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Christopher Hitchens (a popular atheist or as he prefers “anti-theist”) was recently interviewed by Marilyn Sewell (a Unitarian minister).  In that interview there was an interesting exchange about the true nature of Christianity.  And oddly enough, Hitchens got it right!

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian. (read the entire interview)

from Mark Driscoll’s Blog:

There is an ongoing debate as to the purpose of the sermon and whether it should focus on converting the lost or maturing the saved. The apparent conflict between preaching for seekers and preaching for believers is resolved simply by noting that both need to repent of sin and trust in Jesus to live a new life empowered by the Spirit. Therefore, a sermon can and should effectively communicate to both audiences, and it will if the preacher is able to go after the root of sin and explain Christian jargon in order to speak the “tongue” of the hearer. This includes saying the name of Jesus and making him known.

Very interesting debate.  Driscoll did a good job of defending the existence of Satan, and most importantly he clearly presented the Gospel.

Watch the debate on the ABC News website.

Also, check out the Mars Hill website for “8 Things to Know About Nightline’s Satan Debate“.

Tim Keller – Preaching the Gospel from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.