Apologetics315 Interviews

Today's interview is with Lou Markos, Professor in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University. And he's a C.S. Lewis expert. He talks about literary apologetics (or cultural apologetics), why and how Christians should write and be involved in culture, his recent book On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis, the different approaches of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, how we need cultural apologists today, HBU's apologetics program, advice for apologists, and the biggest apologetic lesson he has learned from C.S. Lewis.Enjoy.

Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315.This week I'd like to ask for your support for the ongoing work at Apologetics 315.In particular, this is related to the ongoing project to transcribe the interviews that you are listening to in this podcast. Personally, I find these interviews some of the most valuable resources on Apologetics 315. However, not everyone is a podcast listener; I believe many more people can gain access to the content of these interviews if they were written.So here's the vision: to transcribe all of them. This will take some time, but it is doable with the help of volunteer transcribers as well as with the help of financial support to fund some of the transcription. Do you feel like you can help with transcription? If it seem that it's the sort of thing that's right up your alley, then please contract me at interviews@apologetics315.com. If you can't even type, but still would love to see this happen, then why not donate 10, 20, or 50 dollars toward the project? Just click on the

Today's interview is with apologist Mary Jo Sharp, founder of Confident Christianity and assistant professor at Houston Baptist University. She talks about apologetics ministry, exploring Masters programs in apologetics, her recent LifeWay DVD Bible study: Why Do You Believe That? A Faith Conversation, tips for conversations and communication, overcoming roadblocks to dialogue, women in apologetics ministry, and more. Also check out her book: Defending the Faith: Apologetics in Women's Ministry.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with author of Arguing with Friends: Keeping Your Friends and Your Convictions. He also runs the blog whyjesus.ca and arguingwithfriends.com. He talks about influences in apologetics, conversational apologetics, the goal in personal interactions with others, understanding arguments (this Monty Python skit), tactics vs. strategies, learning from mistakes in doing apologetics, and advice for effective communication.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David Marshall, founder and director of the Kuai Mu Institute for Christianity and World Cultures and editor of the forthcoming Faith Seeking Understanding: Essays in Memory of Paul Brand and Ralph Winter. He talks about his work and background, apologetics in missions, his latest book, the influence of Paul Brand and Ralph Winter, how the Gospels demonstrate the historicity of the Gospel story, advice for those doing apologetics, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with pastor and reformed theologian Douglas Wilson. He talks about his background and influences, his pastoral ministry, apologetics and its role in the local church, how to incorporate apologetics into preaching, encouraging apologetic engagement within the church, his debates with Christopher Hitchens (and the DVD Collision), the presuppositional approach to apologetics, biggest lessons learned from speaking and debating, pitfalls to avoid, advice for apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is author of a number of books, including God With Us: Divine Condescention and the Attributes of God, and Reasons for Faith: Philosophy in the Service of Theology. He talks about his background and influences, Christian Apologetics Past & Present: A Primary Source Reader, presuppositional apologetics, the work of Cornelius Van Til, "covenantal apologetics," the practical application of presuppositionalism, common ground, common misconceptions of presuppositionalism, recommended reading, advice, and much more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Craig Parton, attorney and author of The Defense Never Rests: A Lawyer's Quest for the Gospel as well as Religion on Trial. He is also the United States Director of the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. He talks about his faith journey, a lawyer's perspective on the evidence for Christianity, how to investigate religious truth claims, how we know things are true, evidential methodology, "beyond a reasonable doubt", how the burden of proof works, how to disprove Christianity, the apologetics academy in Strasboug, lessons learned as an apologist, advice for those doing apologetics, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Frank Beckwith, associate professor of Church-State Studies at Baylor University and associate director of the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies. He talks about his background, the importance of ethics and church-state issues, the reason for controversy about Christianity and politics, the meaning of "separation between church and state," what the Bible says about politics, how Christians should be engaged politically, thinking about hot-button issues, how to properly argue for issues, factors for evaluating candidates, the importance of voting, his book Politics for Christians: Statecraft as Soulcraft (review here), recommended reading, and advice for apologists.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with apologist Kerby Anderson, president of Probe Ministries and host of the Point of View Radio Talk Show. He talks about his background and influences, the history of Probe Ministries, the concept of worldview, how we go about testing worldviews, the various facets of worldviews, integrating a Christian worldview, the National Student Mind Games Conference, practical advice for parents equipping their children, advice for Christian apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Michael J. Kruger, Professor of New Testament at Reformed theological seminary in Charlotte, NC. He talks about his background in New Testament studies, his new book on the canon, Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books, the nature of the Bible, the meaning and formation of the canon, criteria of canonicity and attributes of canonicity, "other gospels," the apocrypha, how we can know what books belong in the Bible, advice for Christian apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Ranald Macauley, founder of L'Abri, UK and founder of Christian Heritage, UK. He talks about his background and work in ministry, working with Francis Schaeffer, L'Abri, UK, Christian Heritage's vision, the spiritual condition of Europe, the importance of proactive apologetics, apologetics apprenticeships, summer schools in apologetics and theology, audio resources, how pastors can help their congregations be more intellectually engaged, facing future challenges, advice for those studying apologetics, and the importance of reading Schaeffer.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Bobby Conway, lead pastor of Life Fellowship in Charlotte, NC. He is also the founder of the One Minute Apologist, a creative YouTube apologetics ministry. He is also author of the book, Hell, Rob Bell, and What Happens When People Die. He talks about his background, the need for apologetics in the church, incorporating apologetics into preaching, doing multimedia apologetics, advice for those studying apologetics, the On Guard DVD program, and more. Lots of great insights.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with author, designer, musician, and apologist Doug Powell. He talks about his creative design and music background, how he got into apologetics, the integration of creativity and apologetics, his interactive book and app Resurrection iWitness, the development of the New Testament canon, the need for clarity in apologetics presentations, speaking tips, the Biola Apologetics program, advice for apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Ted Turnau. Ted is a college lecturer who teaches Cultural Studies and Religion in Prague, Czech Republic. His interest is in issues of popular culture, imagination, and how they relate to the Christian faith. He is author of Popologetics: Popular Culture in Christian Perspective. He talks about how he got into apologetics and cultural studies, defining popular culture, the themes in Popologetics, apologetics and popular culture in conversations, thinking deeper than just the "issues," the limits of engaging with culture, wrong ways of interacting with culture, tools for understanding the world view of pieces of popular culture, a theology of popular culture, practical ways of using popular culture as a means of engagement, advice for apologists today, recommended resources for engaging with culture, and much more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with author and apologist Dave Sterrett. He talks about his background and work in apologetics, the relationship between apologetics and evangelism, the centrality of evangelism, why we should trust Jesus, defining faith and trust, the Coffeehouse Chronicles, why young people fall walk away from their faith in college, I Am Second, the impact of personal transformation, his advice for other Christian apologists, and more.Enjoy.

