Apologetics Profile

Apologetics might sometimes seem like an off-putting, snobbishly academic endeavor for those among us who are more prone to delight in arguing with nonbelievers. But what might apologetics done properly look like? And what does practical, everyday apologetics look like for believers of all backgrounds and life experiences?

In 1 Peter 3:15, we are all called to "give a defense for the hope that is in us, with gentleness and reverence." In that spirit, we as Christians are all apologists. Apologetics is then relevant to our faith, to the church, and to the wider unbelieving culture.

This week and next on Apologetics Profile, we'll be chatting with lead pastor of South Spring Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas Chris Legg about these very issues. Pastor Chris will share with us what everyday apologetics looks like in practice in their church, from Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, to daily life in general.

Pastor Chris Legg, LPC, and his wife Ginger have been living out the parable of God’s love for His people since 1993 and have been blessed with five great kids. He is the Lead Pastor at South Spring Baptist Church in Tyler, TX (https://www.southspring.org ) and is also the founding owner and clinical director of Alethia Family Counseling Center
( https://www.alethiacounseling.com ), which offers training, counseling, speaking and business consulting in several locations in Texas.   

He and his son Mark are the authors of the book Sex and Marriage, which is intended to
restore the power God intended in our marriages.

Learn more about SSBC at  www.southspring.org More about Alethia at https://www.alethiacounseling.com

Contact Chris, read any of his articles, and look for other resources at his
website at https://www.chrismlegg.com and at https://chrismlegg.substack.com/.

Resources from Watchman Fellowship:
Apologetics Profile podcast interview with Robert Bowman, Jr., about different approaches to Christian apologetics.
Atheism Profile by Robert Bowman Jr.: www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/atheismprofile.pdf 

Word Faith Movement Profile by Robert Bowman Jr.: www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/wordfaithprofile.pdf
Faith Has Its Reasons: Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith, by Kenneth Boa and Robert Bowman Jr. (https://amzn.to/2YKeecD)
Fast Facts on Apologetics.

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
The complete Profile Notebook (Digital Edition, PDF, approx. 700-pages): www.watchman.org/DigitalNotebook
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

What do charges of blasphemy against Jesus teach us about who Jesus really is? Clearly the Jews, Scribes, Pharisees, and even Caiaphas the High Priest thought Jesus claimed to be God through what He said and what He did (see Mark 2; Matthew 26; Mark 2; Luke 5; and John 10).

Many skeptics, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses and Latter-day Saints have tried explaining away passages like Mark 2, where the Scribes thought Jesus was blaspheming. They believe Jesus only had the authority to forgive sins, not that He was God, the Son, incarnate.

This week on the Profile, we will tackle this objection as well as delve into Matthew's account of Caiaphas tearing his robes in Matthew 26:65. Both passages (Mark 2:1-12 and Matthew 26:57-68) are solid evidence that Jesus, the Son of Man, is in fact God the Son, incarnate.

From IVP
Our guest again this week is Mikel Del Rosario (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary), professor of Bible and theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He has coauthored thirty-one journal articles on apologetics and cultural engagement in Bibliotheca Sacra with his mentor, Darrell L. Bock. A member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Del Rosario is host of The Apologetics Guy Show, a podcast on YouTube and the Christianity Today Network. He previously hosted Dallas Theological Seminary’s cultural engagement podcast, The Table. He enjoys living with his wife in Chicago.

Free Four-Page Articles from Watchman Fellowship:
Charles Darwin
Naturalism
Scientism
Deconstruction
Atheism

Additional Resources from Watchman Fellowship:

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Daniel Ray's The Story of the Cosmos - How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God (https://www.thestoryofthecosmos.com).
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

Did Jesus really say He was God? The Scribes, Pharisees, and the High Priest Caiaphas sure understood Jesus to be making that claim. They accused Jesus of blasphemy (see Mark 2; Matthew 26; Mark 2; Luke 5; and John 10).

This week and next on the Profile, we will be examining two specific passages where Jesus is accused of blasphemy with apologist, author, and Professor of Bible and theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago Dr. Mikel Del Rosario. We will be discussing his new book Did Jesus Really Say He Was God? and exploring why the Bible gives us an accurate historical account of Jesus's life and ministry.

From IVP
Mikel Del Rosario (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is professor of Bible and theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He has coauthored thirty-one journal articles on apologetics and cultural engagement in Bibliotheca Sacra with his mentor, Darrell L. Bock. A member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Del Rosario is host of The Apologetics Guy Show, a podcast on YouTube and the Christianity Today Network. He previously hosted Dallas Theological Seminary’s cultural engagement podcast, The Table. He enjoys living with his wife in Chicago.

Free Four-Page Articles from Watchman Fellowship:
Charles Darwin
Naturalism
Scientism
Deconstruction
Atheism

Additional Resources from Watchman Fellowship:

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Daniel Ray's The Story of the Cosmos - How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God (https://www.thestoryofthecosmos.com).
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

What does it mean to be human?

We thoughtfully tackle this ancient question on our annual Year-in-Review episode, featuring segments from Profile interviews of 2025.

Guests include Michael Ward, Nadya Williams, Gary Habermas, Robert Bowman, Paul Nelson, Michael Behe, Casey Luskin, Robert Minich, John Oswalt, Sandra Tanner, and Michael Ray Lewis.

Free Watchman Profile Articles
Atheism
Deconstructionism
Charles Darwin
Scientism
Carl Sagan
Naturalism
Bart Ehrman

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

Isaiah expert and Old Testament scholar Dr. John Oswalt is our guest again this week on the Profile. On this episode John discusses the discovery of the Great Isaiah Scroll in Qumran in 1947, more of Isaiah 53, and the prophecy of Cyrus the Great in chapter 45. 

Dr. John Oswalt Asbury served on the faculty of Asbury Theological seminary from 1970 to 1982 as professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages, and again from 1989 to 1999 as Professor of Old Testament. He rejoined Asbury in 2009 as visiting distinguished professor of Old Testament studies. He has also served as research professor of Old Testament at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Miss., from 1999 to 2009, was president of Asbury College from 1983 to 1986, a member of the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., from 1986 to 1989, and  Interim President of Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ridgeland, MS from April 2019 through March 2020.

He is the author of 16 books, most notable of which is the two-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah in the New International Commentary of the Old Testament. His most recent book is The Holy One of Israel: Studies in the Book of Isaiah, released in 2014. He has also written numerous articles that have appeared in Bible encyclopedias, scholarly journals and popular religious periodicals. Dr. Oswalt is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, with membership in the Kentucky Annual Conference. He has served as a part-time pastor in congregations in New England and Kentucky, and is a frequent speaker in conferences, camps and local churches. Oswalt received a B.A. from Taylor University; a B.D. and Th.M. from Asbury Seminary; and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

The Bible Among the Myths 

Isaiah Commentary

Resources from Watchman Fellowship

 Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Bart Ehrman by Dr. Rhyne Putman: www.watchman.org/Ehrman 

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
The complete Profile Notebook (Digital Edition, PDF, over 600-pages): www.watchman.org/DigitalNotebook
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

"Of all the books in the OT, Isaiah is perhaps the richest. Its literary grandeur is unequaled. Its scope is unparalleled. The breadth of its view of God is unmatched. In so many ways it is a book of superlatives. Thus, it is no wonder that Isaiah is the most quoted prophet in the NT, and along with Psalms and Deuteronomy, one of the most frequently cited of all OT books. Study of it is an opportunity for unending inspiration and challenge…it comes to us as a word from God, a revelation of the inevitable conflict between divine glory and human pride, of self-destruction which that pride must bring, and of the grace of God in restoring that destroyed humanity to himself. To read the book with the open eyes of the spirit is to see oneself, at times all too clearly, but also to see God whose holiness is made irresistible by his love." - Dr. John Oswalt from his two-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah. 

Dr. John Oswalt is our very special guest this week and next on Apologetics Profile. He will be taking us through some of the highlights of this magisterial theological work. His insights will better equip you to give a defense to non-believers who doubt the history and authorship of Isaiah. 

Dr. John Oswalt Asbury served on the faculty of Asbury Theological seminary from 1970 to 1982 as professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages, and again from 1989 to 1999 as Professor of Old Testament. He rejoined Asbury in 2009 as visiting distinguished professor of Old Testament studies. He has also served as research professor of Old Testament at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Miss., from 1999 to 2009, was president of Asbury College from 1983 to 1986, a member of the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., from 1986 to 1989, and  Interim President of Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ridgeland, MS from April 2019 through March 2020.

He is the author of 16 books, most notable of which is the two-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah in the New International Commentary of the Old Testament. His most recent book is The Holy One of Israel: Studies in the Book of Isaiah, released in 2014. He has also written numerous articles that have appeared in Bible encyclopedias, scholarly journals and popular religious periodicals. Dr. Oswalt is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, with membership in the Kentucky Annual Conference. He has served as a part-time pastor in congregations in New England and Kentucky, and is a frequent speaker in conferences, camps and local churches. Oswalt received a B.A. from Taylor University; a B.D. and Th.M. from Asbury Seminary; and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

The Bible Among the Myths 

Isaiah Commentary

Resources from Watchman Fellowship

 Watchman Fellowship 4-page Profile on Bart Ehrman by Dr. Rhyne Putman: www.watchman.org/Ehrman 

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
The complete Profile Notebook (Digital Edition, PDF, over 600-pages): www.watchman.org/DigitalNotebook
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

How have industry and technology shaped our understanding of ourselves and of our understanding and relationship with God? How have such intellectual and societal trends contributed to the rise of atheism and unbelief?

We continue our conversation this week with author and teaching fellow of the Davenant Institute in Landrum, South Carolina, Dr. Joseph Minich. We discuss some of his 2023 book Bulwarks of Unbelief - Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age. 

From the Davenant Institute
Dr. Joseph Minich Dr. (PhD, The University of Texas at Dallas) is Faculty Chair and Professor of Philosophy at Davenant Hall. As part of his work, he also co-hosts the Pilgrim Faith podcast. The founding editor of Ad Fontes and former Editor-in-Chief of the Davenant Press, he is the author of Enduring Divine Absence (Davenant Press, 2018) and Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age (Lexham Press, 2023). His public writing can be found at The Calvinist International, Mere Orthodoxy, Modern Reformation, and Ad Fontes.

Free Four-Page Articles from Watchman Fellowship:
Charles Darwin
Naturalism
Scientism
Deconstruction
Atheism

Additional Resources from Watchman Fellowship:

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Daniel Ray's The Story of the Cosmos - How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God (https://www.thestoryofthecosmos.com).
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

What intellectual and social paradigms have made atheism seem like a plausible and viable alternative worldview in the 21st century? What factors have contributed to the cultural dissolution of the Christian faith in our time?

On the next two episodes of the Profile, we will tackle some of these questions with our guest, author and teaching fellow of the Davenant Institute in Landrum, South Carolina, Dr. Joseph Minich. Minich's 2023 book Bulwarks of Unbelief - Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age explores the thesis that the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century has created intellectual and social plausibility structures for modern-day unbelief.

From the Davenant Institute
Dr. Joseph Minich Dr. (PhD, The University of Texas at Dallas) is Faculty Chair and Professor of Philosophy at Davenant Hall. As part of his work, he also co-hosts the Pilgrim Faith podcast. The founding editor of Ad Fontes and former Editor-in-Chief of the Davenant Press, he is the author of Enduring Divine Absence (Davenant Press, 2018) and Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age (Lexham Press, 2023). His public writing can be found at The Calvinist International, Mere Orthodoxy, Modern Reformation, and Ad Fontes.

Link to the audio clip from the couple from the UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy-QQDlJb20

Free Four-Page Articles from Watchman Fellowship:
Charles Darwin
Naturalism
Scientism
Deconstruction
Atheism

Additional Resources from Watchman Fellowship:

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Daniel Ray's The Story of the Cosmos - How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God (https://www.thestoryofthecosmos.com).
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

Today, science has uncovered many wonders about the cosmos and about life within it, but science has also "reduced" most everything in the universe to virtually nothing. In our attempt to understand the universe and ourselves down to a quantified, subatomic constituency we have not only emptied the universe, but also virtually emptied ourselves.

C.S. Lewis well understood that scientific quantification of the physical universe and scientific empiricism in general, cannot be the foundational paradigm for how we understand the cosmos and our place within it. Lewis was not criticizing science per se, however. Rather, he was highly critical of the belief that the scientific quantification of reality was the only way to understand reality. In such a universe, the essential facets of what make us human, morality, virtue, truth, beauty, and goodness all become mere emotive sentiments.

This week on the Profile we continue our conversation with C.S. Lewis scholar Dr. Michael Ward about Lewis's prescient work The Abolition of Man and how it remains relevant for us today.

From michaelward.net

Michael Ward is an English literary critic and theologian. He works at the University of Oxford where he is an associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion. He is the author of the award-winning and best-selling Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press) and of After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man (Word on Fire Academic); he is the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis (Cambridge University Press). Though based at Oxford in his native England, Dr Ward is also employed as Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University, Texas, teaching one course per semester as part of the online MA program in Christian Apologetics.

Free Four-Page Articles From Watchman Fellowship

Charles Darwin
Carl Sagan's Cosmos
Naturalism
Deconstruction

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

On the last four episodes of the Profile, we have discussed the importance of understanding and living in accordance with the fact that we as human beings are intentionally created by God, in His image. When we lose sight of this central truth about our humanity, much moral and societal confusion and many evils will soon follow.

If naturalism is true, then morality and virtue are mere sentiments, not anything objectively true or real. Literary scholar and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis recognized what individual and cultural consequences would follow in the wake of moral relativism.

On this episode of Apologetics Profile, we discuss C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man with Lewis scholar and author Dr. Michael Ward and how Lewis's thoughts are still very much relevant for our time.

From michaelward.net

Michael Ward is an English literary critic and theologian. He works at the University of Oxford where he is an associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion. He is the author of the award-winning and best-selling Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press) and of After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man (Word on Fire Academic); he is the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis (Cambridge University Press). Though based at Oxford in his native England, Dr Ward is also employed as Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University, Texas, teaching one course per semester as part of the online MA program in Christian Apologetics.

Free Four-Page Articles From Watchman Fellowship

Charles Darwin
Carl Sagan's Cosmos
Naturalism
Deconstruction

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free.
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (over 600 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/notebook.
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/give.
Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2025 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.