Apologetics 315 Podcast

Today's interview is with Jeremiah J. Johnston, founder of Christian Thinkers Society at New Day Church in Kansas City. He is also He talks about his background and how he got into apologetics, how apologetics should be seen before it is heard, a memorable way to visualize the number of New Testament manuscripts, the Christian Thinkers Society (a church-based apologetics program within the local church featuring scholar interviews), advice for those considering starting apologetics ministries within their church, challenges that may need to be overcome when doing this sort of ministry, strategies in adapting scholarly content for lay-audiences, the future vision for CTS, and more. Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Mark Mittelberg, author, speaker, and evangelism strategist. He talks about his background and ministry work, the relationship between apologetics and evangelism, integrating apologetics into the local church, his book The Reason Why Faith Makes Sense, the goal and content of the book (it's a great apologetic evangelistic tool), the idea of spiritual seekers, advice for apologists, and more. Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Andrew Fellows, the Director of L’Abri Fellowship in the United Kingdom. L’Abri is a community dedicated to both demonstrating and explaining the truthfulness of Christianity. He talks about his work at L'Abri, the heritage of Francis Schaeffer, the contribution and unique impact of Schaeffer on apologetics, dealing with the "big questions" that people are exploring, the question behind questions, the greatest obstacles people have, the demeanor of the apologist, the importance of hands-on training and mentoring, the church's interaction and relationship with culture (cultural apologetics), Jesus the subversive apologist, following Jesus' example, speaking to the heart, the hiddenness of God, advice (and challenge) for apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Anthony Horvath, the director of Athanatos Christian Ministries. This October, the Online Apologetics Academy fall semester will commence. Anthony talks about the Academy, the upcoming semester, the speakers and courses, the Gary Habermas lectures, how the courses work and the workload, the optional certificate course available, and how to sign up.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Dr. Doug Groothuis, professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary, and author of the newly-released apologetics textbook: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. He talks about the scope and purpose of this book, the overall structure, the uniqueness of this book as an apologetics textbook with a cumulative case, the spiritual discipline of study and the life of the mind, the benefits of study and intentional reading, and strategies for working through large books/material. This interview is the introduction to the Read Along with Apologetics315 project, which begins Friday, September 9th. Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Brian Auten, interviewed by the blogger WinteryKnight about topics and ideas in apologetics. WinteryKnight's blog focuses on worldview, marriage and chastity, politics, and apologetics.Questions for WK:• Why not use your real name?• What's the focus on WinteryKnight.com?• What's your goal in interviewing Brian?Questions for Brian:• How did you come to be in Northern Ireland?• How did you get interested in apologetics?• What would you do with unlimited funding to propagate apologetics resources?• What arguments are the most persuasive for you?• What arguments should we use with others?• Do we need a million "one dollar" apologists, or one "million-dollar" apologist?• How important do you think it is for apologists to focus on scientific evidences?• How can the lay person get up to speed on these evidences?• What's the best way to make the case for the resurrection?• Use a sledgehammer approach, or a velvet glove approach?• What about psychological reasons for rejecting the arguments ?• How does apologetics benefit Christians?• What about dealing with fear when speaking with people?• What are the unique resources on the blog?Thanks to WK for doing the interview!Enjoy.

Today's interview is with astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink. Jeff is a research scholar with Reasons to Believe, and serves part-time on the physics and astronomy research faculty at UCLA. He is author of Who's Afraid of the Multiverse?, the main topic of our interview today. He talks about his background and how he got into astrophysics, scientific evidences pointing to God, the role of natural theology, the strongest (and weakest) arguments from science, the multiverse, the various types of multiverses, why scientists postulate the multiverse, various objections to the multiverse, should Christians, how to be well-informed in scientific evidences, advice for apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Rick Walston, president and founder of Columbia Evangelical Seminary, which offers a distance learning program with self-paced Mentorship Study. This interview is one of a series of dialogues regarding educational opportunities in apologetics studies. The purpose of this interview is to explore what CES has to offer for those studying theology and apologetics. Rick talks about the life of the mind for the Christian, the value of formal study in apologetics, and Columbia Evangelical Seminary.• What does the college offer?• What is mentorship study?• How are the courses self-paced?• How is coursework customized for each student?• How does a student select their mentor?• Who are some of the faculty?• Is CES accredited? Why not?• What to watch out for with accreditation• Who needs an accredited school?• Who is this school not for?• Who is this school a good match for?• Does CES measure up to 'brick and mortar' schools?• What are the degree programs CES offers?• What are the tuition costs? (with comparisons)• And more...Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Christian philosopher Greg Ganssle. He talks about his work with Rivendell Institute, how he became a Christian and got interested in philosophy, his key areas of focus (philosophy of religion), the influence of his study on his faith, his view of philosophy as it relates to the faith, evaluating truth claims from various systems of thought, atheism and whether or not it is making truth claims about God's existence, his intro to philosophy book Thinking About God, how to raise the bar of Christian thought, the role of a basic understanding of philosophy, learning about logic, various ways to think about apologetics, the impact of the new atheism and the arguments they have brought to the table, his advice to Christian apologists, the importance of knowing the Gospel, how to be a better communicator, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Matthew Burford, President and Founder of Tactical Faith, an organization seeking to advance apologetic and theological learning within the evangelical community through financial assistance and consulting. He talks about his background and how apologetics has influenced his faith, ministries that have been a strong influence, Tactical Faith and its vision, testimonies from the work, the need for this type of organization, strategies for equipping the local church, goals for scholarships, how people can work with Tactical Faith, and more.Enjoy.