Today is part TWO of a two-part interview with Alex McFarland, Director of Worldview Studies at North Greenville University. He is an author, apologist, and speaker on religion and culture, talk show host of the "Explore the Word" Radio Program, the Sound Rezn radio program, and more. He talks about his most recent book, 10 Answers for Skeptics, the various kinds of skepticism, discerning the difference between searchers and skeptics, the most common objections people have, generalizing and specializing in apologetics, advice for apologists, and more. For conference info, see www.truthforanewgeneration.com.Enjoy.

Today is part ONE of a two-part interview with Alex McFarland, Director of Worldview Studies at North Greenville University. He is an author, apologist, and speaker on religion and culture, talk show host of the "Explore the Word" Radio Program, the Sound Rezn radio program, and more. He talks about his background and how he got into apologetics, the importance of apologetics in youth ministry, the Truth for a New Generation Apologetics Conference, defining apologetics and its role in the local church, opening doors in the local church, how to get better educated formally in apologetics, schools with apologetics programs, and more. For conference info, see www.truthforanewgeneration.com.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Christian philosopher or religion, Richard Swinburne. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years Swinburne has been a proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. He talks about his background, the changes in Christian philosophy in the past decades, the goal for the Christian philosopher, defending and advocating Christianity, his approach to arguing for the existence of God, objections to Christianity, answering the problem of evil & suffering, his advice to Christian defenders, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David Glass, author of Atheism's New Clothes: Exploring and Exposing the Claims of the New Atheists. David has a Ph. D. in theoretical physics and an MA in Philosophy from Queen's University, Belfast and teaches at the University of Ulster. He talks about the relationship between faith and science, the new atheism and its popular influence, the case for Christian belief, Dawkins and Dennett's evolutionary account of religious belief, Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism and its alternative versions, Dawkins' argument that there is almost certainly no God, advice for Christians interacting with atheists, the Saints & Sceptics website, and more.Enjoy.