William Lane Craig vs. Sam Harris debate

In 2011, the Christian apologist and philosopher William Lane Craig debated the atheist Sam Harris debated at the University of Notre Dame on the topic of morality and the debate was the proposition "Is Good From God?".[1][2]

As far as schools of atheist thought, Sam Harris is one of the founders of New Atheism.

### Reviews of the debate[edit]

#### Review by the New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters[edit]

William Lane Craig

The New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters said of the Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate:

“  |  Craig brought a great many cogent objections to bear against Harris’s view...

Craig started by drawing the audience’s attention to how Harris was confusing moral ontology with moral semantics: confusing the basis or the foundation for moral values with the meaning of moral terms.

...Craig brought down the hammer and completely crushed Harris for the rest of the debate, by not only showing that Harris wasn’t engaging with the topic (he was equivocating between moral epistemology and ontology) but that his entire ethical system was necessarily false, by his own admission...

“A less moral framework is atheism,” started Craig with an exasperated laugh, and then went on to point out that Harris had said nothing to defend an atheistic foundation for morality, nor to refute Craig’s own arguments. To demonstrate how poorly Harris understood Christianity, and how irrelevant his “arguments” were, Craig quipped, in regards to Harris’s claim that the goal on theism is to avoid hell, “Belief in God isn’t some kind of fire insurance.” He then went on to list a number of other ways in which the red herrings that Harris had laid across the path were irrelevant—which was fair enough since there wasn’t much else to say.[3]

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Other reviews by Christians:

* Debate Review: William Lane Craig and Sam Harris

* Review of Craig vs. Harris Debate by Randy Ecerest

* Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig: Thoughts and Links by J.W. Wartick

## Contents

* 1 Reviews of the debate
* 1.1 Review by the New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters
* 1.2 Review of the debate by the atheist Luke Muehlhauser at Common Sense Atheism
* 2 See also
* 3 External links
* 4 Notes

#### Review of the debate by the atheist Luke Muehlhauser at Common Sense Atheism[edit]

The atheist Luke Muehlhauser reviewed the debate at the atheist blog Common Sense Atheism. Muehlhauser said of the debate, "As usual, Craig’s superior framing, scholarship and debate skills ‘won’ the debate for him."[4]

## See also[edit]

* Atheism and morality

* Atheist population and immorality

* Rebuttals to atheist arguments

* Atheism vs. Christianity debates

* Atheism debates

## External links[edit]

* The God Debate: Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig \- video

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ [The God Debate II: Harris vs. Craig], Notre Dame University YouTube channel, Uploaded on Apr 12, 2011
2. ↑ How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy, Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry), April 9, 2011
3. ↑ How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy, Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry), April 9, 2011
4. ↑ Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate review (part 3) by Luke Muehlhauser, Common Sense Atheism, oApril 17, 2011