Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Sola Scriptura smackdown

Mark you calendars, folks. October 3rd is the day and Blogtalkradio is the venue. This is going to be the big one. Protestant Brenda Johnson will debate Catholic John Benko on the single most foundational doctrine of Protestant thought- Sola Scriptura (The Bible alone).

The debate can be heard live, starting at 7:00 PM Eastern time. The show will be hosted live on the Deeper Truth show but will also be live fed on As the day approaches.

Agenda

Moderator

At 7:00 PM, the show will begin with the debate announcement and introduction of the moderator.

It is the agreed upon intention of both sides that the moderator not affect the outcome of the debate one way or the other. To this end, we are determined to keep his involvement to a bare minimum.

The moderators role is to enforce the rules and the rules are few.
  • No Ad hominem attacks, vulgar, profane or abusive language.
  • No talkover or filibustering.
  • Respect time limits.
  • No deliberate avoidance of direct relevant questions.
The moderator will introduce himself and then, the contestants who will each have a few minutes to speak about themselves personally. Note: This is not an opportunity for either contestant to take any preemptive shots.

Opening Statements & Rebuttals

After these introductions, Brenda Johnson will offer an opening statement affirming the doctrine of Sola Scriptura as enunciated in her own words;

I believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God, and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life.
 We do not disagree on either the inspiration of Scripture or their innerantce. So, for purposes of this debate, only the statement they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life is being contested.


Brenda Johnson's 10 minute opening state is to deal directly in support of that premise.

Following, Brenda Johnson's open, John Benko will have up to 5 minutes to rebut the arguments made in the open.

Following this, we will take a brief commercial break.

After the commercial break, John Benko will offer a 10 minute opening statement directly challenging the premise stated above. Brenda Johnson will have 5 minutes to rebut.

The second break will follow.

Questions and answers.

There will be 8 questions, 4 from each side. Brenda will have the odd numbered questions, John will have the evens.

They will proceed in this fashion;
  • Question stated. Questions may not be more than 1 or two part questions.
  • Other side has up to 2 minutes to answer.
  • Questioner has an optional 1 minute rebuttal.
After all 8 questions have been completed, we will take our third break.

Closing remarks

 Brenda Johnson will go first. Closing statements are 3 minutes in length and are intend to conclude and summarize points. Links to supplemental info are allowed.

Audience questions may follow if applicable.


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