Apologist Interview: James Sire

Today's interview is with James Sire, author, lecturer, and Christian apologist. He talks about his background, the impact of The Universe Next Door, defining the concept of worldview, the benefit of understanding worldview concepts, the intellectual life as a Christian calling, the renewal and discipline of the mind, the cultivation of wisdom, thoughts on lifelong learning, the biggest errors of Christian communicators, tips for better communication, apologetics and calling, advice to Christian apologists, and more.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (40 min).

Books by James Sire include:
• The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog
• Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling
• Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept
• Why Good Arguments Often Fail: Making a More Persuasive Case for Christ (review here)
• How to Read Slowly (Wheaton Literary Series)
• Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All? (lecture here)
• A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics (review here)

Enjoy.

Sunday Quote: Peter Kreeft on Arguments

"An argument in apologetics, when actually used in dialogue, is an extension of the arguer. The arguer's tone, sincerity, care, concern, listening, and respect matter as much as his or her logic - probably more. The world was won for Christ not by arguments but by sanctity: 'What you are speaks so loud, I can hardly hear what you say.'"

- Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

Christmas Apologetics Resources

Here are some resources that may be helpful as Christmas approaches.
From Stand to Reason:
• Is Christmas Pagan?
• The Spirit of Christmas
• Christmas and Culture
• The Unique Message of Christmas
• Keep Christ in Your Christmas Cards
• Christmas Card Captions

From Triablogue:
• The Bethlehem Birthplace Outside Of Matthew And Luke
• The Nature Of Biblical Prophecy Fulfillment
• Does The Lengthening Of Daylight Have Only Pagan Significance?
• Speaking Of "Christmas Lies"
• The Infancy Narratives
• Is The Slaughter Of The Innocents Historical?
• Is Luke's Census Historical?

These are just a few. Do you have more Christmas resources to recommend?
Suggest them in the comments.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/19 - 11/26)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Thanksgiving Quotes
• Thanksgiving History
• Thanksgiving Is a Duty As Well As a Good
• How Not to Deal With Doubt
• The video that proves Intelligent Design
• The ATP Synthase Enzyme 86-second video
• What’s more complex? Your brain or the Internet?
• Philosophy Word of the Day – Enthymeme
• How Do We Know the Bible Includes the Right Books?
• How should Christians think about evolution? (video)
• Glasgow Humanists Unable To Mount Successful Argument Against Behe
• Does a Good God Exist? Dr. William Dembski and Christopher Hitchens Debate
• Review of the Christopher Hitchens vs William Dembski debate (with humor)
• Doug Geivett's Retrospective on the "Does the Universe Have a Purpose?" Debate
• Sign up to be notified when 'God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design is it Anyway?' by John Lennox arrives 

• Do your holiday shopping with this link and help Apologetics315 - Thanks! http://amzn.to/Apologetics315

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Philosopher Jay Richards on The Grand Design

In this audio, Michael Licona interviews philosopher Jay Richards about Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow's book: The Grand Design. Richards outlines and explains some of the problematic issues found in Hawking's statements. Original audio found at NAMB. More responses to the Grand Design here.

Full MP3 Interview here. (35 min)

Enjoy.

Top 5 Books for Christmas Giving

If you are considering getting thoughtful gifts for important people in your life, then you might want to consider giving them some books to make them think. Here are my top five recommendations with reasons.

Who Made God? Completely readable - completely excellent. Actually, one of my favorite reads this year. I thought, I could give this to anyone and they would understand it, enjoy it, and be challenged by it. Full of wit, humor, and sharp thinking. This definitely makes it to the top of my list. (review here)

Is God Just a Human Invention? Another book with a question for a title - but questions are good, and this book tackles about 18 of them that are being asked the most these days. Written by Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow, with contributions from a ton of excellent specialists, this book is a phenomenal resource and doesn't have to be read in any particular order. (an interview with the authors here)

Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy, and Science is another book loaded with great content - 50 essays! - with contributions from a ton of top-notch apologists. A close competitor with the previously mentioned book that happens to be a great resource.

On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision by William Lane Craig is excellent for personal study or group studies. Weighty material that is clear, precise, and put together really well. I'd give this to Christian young people in high school and college who want to strengthen their apologetics foundations. (review here)

And finally, here's the stocking stuffer of the bunch: Kreeft and Tacelli's Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics. The reason? Again, lots of material packed into a small book, organized and presented well.

All these books would be my top 5 candidates for apologetics books for giving this Christmas. Of course, you could always give them a Kindle and load it full of books. You can now also "gift" Kindle books to anyone with an email address (for reading on the Kindle, or the Kindle software - PC/Mac/iPhone/Android)

What books do you recommend?

