Apologetics315 Interviews

Today's interview is with Thomas E. Woodward, professor at Trinity College of Florida, and founder and director of the C.S. Lewis Society. Woodward is an historian of the intelligent design movement. He talks about his work and background, the intelligent design movement (its definition, origin, and goals), anti-ID objections and rhetoric, the direction of the ID movement today, the Dover trial, the question of "is ID science?", the approaches of Michael Behe, William Dembski, and Stephen Meyer, The Mysterious Epigenome: What Lies Beyond DNA, the future of ID research, resources for people learning and teaching ID, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Christian philosopher Victor Reppert, author of C. S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason. He talks about his background and the development of the argument from reason, C.S. Lewis's formulation of the argument, the difficulties for naturalism to account for thought, objections to the argument, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Bobby Gilpin. He talks about his ministry to educate the Church on how to respond to Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. This interview focuses on Mormonism; a sort of mini-crash course. Aren't Mormons just Christians?, differences between Mormonism and Christianity, the use of the term "cult," a brief history of Mormonism, the authority of the Book of Mormon and other books, the importance of dialogue with Mormons, strategies for engagement and primary topics, common mistakes when speaking with Mormons, the biggest challenges, the significance of Utah, the size and growth of Mormonism, evangelism trips, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Christian philosopher and apologist John Mark Reynolds, incoming provost at Houston Baptist University. He talks about his background and work, the biggest apologetic challenges today, cultural apologetics, the developing apologetics program and philosophy programs at Houston Baptist University, advice for future apologists, asking the right questions in conversation, do's and don'ts, tips for interacting with people online, advice for those wanting to read the great books, reading, movies and cultural awareness, and more.Enjoy.

Today’s interview is with pastor and apologist Phil Fernandes. He talks about apologetics methodologies and his latest book: 7 Great Apologists. He unpacks the various approaches to apologetics, including classical apologetics, historical apologetics, two types of presuppositionalism, verificationalism, comparative religious apologetics, and psychological apologetics. Lots of great insights into the ways of doing apologetics. More from Phil Fernandes at PhilFernandes.org.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Brian Auten, founder of Apologetics 315. He is interviewed by Dr. Timothy McGrew on the past, present, and future of Apologetics 315. The goal of the interview is to get to know a bit more about Brian Auten, how Apologetics 315 came to be, the vision of the ministry, future goals and projects, and how others can help support its growth.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with philosopher and theologian Ken Samples, senior research professor at Reasons to Believe. He talks about the Straight Thinking Podcast, the Unbelievable? Conference 2012 in London, an abductive approach to apologetics, the explanatory power of Christianity over atheism, morality and the human condition, the problem of evil and suffering, the different kinds of evil in the world, God's purposes in suffering, gratuitous evils, how to address the problem of evil with tact, and some of the key ideas in his newest book 7 Truths that Changed the World: Discovering Christianity's Most Dangerous Ideas. Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Chad Williams, evangelist, former Navy SEAL, and author of the book SEAL of God. He talks about his training in the SEALS, his mentor Scott Helvenston, his radical conversion to Christianity, persecution, communicating the Gospel, street preaching, evangelism, the use of testimonies, encouragement in doing evangelism and using apologetics, and more. Chad's website here: StreetApologetics.com Enjoy.

