Getting to the Heart/Art of the Interview

One blogger I've been paying attention to recently is Andrew Sullivan, who blogs at the Daily Dish. He also oftens writes columns in Time Magazine, and he caught my attention because he is a conservative/homosexual/Catholic.

He recently wrote a book called The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It; How to Get It Back. I read a short article based on the book in Time and found very typicial postmodern reasoning. The basic gist: No one can have truth with a capital T; the key to peace in this modern world is sincere humility and religious doubt. That didn't give me much incentive to read the book.

While I monumentally disagree with that kind of religious philosophy, I do find much of Sullivan's political commentary interesting. He makes some pointed, accurate critiques of the religious right and conservatives in general.

About a month ago, Sullivan was on Larry King with John MacArthur. Read that transcript here.

A couple weeks ago, I came across an interview of Andrew Sullivan by Hugh Hewitt, a blogger/radio-host/author of the religious right. (Read my review of In, But Not Of here in the archives.) I was unimpressed with the interview. Both Hewitt and Sullivan seemed quite feisty. I did not think the interview was conducted well, and Hewitt did not have any convincing comebacks to Sullivan's answers.

Last Sunday night, Dr. Al Mohler, President of Southern Seminary in Kentucky, spoke at my church. While listening, I thought, "How could would it be if this guy got to interview Andrew Sullivan?" Later that night I checked Mohler's blog. Headline: "Interview with Andrew Sullivan." I found this interview to be a vast improvement.

Mohler asked questions and listened. He let Sullivan talk. And I think Sullivan made some good political points. But as the interview progressed, Mohler was able to engage Sullivan on a more serious, spiritual level. As Sullivan expound on his philosophy of spiritual doubt. And Mohler was able to give great answers to Sullivan. Here are the highlights:

"And I just want to be right up front and honest with you. Insofar as it is possible, given my own fallibility, I want to find what I believe in the text of Scripture. And you find that hopelessly wrong-headed, according to this book...(Interpretation) is a process, but I would argue it's a process that should lead from doubt into certainty, rather than from certainty into doubt."

After the interview, Mohler issued some great points on an interview like this:

"And I have to admit to you right up front, this is the most difficult kind of program to contemplate, to have someone like Andrew Sullivan on. Because when you have a guest, it really is an obligation to let him make the point he wants to make, even as you try to really focus on the issues that, as host, you think are most important."

He also shows genuine Christian love in the way he conducted his interview:

"...I pray for Andrew Sullivan. And I told him that, and I don't mean that condescendingly, I mean that as genuinely as a Christian I know to say. I pray for him. I'm not so concerned about winning an argument. That's one of the reasons why I didn't want to interrupt too often. I wanted to have a respectful conversation."

Mohler is a stud. Through being respectful and unconcerned with winning the argument, he was able to get to the heart of the issue. And he showed us the art of an interview.