

Think Well
Ryan Pauly
Training Christians to THINK WELL by curating conversations with Christian thinkers and giving a framework for engaging the culture with a biblical worldview.
Ryan Pauly has been working with students for over a decade as a high school teacher, missionary, and apologist. He is the Founder and President of Think Well, an organization focused on training Christians to engage the culture with a biblical worldview, and the Director of Immersive Experiences at MAVEN. Ryan holds a B.A. in theology and youth leadership from Vanguard University, an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and is pursuing a doctorate in cultural engagement from Talbot School of Theology. Ryan lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He enjoys watching hockey, roasting coffee, and playing with his boys.
Ryan Pauly has been working with students for over a decade as a high school teacher, missionary, and apologist. He is the Founder and President of Think Well, an organization focused on training Christians to engage the culture with a biblical worldview, and the Director of Immersive Experiences at MAVEN. Ryan holds a B.A. in theology and youth leadership from Vanguard University, an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and is pursuing a doctorate in cultural engagement from Talbot School of Theology. Ryan lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He enjoys watching hockey, roasting coffee, and playing with his boys.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 17, 2024 • 1h 3min
Can Atheists Be Good People? (Atheist Book Response, Part 4)
Atheist Armin Navabi writes that "moral standards, as we understand them, are social constructs. They are tied intimately to cultural circumstances and can change over time." Christians claim that morality comes from God. Which is true?
Let's take a deeper look at chapter 4 of "Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi and see how Christians and atheists approach the topic of morality.

Feb 7, 2024 • 1h 4min
Are Miracles Only Cheap Magic Tricks? (Atheist Book Response, Part 3)
Atheist Armin Navabi writes that "a person surviving a disease believed to be terminal only shows that the disease may not be fully understood or that the prognosis was not accurate." Using miracles as evidence for God would be an argument from ignorance. Because, "no matter how unlikely an event is, it doesn't mean that a supernatural explanation would be more likely." to claim that the Bible is evidence for God is the fallacy of begging the question and is no different than saying, 'This is true because I believe it." He goes on to say, "Just because something is written in a book does not mean that it's true." Is this what Christians are doing when they claim that God's existence is proven by Scripture? Can the Bible be used in our case for God's existence?
Let's take a deeper look at chapter 3 of "Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi and see how we can better understand his points and respond to his arguments. I hope to show you how Christians can use miracles as evidence for God. An open Q&A will follow my discussion of the chapter.

Jan 27, 2024 • 58min
Why Christians Can Use The Bible As Evidence For God
Atheist Armin Navabi writes that to claim that the Bible is evidence for God is the fallacy of begging the question and is no different than saying, 'This is true because I believe it." He goes on to say, "Just because something is written in a book does not mean that it's true." Is this what Christians are doing when they claim that God's existence is proven by Scripture? Can the Bible be used in our case for God's existence?
Join the show as we discuss chapter 2 of "Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi. In this book, Armin gives simple responses to 20 common arguments for the existence of God. This series will cover all 20 arguments, one chapter at a time. Do his objections stand up to cross-examination? Join me and find out. An open Q&A will follow my discussion of chapter 2.

Jan 19, 2024 • 1h 5min
Atheist Shares Insights On Arguments For Christianity (The Faithiest Atheist)
How convincing are the common arguments for Christianity? Do they hit as hard as apologists think they do? What can Christians do better? The Faithiest Atheist joins the show to discuss why different arguments for Christianity are not as convincing as we often think.

Jan 11, 2024 • 60min
Design Requires A Designer (Atheist Book Response, Part 1)
"Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi gives simple responses to 20 common arguments for the existence of God. This series will cover all 20 arguments, one chapter at a time. We begin with chapter 1, "Science can't explain the complexity and order of life; God must have designed it to be this way." What is Armin's response to the design argument? Do his objections stand up to cross-examination? Join me and find out. An open Q&A will follow my discussion of the chapter.

Jan 5, 2024 • 1h 2min
You Should Want Christianity To Be True (Dr. Greg Ganssle)
We long for relationships, pursue goodness, desire truth, are startled by beauty, and want to be free. The things that you most want, your deepest desires, will affect how you pursue the best life. It is only within the Christian story that we can understand these desires. Join me and Dr. Ganssle as we show how our desires point back to God and should cause you to want Christianity to be true.
Dr. Greg Ganssle is professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He is the author of several books, including "A Reasonable God: Engaging the New Face of Atheism" and "Thinking About God," and he is the editor of "God and Time." He joined the show before to discuss whether atheism or theism had a better explanation of morality.

Dec 22, 2023 • 1h 3min
Sharing the Gospel with LDS Culture (Dr. Ross Anderson)
What do you do when LDS missionaries knock on your door? Do you ignore the knock as if you're not home or confidently engage with biblical truth? Today's conversation includes insider knowledge, personal stories, cultural insights, evangelistic wisdom, and best practices from former LDS missionaries themselves, to help Christians share their faith wisely and effectively with Latter-day Saints.
Ross Anderson was born in Utah and was raised LDS. After leaving Mormonism as a young adult, he pursued a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry. Anderson has served as a church planter and pastor in Utah for four decades and is currently a teaching pastor at Alpine Church. He is the executive director of Utah Advance Ministries and the founder of the Faith after Mormonism project and the Culture-Wise podcast. Ross has authored various books, including Understanding the Book of Mormon, Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor, and Jesus without Joseph - a study guide for former Mormons. Ross is an avid cyclist and reader. He and his wife, Sally, are parents to five adult children.

Dec 14, 2023 • 1h 9min
Must A Scientifically Minded Person Reject Miracles? (Dr. Richard Howe)
Students frequently tell me that they believe in science, not Christianity. Have scientific facts replaced supernatural myths? Has science shown that miracles are impossible? Dr. Richard Howe joins the show to explain why science has not refuted miracles or the supernatural.
Dr. Howe is Provost, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics, and Norman L. Geisler Chair of Christian Apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is a writer as well as a public speaker and debater in churches, conferences, and university campuses on issues concerning Christian apologetics and philosophy. Both his master's thesis and doctoral dissertation focused on the issue of the existence of God.

Dec 5, 2023 • 1h 32min
My Doctoral Research on a Theology of the Body and Transgenderism
My year 1 doctoral research project was on applying a theology of the body to transgenderism. We are able to respond better to cultural issues when we understand each issue in light of God's story of creation, fall, and redemption. How did God design and create our bodies? How has the fall affected our view of our bodies? What is God's plan to restore our bodies? The answers to these three questions will give Christians a more compassionate, true, and biblically faithful response to transgenderism.

Dec 2, 2023 • 1h 7min
Using Questions When Facing Objections To Christianity (Greg Koukl Street Smarts)
We cannot send people out to engage the culture and have evangelistic conversations without equipping them to handle objections that will inevitably come. Greg Koukl's newest book, Street Smarts, is a follow-up to his best-selling Tactics and will help you use questions to answer Christianity's toughest challenges. This is a practical and proven guide to help you better engage in productive conversations with those who challenge your Christian convictions.
Greg Koukl is the founder and president of Stand to Reason. He holds MA degrees with honors in both apologetics and philosophy. He has spoken on more than 80 university campuses and has hosted his own call-in radio talk show for more than 33 years defending "Christianity worth thinking about." Greg serves as adjunct professor of Christian apologetics at Biola University and is the author of the award-winning The Story of Reality and the bestselling Tactics.