Back in December I emailed Justin Brierley (host of Unbelievable) to propose a “devil’s advocate” debate show in which the Christian defends atheism and the atheist defends Christianity. Justin got back to me a couple days ago and suggested we record this Friday. Granted the timing isn’t ideal (in the last two days I delivered nine lectures at Oklahoma Baptist University; my semester starts on Monday; I’m volunteering at a swim meet Fri-Sun.), but I’m always up for a challenge.

So this Friday I’ll be defending atheism. And my esteemed atheist opponent who will defend theism/Christianity? Michael Ruse! I’m especially pleased at that since I’ve long been an admirer of Ruse, both in terms of his scholarship and his refreshing, irenic disposition.

As I count them up, I realize that this will be my fifth appearance on Unbelievable. I have previously been on with Alom Shaha, Hemant Mehta, John Loftus, and Ralph Jones.

But this time will be unique insofar as I’ll be defending a view I don’t hold.

And why would I do that? Easy. There’s no better way to deepen your own views and develop empathy with others than to go through the exercise of defending a position you don’t hold.

In addition, while I have participated in many debates, I have long had deep misgivings about the tendency of the debate format to entrench people into partisan positions rather than encouraging a thoughtful exchange of ideas. Switching things up with a devil’s advocate approach is a way of culture-jamming the standard debate.

I assume the show should be available in a week or two … so stay tuned.