On Friday, March 10th I met Justin Bieber Schieber for our second public debate. (The first one unfolded exactly two years ago on the campus of the University of Alberta. You can watch that match-up here.)
This second debate occurred at Stencel Hall on the campus of Taylor Seminary in Edmonton. It also differed from our first encounter in that it was a semi-formal exchange. There was no precisely articulated debate resolution, anal time-keeper, or formally timed rebuttals and closing statements. Instead, we went from opening statements of approximately fifteen minutes where we each presented arguments for our respective views (theism; atheism). Then we went immediately to a half hour of informal cross-examination. And finally we turned to audience questions.
Schieber doing his opening statement. (Psst, I’m that handsome guy sitting in the front row underneath the cross.)
Personally, I much prefer this approach. If the full-on formal debate is a pinched three piece suit, this semi-formal approach is a blazer and a relaxed button-down shirt: no tie required.
I have included the full audio for the debate below. Schieber included PowerPoint which, as you can probably guess, is unfortunately not visible in audio form. That’s why I included the picture above so that you can get a good sense of his PowerPoint presentation. 🙂
As for me, I didn’t have any PowerPoint. 🙁 But I did include a handout to go with my opening statement which I have included below:
Two Moral Arguments for Theism (Handout)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
