Well, I’m a little bit behind on this one, but I just finished watching ABC’s Nightline debate that aired a few months ago. The question was, “Does Satan Exist?”
The panelists included:
Mark Driscoll, from the Mars Hill Church in Seattle
Annie Lobert, a prostitute turned Christian, who founded Hookers For Jesus
Deepak Chopra, a philosopher and New Age spiritualist
Carlton Pearson, former Charismatic preacher, who changed his theology after having a conversation with God
First, let me start by saying I wasn’t much a fan of the debate. I felt the biggest problem was a lack of scholars. On both sides, really. The closest to scholars was a philosopher on one side, and a preacher on the other. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was interesting, sure, but neither side did much to actually answer the question that was presented.
Annie Lobert, who has an amazing story, was probably in over her head a little. She has a ministry that is awesome, and has changed a lot of lives, but she does not have any theological training.
However, on the other side, Carlton Pearson, seemed to be speaking absolute nonsense. You never knew what he was going to say next. I find it sort of funny he still refers to himself as a bishop, because he seems to reject most of what enabled him to gain that title. You almost felt like he was sort of making it up as he went.
So, in reality, it turned into more of a debate between Driscoll and Chopra. The bad part is, because of the way the debate evolved, it made both of them come across as arrogant. I don’t believe either of them meant to come off that way, but I did get that feeling.
Chopra, a philosopher, had some interesting ideas. He seemed to be a little scatter-brained, which made it difficult to understand him sometimes. And a couple of times he said something that either is over my head a little, or just doesn’t make sense.
Driscoll, I thought was the most articulate. He made the points he was trying to make, and made them understandable. I also thought he was pretty enjoyable to watch.
The biggest thing I loved about the debate comes from my Christian bias. Early on you could tell the question was not going to be answered. The Satan does exist side said, “It’s in the Bible, and I’ve felt him.” While the Satan doesn’t exist side said, “I don’t believe the Bible, I’ve felt something, too, but it’s not Satan.” So what Driscoll and Lobert did, I thought was amazing. They turned it into a presentation of the gospel. For them, it became about Christ, rather than about the devil.
The biggest example of this happens towards the end. Driscoll, for a few seconds, talks to Annie about her past. Yes, he eventually turns that into a question for Chopra, but I don’t think that was his purpose. His purpose was to make sure the people watching knew her story, knew her pain, and knew how Christ brought her out of it.
So if you want to watch the debate, it’s about 21 minutes long. Here is the link to watch it at Mars Hill’s website. Y’all have a great time.