Arguments for God's Existence MP3 by Peter Kreeft

Philosopher Peter Kreeft presents this great lecture on Arguments for God's Existence. He talks about the types of proofs, Pascal's wager, first cause arguments, cosmological arguments, arguments from design, morality, desire, and more. There is a lot of great content packed into this 76-minute lecture - Kreeft does the same in his Handbook of Christian Apologetics. The lecture also includes some interesting Q&A. You might also want to check out Kreeft's website with 20 arguments for the existence of God.

Full MP3 Audio here.

Enjoy.

Author Interview: Joe Carter

Today's interview is with Joe Carter, online editor of First Things magazine and author of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator. He talks about the the use of arguments (and how Jesus used them), the importance of rhetoric for the communicator (and Aristotle's framework), the difference between persuasion and manipulation, the proper use of emotion, using imagery and idiom, rhetoric vs. sophistry, making messages more memorable, Jesus as a debater, elements of discipleship, and more. The website for the book is here.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here. (34 min)

Enjoy.

Sunday Quote: G.K. Chesterton on Evils

"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable."

- G.K. Chesterton - ILN, 10/23/09

Does the Universe Have a Purpose? Audio Debate

Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer, and Matt Ridley debated William Lane Craig, Douglas Geivett, and Rabbi David Wolpe on the topic: Does the Universe Have a Purpose? This debate is part of the third annual Festival Internacional de Mentes Brillantes (English: International Festival of Great Minds). It took place on Saturday, November 13, 2010 in Puebla, Mexico.

Full English Debate MP3 Audio here. (1hr. 43min)
Video here.
Enjoy.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/12 - 11/19)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Insects Compute Optimal Flight Plans
• Scientists Try to Out-Complex Behe
• Now you can gift Kindle Books via amazon!
• Safely Home by Randy Alcorn FREE on Kindle
• Joel Osteen's Appearance on The View (MP3)
• Links To A Review Of Michael Licona's The Resurrection Of Jesus 
• Currently reading: Contend Earnestly for the Faith: A Survey of Christian Apologetics by Phil Fernandes
• "If Jesus really performed miracles and rose from the dead, we would have more historical records referring to Him." 

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The Reason for God DVD / Study Guide Review

The Reason for God: Conversations on Faith and Life is a DVD for small groups hosted by Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. (Tim Keller is also author of the best-selling The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism). The DVD is meant to be used along with the Discussion Guide, which provides an outline and further questions and resources to help facilitate a small group interaction. This review will look at both resources.

Does the Universe Have a Purpose? Debate Video

Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer, and Matt Ridley debated William Lane Craig, Douglas Geivett, and Rabbi David Wolpe on the topic: Does the Universe Have a Purpose? This debate is part of the third annual Festival Internacional de Mentes Brillantes (English: International Festival of Great Minds). It took place on Saturday, November 13, 2010 in Puebla, Mexico.

The ENGLISH version is HERE. (audio only here)

The Spanish dubbed version of the debate here.

Enjoy.

Introduction to Intelligent Design Theory MP3

In this lecture, philosopher Peter S. Williams presents an Introduction to Intelligent Design Theory. Check out his podcast page at Damaris for the iTunes feed or RSS feed. Peter's blog can be found here, which has other recent lectures.

Full MP3 Audio here. (90min)

Enjoy.

See other Peter S. Williams resources.

The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask: by Mark Mittelberg - FREE Kindle Book

Mark Mittelberg has released a new book - The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask (with answers) - dealing with the top 10 questions Christians most want to avoid (based on a survey of 1000 Christians done through Barna last summer) -- including hot button issues like abortion and homosexuality. Through Nov. 20, 2010 you can download it from Amazon for FREE for Kindle, Kindle-for-Mac or Kindle-for-PC, Kindle-for-cell phone, etc.

Download it FREE here (until Saturday, 20th Nov)

Enjoy.

Biochemist Interview: Michael Behe

Today's interview is with biochemist Michael Behe, Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University. He is also a leading voice in the Intelligent Design community and Fellow of the Discovery Institute. He talks about Intelligent Design, detecting design in molecular systems, his views on evolution, Lenski's fruit fly research, irreducible complexity, philosophical presuppositions, and more.

For details on Michael Behe's upcoming UK Tour (November 2010) go here. The theme of his tour is ‘Darwin or Design – what does the science really say?’ Michael Behe will give evening lectures in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Bournemouth, Leamington/Warwick and Cambridge and be the major contributor to a day conference in Oxford. See also Premiere's London event here.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here. (45 min)

Behe's books:
• Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
• The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism

Enjoy.