Most of you have either seen or heard of the debate that aired this past Wednesday on ABC’s Nightline featuring Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron opposing a couple of atheists. The video for the debate is online at ABC’s website. I watched what was aired on Wednesday and then saw what was played on the web and I just have a few thoughts on the debate.
I want to say upfront that I am thankful for the creativity and zeal by which The Way of the Master (Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron) go about evangelism.
With this being said, they should never have agreed to this debate. From my understanding Comfort stated that he could prove the existence of God within minutes and without using the Bible. Aside from the apparent arrogance of such a statement (resting on personal wisdom), this apologetics approach does not have Scriptural basis.
Comfort and Cameron conceded to the atheists and were willing to set aside the ultimate authority and try to claim some sort of neutral ground, in this case it was science and reason. The minute they did this they lost. They then pit their wisdom (call it what you want but at the end of the day this is what it is) against the atheists’. If they had won the debate, which is debatable, the victory would have rested on wisdom. Even after the debate the people who were interviewed were not impressed with what Comfort and Cameron presented. The whole tenor of this debate put man in the judgment seat of God and this is never the right posture. God and his word sit in judgment of us, never us in judgment of him.
Ray Comfort’s “three irrefutable evidences of God’s existence” were:
-Creation for it shows the knowledge of a Creator
-Conscience for it brings the knowledge of a need for forgiveness
-Conversion for it brings an experiential knowledge of God
In this section where Comfort used a Coke can to illustrate the existence of God (this was at least a little better than Cameron’s illustrations of transitional animals, which made him look almost as silly as the theory). Comfort then did his typical gospel presentation. I applaud Comfort’s effort in bringing the knowledge of sin via the Law; however, he never describes sin in terms of rebellion and depravity. He talks so much about what we do and never gets around to talking about who we are (and this is not just here in this debate where there is a 13 min time limit, but throughout what I have heard from him.)
Furthermore, he never makes justification clear. And frankly the gospel makes no sense if we have not been declared righteous in God’s sight. We have all of this buildup of sin but then no understanding or explanation of the imputation of divine righteousness. It leaves me wanting more, kind of like Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion. He points back to the cross as the basis for forgiveness but that basis is at best unclear without the imputation of divine righteousness and the complete atoning work of Jesus Christ through his substitutionary death upon Calvary.
Kirk Cameron spoke about his hope that people would hear the message and be opened to it through their comments. However, the gospel itself is what brings that power (Rom. 1.16). Therefore, we must be careful to bring out the gospel in clarity.
Consider the Apostle Paul, he was traveling to Corinth and he could have packed wisdom or miracles…for that is what the people wanted…and it is something that he had. However, what did he bring? He brought the gospel in unvarnished clarity. Paul knew that though it was foolishness and a stumbling block to some, it was the power of God unto salvation to others, therefore he preached it. If our goal is the conversion of men we must bring out the tools for conversion and these tools have never been well-reasoned arguments, scientific proofs, or silly graphics, they have always been the word of God proclaiming the Son of God to the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor. 1 & 2).
They may still laugh at you and others may not believe (cf. Acts 17.30-34). However, you know that you have been faithful to proclaim that which God has said and that which is the only means by which they might be saved. If we believe this gospel is powerful then the most loving and humble thing to do is preach it!
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