The Tulip Driven Life

Hello all, this is the first round of an online friendly debate between myself, Thomas Booher, a Calvinist Christian, and David Delmar, an agnostic. We do not know how many rounds we will go yet, but the only rule is that we cannot exceed 1500 words in our replies per round. The first round will be each of us presenting our opening statements, and all subsequent rounds will be responses to each other's opening statements. With that said, let us begin by introducing the debate topic, which I will be arguing for in the affirmative, and David in the negative which is: “God’s judgment and eternal damnation are consistent with His perfect benevolence toward and love of mankind.” Round 1 (Thomas Booher's opening statement): I confess the God of the Bible, as the one and only triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one essence/being. His original creation is a perfect expression of His nature.  God is not expressing love and benevolence when He judges ...

As most of you know by now, prolific writer and well known atheist Christopher Hitchens died on Thursday after battling cancer. I have an atheist friend who liked some of Hitchens' thoughts and works; Hitchens also garnered respect from Christians, such as Doug Wilson, whom Hitchens toured with for debates. Hitchens was, in an odd way, both offensive and endearing to many on both sides of the fence in the debate about God. Building on this, I would like to briefly talk about how, in God's providence, atheists like Christopher Hitchens can actually be good for Christianity.  Hitchens was smart, and offered strong rebuttals to the Christian defense of faith. His prowess as a speaker and writer, combined with a brash and bold approach, helped make him a famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) figure. This forced believers to know what they believe, and why they believe it, if they were to stand confidently as believers in this lost and...