Monday, February 20, 2012

Apologist Interview: Ken Boa

Today's interview is with Dr. Ken Boa, president of Reflections Ministries. He talks about his background and education, gifting or calling in the area of apologetics, possible imbalances in doing apologetic/theological studies, spiritual disciplines to be especially mindful of, the role of prayer and intercession in evangelism, advice for education for apologists, disciplines and skills for reading and retaining content, when to speed read and when not to speed read, the Great Books Series, how to make wise reading choices, guarding the reading of Scripture, advice for the budding apologist, dealing with discouragement and burnout, an integrative approach to doing apologetics, and more.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (1 hr)

Books by Dr. Ken Boa include:
20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists
Faith Has Its Reasons: Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith
Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation
Praying the Scriptures for Spiritual Growth
Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship

Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Great interview. I was very happy to hear Ken talk about the need to be well-read, what it means to be well-read, and the importance of reading works from other worldviews and separating the wheat from the chaff as there is wheat in those works as well.

Thank you for conducting this interview. I remember "Conformed to His Image" from my Spiritual Formation class in University. It was a companion text to others in the course load.

CA said...

This was a very good interview with Dr. Ken Boa. Ken has two PhDs, one from Oxford University, as well as a background in theology, science and astronomy. He has written many books including apologetics books and has a huge audio, video and written resource collection on his website.

Of particular interest to me in the interview was the devotional aspect that Ken brings to his ministry. I first noted this emphasis a few years ago and more recently by following Ken's Twitter feed. The reason this is important to me is discussed in the podcast, thus I now know I am certainly not alone in being academically focussed while at the same time lacking an explicit devotional aspect in my life. While I would describe myself as constantly thinking God's thoughts after Him, the devotional side is something that I have long forsaken. Whether this is important is yet to be determined intellectually for me although my sixth sense tells me it certainly is. Since actions are generally driven by beliefs, I really want to get my beliefs about this figured out. Right now it is a heavy burden upon my shoulders.

I'm not sure why Ken Boa is not more well known in the apologetics world, or in the theological world for that matter. He has written plenty of books; see for example:

http://www.logos.com/products/search?q=ken+boa

and his website resource collection is massive and diverse. He has also been interviewed on the "One Minute Apologist" YouTube channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2iZHCBMN1Y

I am thinking that I may begin using his resources for study in the future. Ken seeks a balance between academics and devotions, or between head and heart. My next step is to satisfy (or other) myself that this is indeed the Biblical calling.

At 43 minutes and 40s into the interview, Ken cites a PDF publication from the Center for Bible Engagement. This document discusses the Bible reading habits of people and the magic number 4. Here is the website:

http://www.centerforbibleengagement.org

and here is the PDF (under Findings):

http://www.centerforbibleengagement.org/images/stories/pdf/Scientific_Evidence_for_the_Power_of_4.pdf

Cheers.

Brian said...

CA,

Thanks for the very helpful comment and links. I agree with you—Ken Boa should be more well-known in the apologetics field. So much to learn from.

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