Apologetics 315 Podcast

Paul Copan tackles tough questions about the Old Testament God, including issues like Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, challenging Old Testament laws, slavery, and the judgement of the Canaanites. He also explores the concept of God's jealousy and unravels ethical dilemmas while debunking misconceptions about God's character.

Today's interview is with Dr. Mark Eckel, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Old Testament at Crossroads Bible College in Indianapolis, IN. He is a notable voice in Christian teaching, having written Christian worldview curriculum for schools. He talks about our teacher/student relationship, learning in community, the influence of Francis Schaeffer in his thinking and teaching, what we can learn from Schaeffer today, the balance between generalizing and specializing, the intertwining of apologetics and evangelism, doing cultural apologetics, the mentoring/student relationship, lifelong learning and passion, the discipline of learning and focus, advice for apologists, and more. A rich interview with lots of good nuggets.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Lindsay Brooks, staff apologist of Apologetics.com. He talks about his work with Apologetics.com, the area of aesthetics (or philosophy of beauty), the nature of beauty itself, aesthetics and arguments from design, the argument from desire, the idea of objective beauty, the difference between beauty and taste, the arts in worship, literary apologetics and music, and advice to fellow Christian apologists.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Paul L. Maier, the Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University and a much-published author of both scholarly and popular works. He talks about his background as an historian, the existence of Jesus, his debate with Dan Barker, the pagan myth accusation, ancient sources for the life of Jesus, the historicity of the first Christmas, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Holly Ordway, professor of English and literature and author of Not God's Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith. She talks about her background as an atheist, her encounters with Christians in the past, the influence of literature and poetry, personal influences from others, looking at arguments for the existence of God, counter-arguments against God, psychological explanations, her encounter with Christ, her advice to skeptics and her advice to Christian apologists.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with James Sire, author, lecturer, and Christian apologist. He talks about his background, the impact of The Universe Next Door, defining the concept of worldview, the benefit of understanding worldview concepts, the intellectual life as a Christian calling, the renewal and discipline of the mind, the cultivation of wisdom, thoughts on lifelong learning, the biggest errors of Christian communicators, tips for better communication, apologetics and calling, advice to Christian apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Joe Carter, online editor of First Things magazine and author of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator. He talks about the the use of arguments (and how Jesus used them), the importance of rhetoric for the communicator (and Aristotle's framework), the difference between persuasion and manipulation, the proper use of emotion, using imagery and idiom, rhetoric vs. sophistry, making messages more memorable, Jesus as a debater, elements of discipleship, and more. The website for the book is here.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with biochemist Michael Behe, Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University. He is also a leading voice in the Intelligent Design community and Fellow of the Discovery Institute. He talks about Intelligent Design, detecting design in molecular systems, his views on evolution, Lenski's fruit fly research, irreducible complexity, philosophical presuppositions, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Michael Licona, the Apologetics Coordinator at the North American Mission Board and Research Professor of New Testament at Southern Evangelical Seminary. He discusses his new book The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, philosophy of history and historical methodology, the knowability of the past, historical facts, miracle claims and the historian, judging the relevant evidence, assessing the historical bedrock, weighing competing historical hypotheses, struggling through bias and doubts, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David K. Clark, executive vice president and provost of Bethel University and author of Dialogical Apologetics. He talks about apologetics as a practice (and not just a discipline), being a specialist and being a generalist, his book Dialogical Apologetics, relationships and dialogue, how dialogical apologetics applies to methodology, paying attention to emotions as well as questions, "less is more," becoming better communicators, belief formation, using creativity, the power of your character, advice to apologists, and more.Enjoy.