Hitchens / McGrath - Religion: The Center vs The Fringe, Pt 1

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2007/10/11/Christopher...

Oxford University Professor of Historical Theology Alister McGrath debates atheist author Christopher Hitchens on the conflict between mainstream and extremist religions.

This is part one of a three-part excerpt.

Part two:    • Hitchens / McGrath - Religion: The Center ...  

Part three:    • Hitchens / McGrath - Religion: The Center ...  

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Poison or Cure? Religious Belief in the Modern World: A debate, dialogue, and discussion with Christopher Hitchens and Alister McGrath.

The Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University host a debate between writer Christopher Hitchens and Oxford University professor Alister McGrath on the role of religious belief in the modern world.

Christopher Hitchens is an author, journalist and literary critic. Now living in Washington, D.C., he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Nation and Slate; additionally, he is an occasional contributor to many other publications. He is most recently the author of "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" (2007) and editor of "The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever" (2007).

Alister McGrath is a biochemist and Christian theologian born in Belfast, North Ireland. He currently enjoys the title of distinction "Professor of Historical Theology" granted by the University of Oxford. He has written extensively on history and theology, including "In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture" (2001), and "The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World" (2005).

He has written biographies of John Calvin, Thomas Torrance, and J. I. Packer. He has also written on the interaction of science and theology and his "A Scientific Theology" (4 volumes, 2001-2004) has been hailed as one the most important works of systematic theology to appear in recent years. He has written two critiques of the biologist "Richard Dawkins: The Dawkins Delusion?" (2007) and "Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life" (2005). His most recent book is "Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution - A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First," published by HarperOne. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2005 and in 2009 he will give the prestigious Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen.