Everyone seems to have their own thoughts and beliefs on whether or not a God exists who created and designed the universe and everything in it. Dr. Frank Turek and Christopher Hitchens are no exception in the matter, as they displayed in their debate at Virginia Commonwealth University on September 9, 2008. Dr. Turek, co-author of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist,” embraces a Christian, or theistic, worldview while Mr. Hitchens, author of “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything,” is very explicitly an atheist.

Throughout the debate, Christopher Hitchens used his quick wit and sarcasm to bring forth some strong arguments against Christian beliefs. One of the arguments was that of the presence of various religions-if there are so many different religions, how can they all be correct and true? If I were to ask a Christian, a Muslim, and a Buddhist to tell me about God, they would each have remarkably different stories to share. The Christian would of course tell me all about God, while the Muslim would praise Allah, and the Buddhist would likely speak of the Buddha, and each one would claim that their view was supreme.

Another argument that Hitchens offered was that it could not be proven that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary. When the angel told Mary that she was highly favored in Luke 1:28, she was given grace, which is only imparted upon sinners. If Mary was a sinner, then she could not have birthed Jesus Christ, as he was theoretically pure and free from sin. Since every human is born filled with sin, then Jesus could have never existed as described in the Bible.

Christopher Hitchens also argued that Christians “commit the most callous, the most cruel, the most brutal, the most indiscriminate atrocities…precisely because they believe they have divine permission.” Examples of such Christian terrorism can be seen in many circumstances throughout history, from concentration camps during World War II to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan to anti-abortion murders. During the rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan from 1915-1922, members were required to “not only white and male but also Christian (Baker "Religion and the Rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1922").” While the order did face opposition, they showed their faithfulness by attending church regularly. Even Turek couldn’t dispute this, as his Holocaust reference only furthered Hitchens’ point of view.

Dr. Turek defended himself quite well on some arguments, but not as well on others. The most impressive argument for Christianity was the fine-tuning of physical constants that is necessary to support the minimum requirements for life of any kind on our planet. In Mere Apologetics, fine-tuning can be defined as “the scientific realization that the values of certain fundamental cosmological constants and the character of certain initial conditions of the universe appear to have played a decisive role in bringing about the emergence of a particular kind of universe, one within which intelligent life can develop (McGrath, 98).” In other words, if the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere was ever-so-slightly altered, life as we know it would cease to exist.

One of the weakest arguments provided by Dr. Turek regarding Christianity is on the subject of morality. He claimed that humans would have no basis for moral objectivity without the presence of a higher being. I have a hard time believing that if there were no God that I would not be able to feel love for my mother and father. After all, that is what God told us to do in Exodus 20:12. Consequently, I know that it would be wrong to hit someone out of anger-because I was taught manners from a young age. When I get home in the evenings and open the door, my dog greets me by wagging its tail and jumping up for me to pet it. Does the dog believe in God? No. Does the dog love me? Yes. Morality could be construed as simply a social adaptation that enables species survival by promoting society.
Dr. Turek also delivered the argument that there must be a divine creator due to the complex biological material of which we are all made. The clear argument against this is that of natural selection and evolution. Just like the argument for God, evolution makes assertions about events that were not witnessed and can never be reproduced. In the case of evolution, though, at least there is fossil evidence. One can visit just a variety of museums today to view archaeological artifacts from centuries past. One, however, cannot go to any of those museums and see biblical evidence.

In response to Hitchens argument that the presence of many different religions proves that there is not one sovereign God, I would point him in the direction of Genesis 11. In Genesis 11, we are presented with the story of the Tower of Babel. At the time the tower was being built, all of the world’s people spoke one common language. When the people decided to build the tower so high that reached the heavens, God became concerned, as they would feel invincible if they could be so near to Him. He took action and distributed them all over the world, which muddled their language, creating what we know today as different languages and dialects. Also, in each religion there are a number of universal truths, such as a creation story and a divine being.

Isaiah 7:14 states that "therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." This prophecy was fulfilled when the Virgin Mary gave birth to her son, Jesus Christ. In today’s world, with improvements in reproductive technology, a woman who is biologically a virgin could indeed conceive a child. Experiments with DNA are showing that you can manipulate eggs in such a way that sperm is not necessary to create a whole new living being. If scientists in the 21st century can manage it, is it really such a stretch to say that 2,500 years ago God knew what he was doing?

In the New Testament, it is revealed that "God is love" (1 John 4:8). His ultimate purpose in creating humans was that he desired other personal beings with whom he could share that love. Since God is personal, He purposefully created us as people with intelligence, feelings and the ability to make decisions. Though we share many characteristics with the animal creation, the Bible is very clear that we are more than that. We have been given a spiritual side to our nature that enables us to have a personal relationship with the living God.

Natural selection and evolution are two very widely debated topics, and have been since their creation. Even Darwin himself had his doubts through the years. In his book, True Reason, Tom Gilson states it best; “If Darwinian evolution is true, we should distrust the cognitive faculties that make science possible (Gilson, 197).” Think about it-evolution did not exclude anyone, including those of higher intelligence. Thankfully, in John 1:3 we are assured that “through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

Overall, this debate developed some excellent suppositions-some of which were better articulated than others. Both Dr. Frank Turek and Christopher Hitchens stood their ground, and in the end respectfully agreed to disagree.

Works Cited

Baker, Kelly. "Religion and the Rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1922." Readex. 27 Dec. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. .
Gilson, Tom. True Reason: Confronting the Irrationality of the New Atheism. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 2013. Print.
McGrath, Alister E. Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012. Print.