I wish to generate a new debate on the existence of God, one that follows the same novel procedure as my recent debate with Jonathan Sheffield. You can follow how that debate operated here. I want this debate to be with a well-qualified defender of theism, who has a Ph.D. in any relevant field. If you qualify and are interested, please contact me. Or if you know someone who is qualified and interested, please have them contact me.

Here is why this will be different, and thus worth encouraging a qualified proponent to take it on:

My debate with Sheffield was written (so we had ample time to consider and compose and research between entries), reasonably paced (no entry was over long, making for an easy read, but not too short to make substantial points), and open ended (we only set one closing deadline months out, so we were able to generate a dozen entries altogether, ample space to explore everything without arbitrarily “ending the clock”).

Each entry we limited to 1100 words. Not counting references, which means any words that merely identified or linked to a source, or explained how to find a source and a reference or quote within it, were not counted against that 1100 limit. The proponent would open with their case; I would respond as soon as I could manage; they would respond to my response as soon as they could manage; and so on until the closing deadline, at which we submitted a final like round of “closing” remarks.

The content will all be published on my blog, but full non-exclusive rights to all of it is owned by both parties. So either of us may re-publish it in any form if we wished, without having to involve or consult or pay the other.

Most debates become arbitrary exercises in tactics and rhetoric, where each tries to run out the clock before the other can adequately answer what’s been said. And they tend to be combative exercises in oratory rather than exploratory discussions of why we believe differently on the subject.

This debate format works the other way around, as the clock does not arbitrarily end after just an opening, rebuttal, and closing; but rather the discussion continues, possibly a dozen times, before closing. And yet each entry is short enough that no one gets lost in excessive complexity or endless digressions. The debate stays focused on essentials, and the whys of it all. And there is time to consider one’s words carefully, and research claims and assertions as one needs, and cite sources.

My Patreon supporters have generously met the required targets to make this happen; and a published debate on the historicity of Jesus with a relevant Ph.D. is already in the works. For the existence of God I want to do something different, something that hasn’t been done before: a debate in the Carrier-Sheffield format. All I need is a suitable proponent to take on the task of defending belief in God. And I need your help in getting the word out to find such a one. Let’s make this happen!

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