In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Dr. Phil Fernandes on the topic of apologetics as it relates to pastoring. Lots of insights and stories in this episode! 2:08 - Recommended YouTube channel: Acts 17 Apologetics 5:00 - Intro to Dr. Phil Fernandes 6:38 - Phil’s background 10:36 - A story of Phil being mistaken for Columbo? 17:55 - Character among Christian apologists 19:43 - Topics that need addressed in our current culture 23:09 - Paranormal apologetics 25:23 - Cultural apolog...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 7 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview apologist Lenny Esposito on cultural apologetics, superhero movies, and ministry on the internet. 0:36 - Introduction to Lenny Esposito 2:47 - Apologetics and the dawn of the internet 4:44 - Old school internet apologetics 5:29 - Is Lenny related to famous hockey players? 6:40 - Are there any resources still lacking for apologetics today? 10:48 - Defining and describing cultural apologetics 16:47 - Grounding common cultural values in the Chri...
Aug 22, 2021•56 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross answer the mailbag and then review the past 14 episodes and the interview guests, sharing insights and things learned. 0:29 - News from the world of Gozer 4:39 - Mailbag feedback 12:10 - The Stephen C. Meyer interview 15:58 - The Ken Samples episodes 19:17 - Katy Faust and Them Before Us 24:11 - The Michael J. Nelson interview 29:40 - The Ted Wright archaeology interview 31:45 - The rhetoric interview with Jim Beitler 33:32 - Apologetics for parents wi...
Aug 16, 2021•53 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Dr. Craig Keener, F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. They discuss his most recent book Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World. Are miracles happening today? How do we evaluate miracle claims? How do we know if witnesses are credible? Many accounts and stories of healing and miracles are discussed. To purchase Dr. Keener's courses on Logos: http://www.logos.com/craig-k...
Aug 09, 2021•1 hr 6 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Marcia Montenegro about the Enneagram and its new age origins as well as its influence in Christian circles. 2:05 - Intro to Marcia Montenegro and her background 4:09 - Why talk to a former astrologer? 10:12 - Welcome to Marcia 11:17 - How Marcia got into the New Age movement and became an astrologer; how God led her out 25:19 - Is New Age fake, false or both? What’s behind it? 29:45 - Is there a spiritual dimension behind psychic readings? 3...
Aug 02, 2021•1 hr 35 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Tom Gilson, the Senior Editor and Ministry Coordinator at The Stream. They discuss his book Too Good To Be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality. 0:30 - The Dukes of Hazzard intro 1:30 - Intro to Tom Gilson 5:01 - About Tom and his work and background 7:25 - Where did the idea for this book come from? 10:47 - A brief summary of the book 12:43 - Jesus didn’t have faith? 16:53 - You can’t make this stuff up 17:42 - What t...
Jul 26, 2021•41 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Tim Stratton of Free Thinking Ministries. They discuss the topic of Molinism as it relates to God’s sovereignty, human free will, and why it matters. Tim’s book on the subject is Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism: A Biblical, Historical, Theological, and Philosophical Analysis. 1:03 - Intro to Tim Stratton 1:41 - Why Molinism on the podcast? 3:20 - Welcome to Tim Stratton 3:54 - How Tim became a Christian 9:37 - God as a maxi...
Jul 19, 2021•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Mike D'Virgilio on the topic of apologetics for parents. He is author of the book The Persuasive Christian Parent: God’s Provision for Building an Enduring Faith in You and Your Children. www.persuasivechristianparent.com 0:44 - Introduction to our Mike D'Virgilio and the topic of parenting with apologetics 4:25 - Mike’s background and how he got into apologetics 6:59 - What inspired Mike to write a book on apologetics and parenting 7:50 - J....
Jul 12, 2021•45 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Jim Beitler, Associate Professor of English at Wheaton College, and author of Seasoned Speech: Rhetoric in the Life of the Church as well as Charitable Writing: Cultivating Virtue Through Our Words (with co-author Richard Hughes Gibson). They discuss rhetoric and communication in relation to Christian Apologetics. 0:27 - Introduction to rhetoric and Jim Beitler 4:36 - Jim’s background and books 5:37 - What is rhetoric? 6:32 - How Jim got inte...
Jul 05, 2021•49 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview archaeologist Ted Wright of Epic Archaeology. 0:29 - Introducing Ted Wright of Epic Archaeology 2:00 - What got Ted into archaeology? 4:00 - What you’ll find at EpicArchaeology.org 6:12 - More about Ted’s background in apologetics 9:44 - What is the actual job of an archaeologist? 15:30 - Being chased by Nazis 19:03 - The role that archaeology plays in defending the Bible? 23:00 - “Archaeological evidence for Jesus does not exist…” 29:40 - Wh...
