Question: At a Christian Writer's conference Bill Watkins told the audience, “If you have any of ...

Question: I was told that at a recent Christian Writer’s Conference one of the speakers, Bill Watkins, senior acquisitions editor of Broadman and Holman, wrote the name Dave Hunt on the blackboard. He then told the audience, “If you have any of this man’s books, throw them into the trash. They are full of holes. I even debated him. Throw them away.” When did he debate you?

Response: I called Bill Watkins, spoke with him on the phone to verify that this incident actually happened, and he confirmed it. He remains adamant that what he said about my writings was true and that he had the right to say it. I responded that he has the right to say anything but that he ought to document what he says. I reminded him that I have never made such blanket and undocumented statements about anyone and would not. I simply quote those whom I critique, give the references so anyone can check it out, and contrast what they teach with the Bible. Period. One should let the evidence speak for itself without making judgmental pronouncements. I have neither the desire nor the motive to misrepresent anyone and asked Bill to do me the favor of providing evidence of any errors in my books so that I could make the necessary corrections in the next editions. We will see what he provides.

Sadly, my critics accuse me of misquoting or quoting out of context or of “attacking” and even “destroying” brothers in Christ, but they provide no documentation. Such ad hominem accusations are unjust and tantamount to character assassination. We are interested only in the truth of God’s Word and the simple facts concerning false doctrines and practices which oppose that truth. We believe the Body of Christ needs to be warned and armed.

Oddly enough, I am criticized for allegedly criticizing others. I simply quote those things which have been written in books, spoken on radio or television or otherwise publicly declared and are therefore influencing multitudes.

As for Mr. Watkins having debated me, as I reminded him on the phone, that is not true. He assisted Keith Fournier with the book, A House United?— Evangelicals and Catholics Together: A Winning Alliance for the 21st Century, foreword by Pat Robertson. Fournier, a Roman Catholic and Executive Director of Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice, had written a previous book, Evangelical Catholics, foreword by Charles Colson. In response to that first book, I had faced Fournier in a formal debate at Purdue University and he had not been happy with the outcome.

John Loeffler, a radio talk-show host in Denver at the time, asked me to come on his show during the 1994 Christian Booksellers Convention to debate Fournier and Watkins concerning the second book. I agreed. Fournier, however, declined. Instead, he insisted that we be separately interviewed, I alone the first hour and they the second hour. So on the radio Watkins and Fournier had the last word, saying anything they wanted about me and my arguments against Roman Catholicism, and leaving me no chance to respond. That was how Watkins “debated” me.