Dugger-Porter Debate.

LESSONS FROM DUGGER-PORTER DEBATE:

In our day to day life we’re engaged in debates over a number of issues both religious and secular. Elder A.N.Dugger has been said to be one of the greatest debaters in the recent history of the COG, severally I’ve gone through his debates the famous one being Dugger- Porter debate: This was a written discussion on the Sabbath and the Lord’s day between elder Dugger (a Sabbath keeper) and elder W.C.Porter (an evangelist of Church of Christ-Sunday keeper).

·         In a debate on Biblical doctrine, one must be well versed in the Bible. On proposing that Sabbath is to be kept in this age, elder Dugger opened his affirmation with the book of Gen.2:1-3 and goes on to quote other 47 Biblical verses. The trend continues with Bible verses all through the debate.

·         Other proves are acceptable in a Biblical debate- In his first affirmation elder Dugger quotes other sources of information than the Bible: He quotes from the following sources, Webster Dictionary, Greek writings and a book by the name ‘The weekly cycle’ throughout the debate other sources are quoted to support an argument.

·         In a debate one might decide to play treacherously, this is evident in elder W.C.Porter’s first negative. Even after over 40 Biblical verses, Porter still asks for proof! There are other incidences of treachery in the debate, but this doesn’t help the debater but expose him as insincere person.

·         In a debate, questions raised need to be answered and or else they’ll haunt the respondent. This is evident in a number of questions that both elder Dugger and Porter didn’t answer and ultimately exposed some of their weaknesses.

·         In a debate it’s good to keep an eye on the subject and not sideshows. In his 1^st affirmation elder Porter mentions that Sunday should be kept holy because Jesus resurrected on Sunday. If most of us could be in elder Dugger’s position, we could have taken that chance to ‘teach’ Porter the real day of crucifixion and resurrection. Dugger kept an eye on the subject matter and waited till his final submissions to respond to the resurrection issue.

·         In a debate one might be desperate to prove his case and thus ends up in ‘name calling’ or attacking the personality of his opponent. Such a move is aimed at intimidating the opponent and thus silencing him. This is something that a good and sincere debater should refrain from.

·         In any debate, it’s good to know when to quit. Some debates are moderated by a neutral person and thus will determine when to end it. In unmoderated debates, once ‘intimidation’, cycle debate (repeat of points), many unanswered questions etc starts showing up then know that it’s time to hang up.

Brethren these are just but a few of many lessons that I learnt from that book, look for a copy and you can learn more.

Be Blessed.