Canonwired have posted up the videos of Doug Wilson‘s lectures and Q&A earlier this year (April) in Bloomington, Indiana. There’s a lot of material here but it’s all well worth it. 2 lectures, around 45 and 35 minutes respectively and then a massive 2 hours of Q&A. I can’t embed them here so go watch them. I particularly want to draw your attention to the Q&A which has to be some of the best on-your-feet work from a Christian speaker I’ve seen. For over 2 hours Wilson answers questions and puts up with almost constant heckling. Well worth setting aside the time to see how he deals with all of that.
The whole thing is compelling watching as a fine example of how to lay out your argument, both in logical/Biblical methodology and temperament.
John Starke at the Gospel Coalition interviewed Wilson about the event.
In these tense situations, satire, gentleness, and respect can all be used in response. You are sometimes known for satire, but surrounded by rudeness and antagonism, your manner stayed fairly gentle. What made you use one tactic over the other?
One of the principles of war is surprise. Satire should always be used as a tool or a weapon, and not as a relief valve for a personality disorder. When nonbelievers are expecting an effeminate and (to them) suitably soft articulation of biblical truth, the use of public satire can often come as a complete surprise, and can be very effective. When they are expecting a hate-filled thug, conjured up in their own imagination, surprising them the other way is also effective.
Thanks watched the whole thing. Most interesting was that when there was genuine discussion and his answer broke through (rarely), the result was genuine bemusement.