Announcing the Holy Water Debate

PhatCatholic (profile) has agreed to debate TurretinFan on the resolution:

RESOLVED: That the application of Holy Water is an effective means for stopping demonic forces.

PhatCatholic will take the affirmative position, and TurretinFan will take the negative position.

The agreed-upon format for the debate is:

Affirmative Constructive (1000 words)
Negative C-X (3 questions of 100 words for each question with Aff given 500 words to answer each question)
Negative Constructive (1000 words)
Affirmative C-X (3 questions of 100 words for each question with Neg given 500 words to answer each question)
Negative Rebuttal (500 words)
Affirmative Rebuttal (500 words)
Negative Conclusion (1000 words)
Affirmative Conclusion (1000 words)

No linking in arguments from elsewhere to avoid the word limit.

No comments from the audience until the conclusions are posted.

PhatCatholic can republish the debate on his own blog.

The rebuttal is a chance to briefly argue counterpoints - they could be counter-points to Answers from the Q&A or to the constructive argument.

The word count excludes quotations of Scripture. To avoid the canon argument, we'll include both the 66 books of the Protestant Bible and the additional books accepted by Trent.

The time limit for response is a week, though we will try to proceed more quickly.

We're negotiating the issue of the appropriate penalty for violating the rules.

If one of us needs to extend the word limit, the extension will be applicable to both sides.

May God give the debaters wisdom, so that the readers will be able to discern correctly whether the resolution should be affirmed or not.