Student Christians and Nonbelievers Square Off in Debate

Local Christian students faced student nonbelievers in a respectful showdown of ideas and philosophies at  on Tuesday night.

“We’re not here to try to convert anybody,” said Bruce Gleason, director of the Freethought Alliance, a group that brings together atheists, agnostics, humanists, naturalists and skeptics. “I believe if you understand how someone thinks differently, you have more tolerance.”

Representing the nonbelievers' point of view were Devin Leaman, a senior from Redlands High School, and Daniel Buehler, a senior and philosophy major at UC Irvine. They went head to head with two seniors from C: Andrew Sears of Dana Point and Hannah Schaller of San Juan Capistrano.

The foursome fielded questions from each other and the audience. Topics included the universe’s origins, free will and evil in the world.

The nonbelievers’ first question to the Christian students was how can God be all-knowing if man has free will. Sears said God’s foreknowledge doesn’t mean he causes the event, only that he knows how each person will ultimately make the choices he makes.

In the same way, “He knows what will happen if you choose other things.”

But Buehler said people can’t have free will if they couldn’t have chosen differently, adding, “that the future already exists—that’s very debatable.”

The idea that man has complete free will is not accurate, Buehler said. In the end, people make their decisions in very specific ways.  

Sears questioned how free will can even exist absent a soul, prompting emcee Sean McDowell, head of the high school Bible department at Capo Valley Christian Schools, to remark: "We’re probably having the most sophisticated teen conversation on the planet.”

The Christian students asked the nonbelievers how they explain what sparked the Big Bang.

Buehler said one cannot trace back to the very first moment in time because all instances of time can be broken into smaller instances of time.

“There is no first instant. Each instant is infinitely divisible. Each second can be split into two. You can get close to zero, but you can never get to zero,” he said. “What we can say is, 'We don’t know.' ” Buehler added that when people don’t have a solid answer, it doesn’t make sense to fill the void with “bad science.”

Sears countered that if one is constantly splitting pieces of time, “you can never get to the present.” Contrary to this “infinite regress,” Christians view God as outside of time and space and singularly responsible for the Big Bang.

In explaining how they’ve come to their viewpoints, Schaller said that she finds the Bible answers all of her questions and evidence from science and history back it up. “I find my faith stands up the more I investigate it.” She added that it is also a great source of comfort.

Buehler criticized the Christians’ faith as an experiential one based on feelings. But Sears countered that he finds his belief in God to be rational. “Even if I did not feel God, I would still be a Christian. I could not turn a blind eye to the truth.”

In not believing in an afterlife, Leaman said each moment of his life is precious. “Since this is all we have, we make the best of it.” He described the end of life as like pulling the plug on a video game console.

Schaller rejected the idea that because she believes in eternity, her life on earth is somehow less meaningful. “This life I can live for good. I can make good choices, and the choice I make today can echo into eternity.”

Afterward, Leaman said he was a bundle of nerves for his first public debate. He looks forward to similar interactions.

Schaller walked away in confidence. "I think it went well. I really love discussing things with people who have different viewpoints. ... Hopefully, this will spark thoughtful discussions."