The publicist for the late author and debater Christopher Hitchens asked Christian author Larry Taunton to arrange a series of debates between Hitchens, an outspoken atheist, and Christian thinkers. Over the ensuing years, Hitchens and Taunton developed an unlikely friendship. Hitchens stayed in Taunton's home, and prior to Hitchens' death from cancer, the two friends took two long road trips across America. Here's how Taunton describes what happened on one of those trips:
My mind goes back to the Shenandoah. The skies are clear, the autumn leaves are translucent in the early afternoon sun, and the road ahead of us is open … In a strong, clear voice, Christopher is reading from the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John. Reaching the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses, his face lights up with recognition.
He stops. "I know this one too," he says. "I did not recall its connection with the resurrection of Lazarus."
"It's a great verse," I add, sensing we have reached a defining moment. "Yes, Dickens thought so," Christopher says, and then, taking his reading glasses off, he turns to me and asks: "Do you believest thou this, Larry Taunton?" His sarcasm is evident, but it lacks its customary force.
"I do. But you already knew that I did. The question is, do you believest thou this, Christopher Hitchens?" As if searching for a clever riposte, he hesitates and speaks with unexpected transparency: "I'll admit that it is not without appeal to a dying man."