Today's interview is with R. Scott Smith, Associate Professor of Ethics and Christian Apologetics at Biola University. He talks about his latest book, Naturalism and Our Knowledge of Reality, defining naturalism, motivations for naturalism, methodological naturalism, ways of viewing reality, Darwinian views, the evolutionary argument against naturalism (similarities/differences), naturalism's ontological resources, some objections to his view, testing religious truth-claims, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Robin Collins, professor of philosophy at Messiah College. His training is in physics and in philosophy and he is a leading advocate for using the fine-tuning of the universe as a design argument for theism. He talks about his background and training, the fine-tuning argument, the different types of fine-tuning with examples and illustrations (laws, constants and initial conditions), two different ways of presenting the fine-tuning argument, answering common objections to the argument, the uniqueness of life, variations of the multiverse hypothesis, the failure of multiverse theory to explain away fine-tuning, objections to Victor Stenger, upcoming books, simplifying the fine-tuning argument for practical use, common mistakes when presenting the argument, the most common objection (who designed God?), and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with apologist and hip hop artist Vocab Malone. He talks about his debates, relationships with atheists, being confrontational without being adversarial, the Backpack Radio podcast, "street-level" apologetics, his background in hip hop, purpose and message in the music, Wayne Grudem's systematic theology raps (you'll hear one), being in the world but not of it, overcoming challenges to engagement, cultural involvement and discernment, being committed and submitted to the local church (great stuff), putting knowledge into practice, and more. Check out BackPackRadio.com or BackPackTruth.com for Vocab's stuff.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Anthony Horvath, the director of Athanatos Christian Ministries. He defines and talks about using story, the masters of using story, the goal of the Online Apologetics Conference, the keynote speaker and main topics, art and the apologist, how to attend the online conference, the list of speakers, how this conference helps to promote apologetics in the local church, past conference resources, and how to get involved. The free and open public conference is on April 19th. Registrants can attend the 20th and 21st sessions. Check out the conference website at OnlineApologeticsConference.com.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with author and apologist Dan Story. He talks about his experience in doing apologetics, the ten commandments of apologetics, avoiding distractions in engagements, finding out what the real issue is, engaging the closed minded, the concepts and goal of his book Should Christians Be Environmentalists, defining environmentalism, the environmentalist movement, correcting misconceptions about Christians and the environment, approaching the climate change debate, outlining a Bible-based theology of nature, practical application to apologetics and evangelism, and more. His website his at www.danstory.net.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David Instone-Brewer, Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics and the New Testament at Tyndale House, Cambridge. He talks about the goal and content within The Jesus Scandals, the criteria of embarrassment, the punishment of crucifixion and the shame of the cross, the uniqueness of the resurrection, the betrayal by Judas, Jesus' "scandalous" teachings, the teaching about hell, the virgin birth, the cumulative power of the Gospel accounts, advice for apologists, and more. Pick up David's book The Jesus Scandals here. Book website and excerpts here at BibleScandals.comEnjoy.

Today's interview is with C. Michael Patton, president of Reclaiming the Mind/Credo House Ministries (www.reclaimingthemind.org), a ministry of theological development for lay-people. He blogs at Parchment and Pen (www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog) and is also responsible for the development of the Credo House of Theology (www.credohouse.org), a theological coffee house and bookstore. He talks about getting theology to the layperson, the relationship and interface between theology and apologetics, theological equipping for apologists, the importance of wresting with theological issues, pitfalls from neglecting theological training, advice for those considering seminary, the importance of community, important lessons and advice for doing theology and apologetics, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Tom Price and Vince Vitale, academic tutors at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. They talk about their work with RZIM and OCCA, finding Christ in University, cultural differences and Christianity, the value of formal study in apologetics, the pastoral and community dimension of apologetics training, the opportunities and programs at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (certificate program and masters program), and advice for apologists. Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Ravi Zacharias, perhaps one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time. He is author of over twenty books, and his most recent is Why Jesus: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality. In this interview he talks his new book, the "new spirituality," secularism and spiritual hunger, how the media can make a lie seem like the truth, how we arrived at the new spirituality, Deepak Chopra and Oprah, avoiding the dangers of the new spirituality, reasons for hostility against Christianity, how people "reshape" Jesus, the most frequent misconceptions about Jesus, advice for Christian apologists, the hardest lesson to learn when defending the faith, planning devotions, pitfalls to guard against, the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Dr. Ken Boa, president of Reflections Ministries. He talks about his background and education, gifting or calling in the area of apologetics, possible imbalances in doing apologetic/theological studies, spiritual disciplines to be especially mindful of, the role of prayer and intercession in evangelism, advice for education for apologists, disciplines and skills for reading and retaining content, when to speed read and when not to speed read, the Great Books Series, how to make wise reading choices, guarding the reading of Scripture, advice for the budding apologist, dealing with discouragement and burnout, an integrative approach to doing apologetics, and more.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Holly Ordway, professor of composition and literature at MiraCosta College in North County San Diego and author of Not God’s Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith. She is also director of ACM's Literary Apologetics Certificate program. She talks about literary apologetics, what it is and is not, excellence and creativity, what apologetics looks like through literature and the arts, developing and sharpening the skills of the literary apologist, the Literary Apologetics Certificate, and more. Visit Holly's blog: Hieropraxis.Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Dr. Craig Keener, professor of the New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is especially known for his work as a New Testament scholar on Bible background. He is also author of Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. He talks about his background and current work, how his newest book came about, defining miracles, unpacking Hume's objections against miracles, assessing miracle claims outside of Christianity, appealing to naturalistic explanations for miracles, the theological context of miracles, reasons to trust New Testament miracle claims, contemporary miracle claims from around the world, miracles in the west, verifiable and non-verifiable miracle claims, asking for "miracles on demand," miracles and naturalism, the place for miracles and an apologetic for Christianity, and more.Enjoy.