Is Christianity Good For the World?

Review of: "Is Christianity Good For the World?" by Douglas Wilson and Christopher Hitchens


“I wish you guys would continue debating a little bit longer.”

That’s what I told Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson a couple of days ago. Neither one responded to me, which is reasonable since I was sitting in a room by myself. I had just finished reading “Is Christianity Good For The World”, which is a debate between Hitchens and Wilson that originally appeared in “Christianity Today”, a Christian magazine.

“Is Christianity Good For The World” is a short book, 67 pages, it was too short for me, I wish it would have been longer. But, again, no one’s listening to me.

I liked the topic, the value Christianity has or, from Hitchens’ perspective, doesn’t have in the world. Since Christianity is the largest and, arguably, most influential religion in the world, with adherents numbering in the billions, the topic is worthwhile.

I thought the debate format was an interesting treatment of the subject.

And the two debaters were excellent. On the anti-Christian side is writer, journalist, atheist, irascible public intellectual, the-always-interesting, Christopher Hitchens.

Defending the Christian position is pastor and really smart guy, Douglas Wilson. (My apologies to Wilson. I ran out of fun, descriptive words like “irascible” in my introduction of Hitchens.)

Both Wilson and Hitchens are witty, intelligent, well read, and capable intellectual defenders of their beliefs.

I admit that I’m biased, but I felt that Wilson made the stronger argument. When I refer to the “stronger argument”, it’s not just that I felt Wilson won the debate, but that his arguments were more convincing. And, interestingly, Wilson made some strong points that went unanswered by Hitchens.

Part of what makes Wilson’s success in the debate commendable is the fact that Hitchens is such a clever and witty writer that sometimes I suspect he wins support for his position just because he’s so entertaining.

A good, quick, fun, interesting book.

Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL