Don’t get me wrong, I love N.T. Wright, Ravi Zacharias, Tim Keller, William Lane Craig and Os Guinness and all the rest. They’re phenomenal. But I love coming across new, useful resources and the ones listed below have proved to be extremely encouraging to me. I hope you find something here that will personally be of value.
–Glenn Peoples–
An excellent philosopher who stands out for his ability to be erudite and snarky at the same time. Also, unlike many in academia, he seems to aim a lot of his time toward lay people, and he actually succeeds because he’s relatable. I mean, he likes metal music, he posts witty things on facebook that I actually find worth reading, and yet, he has a Phd and has debated prominent philosophers such as Stephen Law (on the evil God argument LISTEN) and Arif Ahmed (on God and Morality LISTEN). He blogs at his website www.rightreason.org and has an excellent podcast there too (A favorite podcast episode is: Stop being a Christian and start being a person or his response to Zeitgeist)
–Michael Heiser–
A theologian in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Studies who, like the person above, has a penchant for writing for the average reader over the academic. His website michaelheiser.com and his blog, The Naked Bible are loaded with resources on a wide array of topics. He also has an excellent podcast. Heiser especially enjoys debunking popularized myths, both Christian and secular. He has a second blog called PaleoBabble dedicated to exposing poorly reasoned arguments that combine ancient cultures (his expertise) with anything from ancient aliens to popularized archeological nonsense. Definitely worth checking out!
–Unbelievable radio–
Highly recommended podcast! This is a UK based Christian radio station that features debates between non-Christians and Christians, as well as in house Christian debates. Guests (Christian and non-Christian) have included, Richard Bauckham, Philip Pullman, N.T. Wright, William Lane Craig, Rob Bell, Richard Carrier, Mark Goodacre, Lawrence Krauss, Mark Driscoll, Alvin Plantinga, Craig Keener and many, many more. Topics range from theological, to apologetic, to cultural, to political. Just go to the podcast feed, scroll down, and you’re bound to find a couple dozen podcasts that will make you wish you had a spare thirty hours to blow this week.
–Nabeel Qureshi–
A former Muslim who came to faith in Jesus intellectually, as well as through dreams. The best speaker to a Muslim audience that I have yet to find. His knowledge of the barriers Muslims face to come to Christ flows from his own personal journey coming to Jesus. His knowledge of historical Jesus studies, combined with a humble, gentle spirit and clear joyful love for Christ make him captivating to listen to (or for me at least!) Nabeel has his MD from Eastern Virginia Medical School, but also has his MA in Christian apologetics from Biola and an MA from Duke University in Religion. He is part of Ravi Zacharias’ speaking team. His numerous debates and talks at college campuses can be found on youtube or at RZIM. For a great example of a typical talk, check out his most recent one at Georgia Tech HERE.
–J. Warner Wallace–
A former cold case homicide detective who left atheism for Christianity in his early thirties. He is an excellent speaker, and gives a fresh perspective on how his former work as a detective relates to investigating the gospels, and Christianity in general. He’s fun to listen to (podcast here), knowledgeable, and entertaining at the same time (watch a talk HERE). His book Cold Case Christianity has become very popular, far topping in my opinion the breadth and cogency of Lee Strobel’s work for a lay audience. Wallace now works at Stand to Reason with Greg Koukl (another great, but better known resource)
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