34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In the newly released documentary of the debates between atheist Christopher Hitchens and Rev. Doug Wilson, Hitchens charges that Christianity is ultimately not good for the world because it calls people to live by a standard that is impossible to meet. His example is the call to "love your neighbor as yourself," something that Hitchens believes is an unattainable moral standard.
Hitchens' is absolutely correct. We can't meet God's moral standard. In fact that's the point of the call to "love our neighbor as yourself," it cuts to the heart of our sinfulness. It's a radical command. But it's not the standard that makes us guilty, but rather it's our sinful nature, which causes us to hold self over Other, that makes us sinful and thereby guilty.
I highly recommend the use of this DVD for small groups, Bible studies, youth ministry, and for anyone interested in hearing a terrific and lively conversation which pits a postmodern worldview against a Biblical worldview. Both men are very intelligent and respectful of each other throughout and there is plenty to be discussed by groups as they gather to watch.
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