There's probably no Dawkins...

In 2006, with the publication of Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion”, modern atheism found a new vigour. The book has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and is highly regarded by many as being a powerful rational argument against belief in God. Dawkins, described by many as being “evangelistic” or even “militant”, has come to be seen as one of the leaders of “New Atheism” and regards himself as being a patron of intelligent thought, one who follows the evidence to the conclusion that God does not exist.

Interestingly, for someone who argues so passionately for the position of rationality and evidence in belief, “The God Delusion” only contains one chapter on the evidence opposing Dawkins’ atheistic belief. He quickly dismisses any rationality behind belief in God with his “Ultimate Boeing 747” argument (which curiously only claims to refute one of the arguments for the existence of God listed in his previous chapters). Dawkins titled this chapter: “Why there almost certainly isn’t a God”, a very assertive title and one that he has defended before in public debate with academics such as John Lennox and Alistair McGrath.

So why does Dawkins constantly refuse to debate American philosopher William Lane Craig? William Lane Craig has written over 30 books and hundreds of academic articles, he is widely viewed as one of the most competent defenders of belief in God and has debated many reputable atheists including Peter Atkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. Yet despite several invitations to debate from the British Humanist Association as well as Oxford and Cambridge Christian unions, Dawkins has flatly refused, prompting the question of why someone so dedicated to reason and evidence would refuse an opportunity for debate on this important issue.

Despite several invitations to debate ... Dawkins has flatly refused

In the past, Dawkins has said that he would only debate with “at least a Bishop”, though interestingly he has previously debated academics, and has even sat on a panel with Craig before. Another excuse for turning down the chance to debate Craig is that Dawkins doesn’t debate Creationists, except that Professor Craig is not a Creationist and has never advocated Creationism. More recently, Dawkins has suggested that his refusal to debate is due to Craig’s defence of the Old Testament (which begs the question of whether Dawkins will only debate those he agrees with).

All this has lead Dr. Daniel Came, an atheist philosopher at Oxford University, to write a letter to Professor Dawkins saying: “The absence of a debate with the foremost apologist for Christian theism is a glaring omission on your CV and is of course apt to be interpreted as cowardice on your part.” Craig is one of the many philosophers to have written critiques of “The God Delusion” and an especially powerful rebuttal to the “Ultimate boeing 747” argument (one which Dawkins has yet to address).

Dawkins has been criticised by the academic community for his refusal to debate with Dr. Craig, with many believing that his turning down the debate is a sign that Dawkins does not feel that he can engage in such a debate successfully. The Oxford CU has set up an open debate between Craig and Dawkins in the Sheldonian Theatre on the 25th of October, where the opportunity was left open to Dawkins to show up at the last minute, and when he didn’t Craig debated an empty chair. A parody bus campaign was set up to advertise the ‘debate’ using the slogan: “There’s probably no Dawkins, Now stop worrying and enjoy October 25th at the Sheldonian.”

As part of Craig’s UK tour he also delivered a lecture on Tuesday the 18th of October. The lecture was attended by over 250 people who listened to Craig expand on some of the arguments Dawkins presents in “The God Delusion”, as well as presenting more that Dawkins does not seem to address. For anyone wishing to examine the evidence (as Dawkins presumably would encourage us all to do) the video of Craig’s lecture is not to be missed. It has already had over 4000 views on YouTube in the last few days; suggesting that the question of God’s existence is still a hot topic and one that is still very much open for debate.