Let me summarize quickly. I will expand upon this on The Dividing Line Tuesday morning when I am joined by Dr. Tom Ascol.
1) I have posted the entirety of the correspondence between myself, Tom Ascol, Ergun Caner, and Emir Caner, that has been written since March on the topic of our debate October 16th. I believe the people of God need to be able to see who has been trying tirelessly to arrange a meaningful debate and who has been doing everything they can to avoid that very thing. Here is the file. (The file is in pdf format and is 39 pages long). In many ways, it speaks for itself.
2) The Caners believe I am a non-Christian heretic. They refuse to refer to me as a fellow believer. This tells you all you need to know about their viewpoints of Calvinism.
3) The Caners refuse to allow for a three hour debate, though they could do so, and have admitted as much. They wanted only two hours, and compromised on a mere 2.5 hours. Ask them.
4) The Caners have been all over the map on format. Right now they want some form of Parliamentary debate format. What they do not want, in any way, shape, or form, is a debate long enough, and formatted enough, to where they would have to actually engage in meaningful textually-based cross-examination on the key biblical passages that contradict their position.
5) The Caners are insisting upon using a thesis statement that has no meaning. It is not even written in proper English. It could be used and defended by a Unitarian Universalist. They refuse to use a thesis statement I have proposed that is clear and unambiguous. Here is their proposed thesis:
Here is my proposed thesis:
The fact is the Caners are doing all they can to make sure to protect themselves from serious interaction and examination in this “debate.” I believe they are seeking to be so disrespectful and uncooperative that Dr. Ascol and I will simply give up the attempt and let them off the hook. I provide the entirety of the correspondence so that once again, as in the previous exchange between myself and Ergun Caner, the people of God can see the vast difference between their attitudes and reasoning and that presented by myself and Dr. Ascol.
Be listening to the DL Tuesday morning for a full discussion of this situation. And as I noted in one of the last e-mails in the above linked file, our phone lines are open for Ergun and Emir Caner to call as well. I for one would love to hear either one defend their thesis statement live. They would be welcome to call.
