Watch Stephen Colbert Go Head-to-Head With Atheist Ricky Gervais on the Existence of God

It’s no secret that religion is a heated topic in our world that has spawned countless hate crimes and wars. It’s rare to see two people from completely opposite ends of the spectrum sit down and have a civil conversation about their stances on God.

But when self-proclaimed atheist Ricky Gervais took the hot seat on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Christian host did not miss his chance to bring up matters of faith.

“Do you wanna debate the existence of God?” Colbert asked the comedian shortly into the interview.

Willing and ready to defend his position, Gervais agreed to tackle the topic head on.

Colbert opened the discussion in asking, “Why is there something instead of nothing?”

Affirming first that the “how” is bigger than the “why,” Gervais added, “You don’t believe in 2,999 gods—and I don’t believe in just one more.”

Watch how the rest of this God debate unfolded below:

In typical Colbert fashion, the host amicably navigated the heated topic with a little humor.

Colbert shares, “I can only explain my experience which is I have a strong desire to direct my gratitude towards something or someone. And that thing is God.”

As he joked at an earlier event, The Cardinal and Colbert: Humor, Joy and the Spiritual Life: “If Jesus doesn’t have a sense of humor, I am in huge trouble.”

However, while it’s important to be winsome in witnessing to unbelievers, one could certainly argue that Colbert’s side of the debate lacked some theological depth.

If you’d like to explore a more weighty discussion on the existence of God, Tim Keller does an excellent job of expounding upon this topic in his Google Talk “The Reason for God.”

Watch as Tim expertly tackles three of the most common questions that plague our culture today: why the reasons for God are important, how the reasons for God work and what the reasons for God really are.