Atheist, journalist, and bestselling author Christopher Hitchens announced today that he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.  After Hitchens cancelled a book tour last week for “personal reasons”, the Internet was busy with speculation.  Now that it has been made public, the reactions range from the sorrow of fans to the gloating of enemies—and Hitchens has a lot of both.

Over the last few years I have come to regard Christopher as something of an honorable opponent.  We have sponsored three debates with him on two continents.  I moderated one of them and interviewed him in Edinburgh, St. Louis, and, most notably, at Latimer House.  Indeed, I am scheduled to do so again on Tuesday September 7th when he is supposed to debate Dr. David Berlinski at a Fixed Point event here in Birmingham.  On each occasion, I have argued the Christian position with him and, to be honest, I have enjoyed it.  Christopher is articulate, formidable, and—in my experience—honest.  A rare combination.

Understandably, this news has come as a great shock to him and his family.  An on-again, off-again chain-smoker, Hitchens tried to quit the habit a couple of years ago.  I recollect with some amusement an atheist fan asking Christopher to autograph his Camel Cigarette box during a book signing at Powell Hall in St. Louis.  Without hesitation, he took the box and wrote boldly across it, “QUIT NOW.”  The man, puzzled, took his cigarettes back and walked away.  Hitchens knew the dangers and tried to address them.

At Fixed Point Foundation we have no small measure of affection for Christopher Hitchens, in spite of his atheistic rants.  Speaking to him last week before the matter was made public, he said, “I had plans for the next decade of my life.  I think I should cancel them.”  We hope not, Christopher.   On the contrary, we would love to use you in a debate where you are the one representing the Christian position!

To the Christian readers of this blog I ask a favor of you.  Pray for Christopher Hitchens.  Now.  Specifically, pray that God will soften his heart to the Gospel.  To face one’s mortality is a fearful thing for anyone, but to do so without the authentic hope of Jesus Christ is too much to contemplate.  God is real.  And we all must face Him, whether it is in this life or the next.

Comments (6)

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Thank you for this post. Let us all pray for Christopher.

Aaron , July 01, 2010

Prayer...

Lord,

Unless you soften a man's hearts, he cannot come to you. This is indeed foolishness to those who are perishing, but as Scripture speaks, your grace toward sinners like Christopher or anyone else cannot be earned by good works of any sort.

So Lord, soften this man's heart that he may seek you and find you, for you are not far from anyone (Acts 17).

Lord, none of us deserve your mercy; rather we all deserve your wrath, but by grace alone you chose to save some.

This is why you deserve all praise and glory!

Manawatu Apologetics , July 01, 2010

Prayer

Lord, your mercy is boundless, so we pray you would open Christopher's eyes so that he becomes your ambassador. Then we will say:
This is the Lord's doing
it is marvellous in our eyes.

kpolo , July 03, 2010

For Christopher

Whether Mr. Hitchens becomes a believer or not, I would not wish this upon him and his family and cannot imagine anyone calling themselves after Christ that would bear joy at that news. I will certainly pray for him and his family, including his brother.

Michael Martin , July 05, 2010

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All my prayers for Christopher...

Not everything is possible for a man, but nothing is impossible for God.

Kitty , July 05, 2010

Mr

I see that kpolo is asking "God" to open his eyes. I think the more relevant request would be to ask all who believe there is a god to open their eyes to the reality of life and the nonsense that is written in the bible.
This is the 21st century, time to put away myths and legends into the box marked irrelevant but interesting.
If you want to talk to yourself then by all means pray but that doesn't solve a thing.

Roy Cope , August 07, 2010

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