How pointless is debate?

[Darias]

Over the course of the past few months, I have noticed several of my Christian brethren say things like this:

. . . there's no point in debating theology with unbelievers.

[...]

[If] you found the Bible to be true and accurate, then we would have a foundation on which to begin. If you do not, then any theological debate we might have would be a fruitless dialogue that would result in absolutely nothing in the end but two people's opinion who aren't any closer to agreeing with each other then when they first began.

[...]

As for the offer to debate, I'll pass. We cannot debate theology if you do not consider the Bible to be true. . . . I don't see the point.
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• ( "How do we know a sinner when we see one?" Page 29, Post 282 )

. . . I have about 15 hours into a reply to your post above, but I have decided to scrap it. I hate doing this, because I feel that in it I very strongly and adequately demonstrated that my position is Biblically consistent. However, I have said before that I do not debate theology with people who do not believe the Bible. . . .

[...]

I see no point in giving you any more of my time, at least regarding Biblical matters. . . . debating anything Biblical with you is certainly pointless.
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• ( "Once saved, always saved?" Page 20, Post 199 )

I refuse to debate the Bible and theology with unsaved people. It's pointless.
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• ( "Prayer is a waste." Page 3, Post 28 )

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This attitude concerns me. Two of these posts were addressed to me, a believer -- and while I take no offense at the responses in general, it does make me wonder.

If Christians are unwilling to debate other Christians on important matters of belief, how do they expect to convince non-believers to believe in their world-view?

And second, if Christians are unwilling to discuss the Bible, doctrine, or theology with non-believers, how do they expect anyone to join the faith? Are Christians just hoping people will accept Christ for fear of hell, or out of ignorance of the teachings of the faith?

Third, is this seemingly collective pessimism towards debate the result of the inability to actually support a strong argument, or is it the result of an unwillingness to exchange ideas and admit the possibility of being wrong? Or is it cased by something else?

I'd really like to know. If no one is willing to give an answer, than may I ask, "Why are you here?" After all, this is a forum called Debating Christianity and Religion.

[Darias]

In addition to Post 100, I would just like to add...

I think these short clips by Kenneth Miller explain how one can believe in God and accept the science of Darwinian Evolution just fine.


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All we can know is that all things in nature happen naturally, (might I add: including the universe) some think that's reason enough to not believe in a god, others find that view completely compatible with belief in God, even a creator God.

Still, to claim that the natural processes/advent of Abiogenesis, Evolution, The Big Bang, and or the Multiverse is evidence that there is a God and that He is a brilliant designer is not a scientific statement -- it's a faith statement.

As far as cosmological arguments go... (I believe Miller relies on this)

The way I see it is, if there is a true beginning to the multiverse, it was natural. And if God is creator, then He would have planned creation to arise naturally. In other words, I don't believe that God -- if He indeed exists, and if He is responsible for the multiverse of which our universe is a part -- planned and created things supernaturally/magically.

And hoping that the past will always be a mystery in the attempt to save God from being "disproven" is silly. If man one day proves everything had a natural cause, so what? It doesn't mean God doesn't exist or didn't plan it out -- it just means God isn't a magic sky man who magically poofed things into existence.

Now if science discovers that the multiverse exists and had no beginning, aka, if there were branes which had always existed, which one day led to the natural generation of the Big Bang of our universe -- that still doesn't mean God doesn't exist. God is metaphysical and eternal remember? He exists outside of it all.