September 19, 2007A great offer
I'm sure news of this will spread widely, but since I didn't see it all over my blogreader this morning, I figured I'd help get the ball rolling by posting here.Covenant Media Foundation, which sells a whole host of materials by Greg Bahnsen, is now selling the audio recording of the debate between Bahnsen and Gordon Stein for $0.01 (they wanted to sell it for free, but their ordering software doesn't allow it). It appears that this offer is good for both the mp3 download of the debate or a copy on CD. Stein is an atheist, and the debate is over the existence of God.
This debate is likely the single most helpful tool for understanding, in a practical way, the presuppositional apologetic of Cornelius Van Til. Bahnsen absolutely destroys Stein in this debate; frankly, I'm not sure that Stein even knew what the debate was about until (perhaps) the closing arguments, at which time you can already hear the defeat in his voice.
I've probably listened to this debate upwards of 10 times. I would recommend picking this up regardless of your stance of Van Til and presuppositionalism; if you agree with VT, you will have no better learning tool, and if you disagree, you'll have a resource that will help you understand the goals of presuppositionalism much more clearly.
BONUS OFFER: I ordered my copy of this from CMF quite some time ago, and received two (perhaps three) long mp3 files. These were a pain to work with, because, if you're looking for something specific, it is hard to find exactly the point in the debate that you want. I took my copies of the files and divided them up into "Bahnsen: Opening Statement," "Stein: Cross Examination," etc. I will not distribute illegal copies of copyrighted media, but if you purchase a copy from CMF and contact me by email, I'd be willing to send a copy of my divided-up version of the debate.