Ryan Bell shall soon be ending his Year Without God. And in a special one month online course, he and I will be debating where he should now go from here: Remain an atheist, or a theist? Join the atheist community and help us move the cause forward, or not? (He may have criticisms of the atheism movement worth your being challenged by.) He will be making the best case he thinks possible for belief in God; and I, the contrary. You can join us to watch how the arguments between us go, and even join in the discussion, and attempt to persuade him, yea or nay. Register now. And buy the two recommended course texts as soon as possible, if you want to see where we will be coming from (see below).

We have structured the course to run two arguments in parallel:

(1) Bell will be defending theism the best he can from a close reading of Richard Swinburne’s Is There a God? (2nd ed., 2010), which will be a recommended course text for anyone joining us to see what he and I have to say about that, and to ask us questions and engage in discussion and debate over it (it can be purchased in print or electronic format, although Bell will be providing his own free summaries of the points made there). He thinks this book makes the best case there is for God. Does he find it convincing? Should he? Bell will also be inviting believers to come and try and persuade him to stick to God. So this will be a closely moderated, polite debate among students on all sides. A unique opportunity. So if this sounds interesting, definitely register and buy Swinburne’s book now.

(2) At the same time I will be defending atheism the best I can from a close reading of my book Why I Am Not a Christian (2011), which will also be a recommended course text for anyone joining us to see what he and I have to say about that, and to ask us questions and engage in discussion and debate over it (an earlier edition is also available for free online, which you can use in a pinch). I think this book makes the best concise case there is against God. Does he find it convincing? Should he? Defenders of God will be among the students participating and seeking to test me on this. So, again, a unique opportunity. Don’t miss it!

The official course description explains further:

For 19 years Ryan Bell was a pastor, most recently the senior pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 2013 he resigned due to theological and practical differences. In January 2014, Ryan began a yearlong journey, his Year Without God. Ryan has blogged about this journey all year at www.patheos.com/blogs/yearwithoutgod. In December, as his year comes to a close, Ryan will look back on his experiment with atheism. Dr. Richard Carrier is moderating this thoughtful reflection on what Ryan’s year has meant to him, and what he has discovered about the limits of both theism and atheism. Join us to listen to Ryan’s extraordinary story, and ask him questions about separating from religion and living a nonreligious life. Perhaps the most vital questions will be, “Can Ryan continue on as a nonbeliever? and, What kind of nontheism might Ryan prefer?” Don’t miss his answers!

Indeed! Course begins December 1. So register now, to make sure this course doesn’t max out before you can get in. And be sure to have your books well enough in advance, if you want to follow along in our reading of them (they are both reasonably short and very affordable).

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Yes, so sorry, I know I haven’t cleared any comments through the queue in a month. I apologize. But it can’t be helped. After my endless traveling tour ended, our house’s sewer lateral collapsed. So upon coming home I now have to deal with that disaster. Those who know what a sewer lateral is will understand why I am still not able to find the time to get back to managing my blog. But it’s to be hoped I can soon.