'Friendly atheist' speaks to thousands at Oak Hills

He and pastor have dialogue.



Photo By San Antonio Express-News

Author William Hemant Mehta speaks with pastor Randy Frazee at the Oak Hills Church on Sunday, July 7, 2013. Mehta is known as the "friendly atheist" and met Frazee in Chicago years ago while attending a variety of churches chosen by the highest bidder on Ebay.

By John Tedesco : July 7, 2013 : Updated: July 8, 2013 12:49am

Not many atheists spend their Sunday mornings at a Texas megachurch as the guest of honor.

And not many megachurches would extend the invitation — especially if the atheist wrote a book called “I Sold My Soul on eBay.”

But at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, senior minister Randy Frazee saw an opportunity to challenge his congregation by inviting Hemant Mehta, a self-described “friendly atheist” from Chicago, to speak with Frazee in front of thousands of Christians.

At four church services over the weekend that attracted about 8,000 people, the preacher and the atheist casually talked and laughed on the brightly lit stage at Oak Hills. Online videos of their talks were posted on the church's website, which crashed Sunday morning from the demand of so many people trying to watch.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/religion/article/Friendly-atheist-speaks-to-thousands-at-Oak-4651612.php

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/07/08/over-the-weekend-i-spoke-at-a-megachurch/