hitchens is not Great

Christopher Hitchens is the author of a new book entitled "god is not Great". The book is thoroughly critiqued by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts who also debated Hitchens personally. Because the debate was on a radio program, Pastor Roberts decided to write a blog series capturing more detailed discussion...

http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/godisnotgreat.htm

A few quotes from the blog series (although I recommend reading it)

The bad news for Christopher Hitchens is that he gets a low mark for accuracy when it comes to his statements about the New Testament and New Testament scholarship. In fact, I found fifteen factual errors in this material. I also identified sixteen statements that show what I consider to be a substantial misunderstanding or distortion of the evidence, even though a few scholars might agree with Hitchens. That's why I distinguish between factual errors and misunderstandings/distortions, in an effort to be clear and fair.

If my evaluation is anywhere near correct, this does not reflect well upon god is not Great, since the New Testament material comprises only about 6% of the whole book. How many other errors fill the pages of this book? I'll let suitable experts answer this question. But the obvious implication of what I discovered is that Christopher Hitchens is not a reliable reporter of facts, probably because has not done his homework adequately. He is, after all, a brilliant man with an inquisitive and well-tuned mind. Given my evaluation of his errors in the field I know best, however, I'm inclined to question his statements of "fact" concerning many other things. And my disbelief is not a belief. It's a reasonable conclusion based on the facts of Hitchens's numerous mistakes and misstatements.

Also, one of the specific points of debate:

As I read god is not Great, and as I've read other things Christopher Hitchens has written, it's obvious to me that he has a good bit of familiarity with the New Testament Gospels. I'd even be willing to bet that he knows the Gospels better than many Christians. Thus I am at a loss for why he would say that they "cannot agree on anything of importance." Even allowing for a good bit of polemical freedom, such a statement is so plainly wrong that it cannot but undermine the reader's confidence in Hitchens's reliability.

If would be perfectly fair for Hitchens to have said, "The Gospels agree on many things about Jesus, most of which are fictions, and all of which are rubbish." Of course I'd beg to differ with the stuff that comes after "Jesus," but at least it would be a fair point for him to have made. But it just isn't right for Hitchens to say that the four Gospels "cannot agree on anything of importance."

Read on!