The Debate for God: Kaon Serjani and Atheist Ben Blushi
The debate between Kaon and the atheist Ben Blushi is the first of its kind in Albania. More than 300 people signed up for the event and around 280 people showed up. Kaon opened the talk with a 10 minute presentation of the main arguments for God’s existence. He argued that God is the best explanation for:
1.the origin of the universe,
2.the fine tuning of the universe,
3. he existence of moral values and duties.
Then, our atheist guest, Mr. Ben Blushi, had his 10 minute presentation arguing why he thinks that God does not exist. He tried to convince the audience that the idea of God has been a human’s invention to bring order to society and to make sense of natural phenomena that humans could not explain. Also, he argued that religion has been harmful to society, focusing on the failures of the church during the middle ages, especially the inquisition and the crusades.
This was followed by a few rounds of critiquing each-other’s presentations. The second half of the debate was Q & A from the audience. So many from the audience wanted to ask a question. After the event we sent everyone an evaluation form so they could ask the question they wanted to ask but couldn’t. Most people said they wanted to challenge Mr.Blushi on the discrepancies they perceived in his arguments for atheism. We were very encouraged to read the feedback on the evaluation form. There was a great agreement that the arguments for God’s existence won over the atheist’s arguments.
We believe that more than half of the audience were young Albanian Christians. A lot of them said that they were grateful to better understand what the atheists believe and that there are good counter arguments to their objections. They emphasized that hearing the arguments for God’s existence not only strengthened their faith but also inspired them to be better equipped so that they can engage more effectively in conversations with the skeptics.
You can find the full video of the debate on youtube with this title :“Debat rreth Zotit – Ben Blushi vs Kaon Serjani”
The New Book
The opportunity to debate God’s existence with Ben Blushi, came as a result of some imaginary conversations Kaon started a year ago. Those
conversations are now published into a book titled “Dialog with the atheist Ben Blushi”.
Moreover, Mr. Blushi is the director of a TV station. One of the journalists invited Kaon to talk about the debate and the new book on a show for 30 min the day followingthe debate. We believe it was a wonderful opportunity to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to a larger audience .
Below is a small part of the debate with English subtitles just to give you a taste of the real thing. This fragment is from the Q and A section:
“I wanted to ask this question to Mr Blushi: If you call the Big Bang, the creation of the universe, why are you in two opposite camps? One version says the big bang has happened and the other says it hasn’t. One says that matter has always existed and the other says everything was created out of nothing. Both parties pretend that their theory is scientific. How can it be so if it has more than one option?
Blushi: I don’t know if I can answer this question. This is a question for scientists, people much more refined than me.
Kaon: I think you should first ask Mr. Blushi, which version does he believe?
Blushi: I go with the science version
Kaon: Which is?
Blushi: The one that everyone knows, that Big Bang is the first cause of the created universe and then everything follows.
Kaon: And who is the cause of the Big Bang?
Blushi: the cause is a chemical reaction, it can be a gleam of light.
Kaon: That is not possible, because before the Big Bang, nothing existed, no energy, no matter. How did this energy or matter come to existence?
Blushi: I said before, that this is not a question for me, it is for scientists and I believe this. It’s like asking me right now to explain the camera in front of us. I think the one who created it can explain it to us. I believe that the camera works.
Kaon: This is a logical analysis. If there is a Big Bang, who is the cause of the Big Bang? “
None of us expected that a relationship with an atheist would bring for our ministry this year the biggest opportunities to proclaim and defend the Gospel in the public arena. Certainly God has a sense of humor.