Jun 28, 2021•1 hr 18 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview comedian Michael J. Nelson about his work in comedy, his apologetics podcast, sharing the faith and what he’s learned from watching the worst movies of all time. 0:56 - Intro to a unique interview with Michael J. Nelson 2:30 - Who is Mike Nelson and what is Mystery Science Theater 3000? 4:05 - How did MST3K come about? 5:00 - How Mike became a Christian and what inspired him to make an apologetics podcast? (Like Trees Walking) 7:20 - Did apol...
Jun 21, 2021•50 min
In this episode, Brian Auten, Chad Gross and The Belfast Bigot interview Katy Faust about the global children’s rights movement (and book): Them Before Us. 0:38 - Pre-show chat; The Belfast Bigot and the original Bigot. 2:38 - Introduction to Katy Faust and how she got into running a global children’s rights movement 6:43 - How Katy went from being anonymous to going public 7:49 - How Katy influenced the Belfast Bigot 9:40 - The goal of the Them Before Us movement / organization 13:36 - How does...
Jun 14, 2021•1 hr 11 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Christian philosopher Ken Samples on topics from his newest book Christianity Cross-Examined. This is part 2 of a 2-part interview. 2:03 - The types of questions people are asking today about Christianity. Killing in the name of God, the Crusades, violence, etc. 4:19 - Approaching the subject of slavery. What does the Bible actually say? 10:43 - What about killing in the name of God? 18:01 - What about so-called genocides in the Bible? 25:03 ...
Jun 07, 2021•52 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Christian philosopher Ken Samples on topics from his newest book Christianity Cross-Examined. This is part 1 of a 2-part interview. 1:33 - Chad’s twitter encounters for the week. 6:43 - Weekly Mailbag 8:14 - Intro to Ken Samples 9:34 - Welcome to Ken Samples 9:52 - Ken’s current work and what he’s seeing in apologetics today. 11:28 - The need and impact of logic and critical thinking. 12:22 - The goal of the Ken’s book 14:16 - Two types of at...
May 31, 2021•1 hr 3 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross make a case for doing apologetics and talk about how YOU can get apologetics into YOUR church. 0:50 - Rapid fire questions with Chad. 1:29 - Is “someone with an experience never at the mercy of someone with an argument”? 9:45 - Why the resurrection is Chad’s favorite argument 11:37 - Introduction to getting apologetic in your church 12:29 - Geisler’s case for apologetics in general 19:47 - Apologetics modelled in scripture 26:27 - 7 Reasons why the chu...
May 24, 2021•55 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross address a listener question about prophecy, discuss recent books they have been reading, and explore some thoughts on the reality of spiritual warfare in the Christian life. Links mentioned in the show: • Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology https://www.amazon.com/Systematic-Theology-Second-Introduction-Biblical-ebook/dp/B085XNN5H1 • Wayne Grudem’s podcast episode on prophecy https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/gifts-of-the-holy-spirit-prophecy/id32284...
May 17, 2021•49 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Dr. Stephen C. Meyer on his latest book Return of the God Hypothesis. 0:43 - Intro to Dr. Stephen Meyer, author of Return of the God Hypothesis, Signature in the Cell, and Darwin’s Doubt. 3:00 - Dr. Meyer’s background, education, and how he got interested in the question of intelligent design. 9:58 - Meyer’s view of science and philosophy of science, the importance for understanding philosophy when doing science. 16:28 - reviewing five centur...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 10 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross discuss the past interviews and take-aways, and lessons learned along the way. 5:10 - Peter S. Williams, Dawkins, and winsome argumentation. 7:38 - Fazale Rana, interacting with ideas and those who disagree. 11:40 - The live podcasts, and personal prophecies, and a discussion on false prophecies and false teachers. 22:18 - David Baggett and moral apologetics, and arguments that point people to Christ. 25:33 - The Belfast Bigot, the “bigot cave,” and pr...
May 03, 2021•52 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Erik Manning, creator of the Testify YouTube Channel about doing apologetics on the internet, responding to critics, and using one’s talent to make an impact. 0:35 - Introduction to our guest, Erik Manning. 3:54 - How Erik got into apologetics and how his YouTube channel started. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCadiEsTZ0hNxs5OxwGiyELQ www.isjesusalive.com 8:38 - A personal anecdote about God speaking today. 11:10 - The process and inspiratio...
Apr 26, 2021•44 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Sarah R. Enterline ( www.sarahrenterline.com ) about her recent book No Apologies: The Life & Work of Susanna Newcome. 0:30 - Update: A nice fruit basket. 1:47 - Intro to Sarah Enterline. 4:24 - What Sarah has been working on lately with The Library of Historical Apologetics. Cataloging and researching the work of historical apologists. 5:50 - What Sarah didn’t expect to learn about apologists from the past, and what most people don’t kno...
