a repetitious rut? After all, there are only a finite number of people to meet, a finite number of conversations to participate in, and a finite number of things to do. With an infinite number of years, but only a finite number of things to do, wouldn't we eventually have done everything possible? So what is the use of repeating conversations an infinite number of times for eternity?

A good movie that ends is better than a good movie that starts repeating itself, and never seems to end.

I can see how you would think it in these terms since your only frame of reference is temporal. Have you ever thought of how being non temporal would factor into it?

 

[doubtingmerle]

How come? All that you are, your thoughts, knowledge, etc. is basically buried with you. You remain a thought to those that love you and a fading memory to those that knew you until eventually nothing remains. I don't see the appeal.

OK, you don't see the appeal in a life that eventually ends. I do. Just like I can enjoy a movie that eventually ends, I can enjoy a life that eventually ends.

If you are without hope if life ends at death, do you still allow yourself to be open to the evidence that mental processes end at death?

I can see how you would think it in these terms since your only frame of reference is temporal. Have you ever thought of how being non temporal would factor into it?

Non-temporal means eternal, and I thought that was what I was discussing. If you have an infinite number of hours to live, and only a finite number of conversations you could possibly have, don't you eventually come to the point where you have had every possible conversation? Then what would you do? Would you repeat every possible conversation again (and again, and again)?

 

[doubtingmerle]

With all due respect, you might have thought of yourself as "born again" but that is impossible. What has been born again of Spirit can not be unborn. Is like adding alka seltzer to water. You don't have simply water any longer and you can't turn it back into just water again.

Interesting. So when I came to Christ as a lost sinner, and accepted him as my personal savior, he didn't really save me?

And all that time I spent in what I understood as a personal relationship to Christ was not real? Are you saying it only felt like Jesus was in my heart, that he wasn't really there? If my Christian walk was not real, even though it felt so real to me at the time, how can anybody know that their Christian walk is real?