Apologetics 315 Podcast

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.

This interview is with Sean McDowell (also check out his first interview and second interview). In this audio Sean talks about his current projects and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's PhD program, advice for those looking at Masters programs, the size of the need for apologetics in the local church, his small-group resource called GodQuest, the goal of the project, the content of the program (the six 'signposts' and the contributing interviews), how the resource can be used (for believers and nonbelievers), and more. He calls this resource a kind of apologetics-lite that can introduce your church to apologetics.

Find the GodQuest resources here.

Today's interview is with Clifford Williams, teacher of philosophy at Trinity College in Deerfield, IL. He is an author of Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires & Emotions for Faith. He talks about his background and how he got into philosophy, the role of philosophy in theology and apologetics, the meaning of "existential" and the existential argument for belief in God, needs and desires and their role in the existential argument, various objections to the argument, the role of the argument in a cumulative case for God, practical application for apologetics, further resources, and more.

Today's interview is with Tony Watkins, speaker, writer and editor with Damaris and Managing Editor of Culturewatch.org. He talks about his background and work, CultureWatch and looking at the message behind the media, the definition of culture and media, the importance of critically examining culture and media, the influence of film on us personally and in culture, what movies tell us about ourselves and the world, identifying redeeming themes and issues that echo Christian truths, being culturally aware, the definition and importance of worldviews, discerning worldviews and the messages in film, and more.

Tony's webpage is: www.tonywatkins.co.uk.

Check out books by Tony Watkins:
• Focus: The Art and Soul of Cinema
• Dark Matter: A Thinking Fan’s Guide to Philip Pullman

Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David Wood, a former atheist who converted to Christianity after examining the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. As well as being a Teaching Fellow in Philosophy, David directs Acts 17 Apologetics Ministries, defending the Christian Faith against atheistic and Islamic objections. He talks about the Dearborn Arab Festival, the growth of Islam, the crucifixion of Jesus (Christian view compared to Islam), the usage of the word "Allah," Muslim arguments for the Qu'ran, the question of Jihad, assessing arguments in favor of Islam, inaccuracies in the Qu'ran, recommended resources on Islam, and more.

Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David T. Lamb, associate professor of OT at Biblical Theological Seminary. He is author of a newly released book "God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament God Angry, Sexist, and Racist?"

He talks about his background in Old Testament studies, dealing with difficult passages in the OT, the angry God and the loving God, principles for reading OT passages for better understanding, responding to the claims that the Bible is sexist, racist, and violent, law versus grace in the Old Testament and the New, the importance of working through and discussing tough questions, using the OT to point people to Christ, and more.

Enjoy.

Today's interview is with Pastor David Robertson of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee, Scotland and Chairman of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity. He talks about his interaction with Richard Dawkins' God Delusion book, his open letters to Dawkins (and the Dawkins Letters book), his thoughts on persuasive evangelism, the goals of evangelistic conversation, the positive effect from the new atheism, how being a pastor overlaps with evangelism and apologetics, the problem with American apologetics, the importance of practical application, connecting with an audience, the top issues that always seem to come up, the state of the new atheism today, the influence of postmodernism, stopping calling yourself an apologist, our tone with others, the starting point for conversations, and more.

Enjoy.

Apologies: the audio quality was substandard this week because of a technical glitch.