Editor’s Note: Debate coverage has been added since the time of this article’s publication.

“The pain and suffering in the world indicate that the Christian God does not exist,” or so will be debated on April 4 in Norton Auditorium, hosted by the Christian Student Center.

Kyle Butt, a Freed-Hardeman graduate, will deny this claim while Bart Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor, will affirm.

“It is our hope this debate will reach out to both the campus as well as the community of Florence as a whole,” said Christian Student Center Student Council President Travis Hunt. “It is our desire for those attending the debate to have a better understanding of God and his nature and the existence of pain and suffering.”

Debates offer valuable insight on subjects that allow both sides to be explained, Butt said on the Apologetics Press website.

“In many cases, publicly debating a proposition can help uncover the flaws and inconsistencies of a particular position while at the same time bring to light the truth and validity of the other position,” he said. “In some respects, a debate is one of the most valuable ways to analyze the truth of any position.”

Both candidates were chosen based on their extensive research in the field of Christianity, Hunt said.

“Ehrman is one of the most respected scholars of New Testament in the academic community,” he said. “Many of the books he has written are used as the textbooks for college New Testament courses. He is a self-acclaimed agnostic and he has debated against the existence of God on several occasions in the past.

“Butt is an author for Apologetics Press and also a preacher of the Bible. He has defended the authenticity of the Bible and discussed other Christian evidences in his over twenty books as well as in several debates.”

Ehrman said his perspective is described as “theodicy,” which questions how an all-powerful, all-controlling god can allow humanity to suffer.

“I think the issue of suffering is one of the most difficult issues any person can deal with,” Ehrman said. “It’s difficult for both Christian and not Christian, but nobody should settle for easy answers or for an answer they’re comfortable with without digging into the real problems. They’re not simple answers. If they were, we’d all have the answer.”

Ehrman said this will be his first debate in Alabama, however he is familiar with the Bible Belt.

“I think this is most important topic anybody could possibly be involved with,” he said. “These are big questions in life. The kind of questions student have to wrestle for their entire life. It’s really helpful to see different points of view. You have to be willing to be challenged to think differently than what you were brought up with. Not to necessarily change religion, but to think deeper.”

Butt said he hopes to clarify misconceptions and has prayed a lot in preparation for the debate.

“This topic is one of the most important things you can deal with because everyone suffers at one point or another,” he said. “People are going to ask ‘Why does this happen?’ They need to see that it is something that can be answered and that when they really think, they’ll see there are some very good reasons for why God allows suffering.”

Ehrman said he has debated since he was 14 and looks forward to every debate he participates in, including the upcoming event with Butt.

“Kyle Butt is a great debater,” he said. “I look forward to the very different points of view and hope for a very cordial debate.”