Theism vs. Naturalism Debates: An Apples to Oranges Comparison?

I received an email from a nontheist that is somewhat critical of the idea of "naturalism vs. theism" as a debate topic because (1) not all non-naturalistic views are theistic, and (2) the topic involves a comparison of a general hypothesis (metaphysical naturalism) with an incompatible but very specific hypothesis (theism). In his opinion, the debate topic should be either "naturalism vs. supernaturalism" or "nontheism (or atheism) vs. theism."

Link: Video of Lowder-Fernandes Debate

[This post was originally published on The Secular Outpost on September 4, 2006. It was republished here on November 7, 2021 with the date manually adjusted to reflect its original publication date.]

See here.