Apr 19, 2021•59 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Jacob Varghese from SAFT Apologetics, an apologetics ministry based in India with an international reach. www.saftapologetics.com 2:40 - Introduction to Jacob Varghese and the work of SAFT Apologetics. 7:45 - How Jacob got into apologetics and the beginnings of SAFT. 12:00 - Seeking answers, finding truth. The growth of the podcast. 20:00 - Cultural differences in apologetics in India. Naturalism, supernaturalism, and apologetic questions. Wh...
Apr 12, 2021•54 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Christian blogger Wintery Knight on the topics of Christian blogging, apologetics in the workplace and in the public square, how policy effects Christian freedoms, and more. www.winteryknight.com 1:30 - Discussing moral and ethical issues, having an alias, and observing the changers in culture. 8:00 - The conflict between the Happiness Quest and the Truth Quest. 10:00 - The difficulty getting apologetics into the church. The importance of a c...
Apr 05, 2021•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross answer listener questions: one concerning the historical reliability of the Old Testament and one on the topic of revival. 2:30 - Mailbag questions #1: “What are your thoughts on the following view of scripture?” Is the Old Testament a product of imaginative interpretation? Is the OT fiction? Do we have archeological evidence for the OT? 24:50 - Mailbag questions #2: “Are there signs of a coming revival? What must Christians do to usher in this revival...
Mar 29, 2021•1 hr 20 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview “The Belfast Bigot” ( www.facebook.com/thebelfastbigot) on the topic of abortion, and defending a pro-life position in the public square. 1:00 - Intro to the Belfast Bigot, why use that name? The history of the Belfast Bigot blog. 5:30 - The goals of apologetics interaction online. 9:10 - Why does the Belfast Bigot talk so much about abortion? Main influences and resources. 12:00 - The abortion situation in the UK / Ireland. The common views ...
Mar 22, 2021•1 hr
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Christian philosopher David Baggett on the topic of moral apologetics, arguments for God from morality, and the Masters of Arts programs available at Houston Baptist University. 0:30 - Over 100 arguments for the existence of God. Capturing Christianity: Over 100 Arguments for the Existence of God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi7ANgO2ZBU 1:50 - Intro to David Baggett and his books. God and Cosmos: Moral Truth and Human Meaning https://www.a...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 21 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Craig Hazen of Biola University, talking to him about Masters degrees in Apologetics at Biola University, his book Fearless Prayer, and his insights on defending the faith. Biola Masters Programs https://www.biola.edu/christian-apologetics-ma Certificate in Christian Apologetics https://www.biola.edu/christian-apologetics-certificate 1:30 - Intro to Craig Hazen 4:00 - Craig's background, upbringing and Christian background, motivation for get...
Mar 08, 2021•48 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross record with a "live studio audience" and address the common objection that there is no evidence for God, as well the view of postmodernism. 1:30 - Truthbomb's series on "Common Objections to Christianity." http://truthbomb.blogspot.com/search/label/Common%20Objections 4:00 - The objection that "there is no evidence for God." What's the difference between evidence and arguments? 10:00 - A list of 13 arguments for the existence of God. The Kalam argument...
Mar 01, 2021•50 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross record with a "live studio audience" and answer questions about conspiracy theories (how to speak with those who are into them), and how to think about personal words of prophecy. 2:00 - Discussing a blog post about Christians who believe conspiracy theories. What could be the root problems? Excerpts from J.P. Moreland's "Love God with All Your Mind." How did Christianity go from being intellectually robust to being intellectually shallow? 11:40 - Ques...
Feb 22, 2021•56 min
In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross record with a "live studio audience" and discuss apologetics in parenting as well as engaging with ideas in culture. 2:00 - Question #1 from listener, timeline and suggestions for introducing and teaching kids apologetics. Children's books, Study Bibles, catechisms, Harry Potter and more. William Lane Craig children's books: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/store/childrens-books/ Big Truths for Little Kids https://www.10ofthose.com/uk/products/10867/big...
Feb 14, 2021•32 min
Today's interview is with biochemist Fazale Rana, the vice president of research and apologetics at Reasons to Believe. He is the author of several groundbreaking books, including Who Was Adam, Creating Life in the Lab, The Cell’s Design, and Humans 2.0. He holds a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from Ohio University. We'll be talking to Fuz about RTB's book, "Thinking About Evolution: 25 Questions Christians Want Answered" in which he's a contributing author. 1:25 - Introducti...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 7 min
