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I would like to know if your friends were specific on any points that Bahnsen said that they particularly agreed with?
Also you said:
One of my friends did point out however, Stein was not a good debater and was thoroughly outclassed by Bahnsen and most likely would have lost ANY debate.[quote]
That is quite surprising concidering the qualification of Stein. Among those qualifications (which I have included below is the following.
[quote]* Author of 2 pamphlets including "How to Argue with a Theist and Win"
Gordon Stein.
Senior Editor of Free Inquiry Gordon Stein died August 27, at Buffalo General Hospital after a brief illness. He was 55.
Gordon received a Ph.D. in physiology from Ohio State University in 1974. He later obtained a second master's degree in library science at University of California at Los Angeles. He taught at the University of Rhode Island. At the time of his death he was Director of Libraries at the Center for Inquiry. He was making excellent progress in amassing the largest collection of freethought and skeptical literature in the world.
In addition to his work for Free Inquiry, he edited the magazine American Rationalist. His books included Robert G. Ingersoll (1969), An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism (1980), and The Encyclopedia of Unbelief (1985).
Gordon was also a well-known authority on hoaxes and deceptions. For several years prior to his death he was a Technical Consultant to the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, headquartered at The Center for Inquiry.
He was editor of the Encyclopedia of Hoaxes (1993) and, most recently, The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal (1996), published by Prometheus Books.
His two areas of specialty, humanism and hoaxes, combined to make him an authority on Spiritualism (the supposed communication with spirits of the dead) as well. He wrote and lectured extensively on that subject, and he penned a biography of the notorious spiritualist medium D. D. Home, called The Sorcerer of Kings (1993).
Just over two weeks before his death, although he was very ill (his cancer having progressed further than any of us knew), he insisted on accompanying a group who were attending the Center for Inquiry Institute on a trip to the Spiritualist colony at Lily Dale, New York. While his chemotherapy treatment caused him to tire quickly, he shared with everyone his vast knowledge of Spiritualism and helped make the outing especially educational.
Survivors include a former wife, Barbara (Laiks) Stein, and their daughter Karen. He is also survived by another former wife, Eve Triffo, and his only sister, Irna S. Jay.
In keeping with his wishes, his remains were cremated. Gifts to the Library Fund in memory of Gordon Stein will be gratefully received.
— Joe Nickell
George Stein’s other credentials include:
* President, American Rationalist Federation
* President, Free Thought Association
* Board Member, North American Committee for Humanism
* Vice President (Pacific), Freedom from Religion Foundation
* Vice President, Atheists United
* Author of 5 leading books
* Author of 2 pamphlets including "How to Argue with a Theist and Win"
* Editor, American Rationalist Journal
* Associate Editor, Free Inquiry Magazine
