Posted by Holly Ordway in Apologetics | 1 Comment
Bayside Apologetics Seminar: Conference Report
Two former atheists, now apologists!
On August 27-28, I had the privilege of being invited to speak at the Bayside Apologetics Seminar, hosted by Bayside Church of Granite Bay, California. My co-presenter, Stephen Notman, and I spoke to a packed room (well over 100 attendees!) on the topic of “Inside the Mind of a Former Atheist.” More on that later, because the seminar as a whole was an amazing experience!
The seminar began Friday evening at 7 PM for attendees. However, for the speakers, it all began forty-five minutes earlier, as we gathered in the backstage “Green Room” for prayer. With all the hustle and bustle – PowerPoint details to be worked out for the folks in the tech room, microphone checks, and a general aura of excitement – it would have been easy to let this slip, or to reduce it to a quick blessing said before we started. To me, it spoke volumes about the depth of character of our “big name” speakers and the church staff who organized the conference that we in fact gathered very seriously and intentionally for prayer before starting, commending ourselves and the gathered audience and all our activities into God’s hands, that He would do His work in and through us that weekend. The entire conference was soaked in prayer starting well before we all arrived – and continuing through the weekend – and I believe we saw the evidence of that in the success of the conference.
Dr Moreland speaking to a packed house.
The Seminar attracted 1400 attendees! (Wow.) What’s more, the majority of attendees noted in their registration materials that this was their first exposure to apologetics. That adds up to a lot of people who were drawn to attendance by a hunger to hear solid teaching to answer the question: “Why do we believe what we believe?” I believe this is a great example of the need for apologetics ministry within the Church: helping people to understand that our faith is a rational and reasonable faith, that we have good reasons to believe what we profess as true, is not just part of evangelism but an essential part of discipleship and spiritual growth. I hope that many people went home from the Apologetics Seminar stronger in their faith and better equipped to live out their life in Christ.
Dr Craig Hazen presiding over the Biola book table.
The first lecture for Friday evening was Dr Craig Hazen, director of the Biola Christian Apologetics Program, speaking on “Christianity and the Challenge of World Religions.” He was followed by Dr William Lane Craig in back-to-back talks on “Arguments for the Existence of God” and “Evidence for the Resurrection.” There was more information presented in those two hours than anyone could possibly assimilate… which made a larger point: There is a great deal of knowledge at the highest levels of philosophy and historical study that backs up the claims of Christians about the way the world is, and about what happened on the first Easter. Even if attendees didn’t follow every single part of Dr Craig’s argument, he clearly pointed in the direction of encouraging further study (and the book tables outside the main hall were an immediate resource for that purpose!).
The Breakfast Breakout Team: L-R, Holly Ordway, Stephen Notman, Mikel Del Rosario
Brains full, everyone trooped home for a good night’s rest, to return bright and early Saturday morning for the breakfast breakout sessions. Mikel Del Rosario spoke on “Why Does God Allow Suffering?”, a question that frequently arises not only in apologetics discussions, but also in the reflections of Christians about their faith.
Stephen Notman and I spoke in the concurrent breakfast breakout session on “Inside the Mind of a Former Atheist.” Since many Christians have either grown up in the faith, or accepted Christ at a relatively young age, many people who want to share their faith with non-believers are puzzled or confused about the worldview of atheists. In our talk, we discussed our upbringing (mine, in a totally non-religious household; Stephen, in a nominally Anglican household much like Richard Dawkins) and the experiences that brought us to where we could hear the Gospel. For both of us, a direct experience of Christ was central to our conversion, but the role that apologetics played in that journey was different, as was the path that led to our willingness to hear the Gospel. For me, poetry and seeing the witness of Christian character made me willing to listen; for Stephen, recognizing his own moral evil drew him to a recognition of the reality of God. My journey to conversion was heavily intellectual, while Stephen’s was heavily emotional; apologetic arguments played a key role in allowing me to accept Christ, while apologetics helped Stephen recognize the rationality of his experience of Christ. Both of us stressed the volitional aspect of our conversion: after a certain point, accepting Christ was not a question of having more information, but a question of making the choice to accept His authority – or not.
Dr William Lane Craig (center) graciously attended our talk.
One personal highlight of the talk was having Dr William Lane Craig in attendance!
The opening lecture for Saturday’s main session was Dr Tim Muehlhoff, on “How to Talk the Talk: Communication Keys for Apologetics.” How we communicate our faith is at least as important as what we say, and Dr Muehlhoff provided an excellent presentation on authentic communication.
Behind the scenes, in the tech room!
Later that day, Stephen and I served as moderators for the Q&A sessions up in the tech booth (very very cool!) as Dr J.P. Moreland gave back-to-back lectures on
“Don’t Sell Your Soul to Naturalism: The Case for the Existence of the Soul” and “Is Science in Conflict with Christianity?”
After these two amazing lectures, Stephen and I had the privilege of being invited to participate in an “Advanced Q&A Panel” with Dr Hazen, Dr Muehlhoff, Dr Craig, and Dr Moreland, as a small group of seminar attendees, mainly pastors, asked tough questions about apologetics and evangelism. It was an incredible privilege to be on the same panel as these truly great apologists!
L-R: Dr Craig Hazen, Mr Stephen Notman, Dr Holly Ordway, Dr Tim Muehlhoff, Dr JP Moreland
All in all, the Bayside Apologetics Seminar was a resounding success. Dena Jackson and the rest of the seminar planners and staff were incredibly gracious to everyone and treated us speakers as honored guests! The material was thought-provoking, the conversations were stimulating, and the atmosphere was Spirit-filled. I came home from the Seminar inspired by the example of Dr Moreland, Dr Craig, Dr Hazen, and Dr Muehlhoff, who are not only brilliant scholars and inspiring speakers but also genuinely humble and caring men who were welcoming and encouraging to the “new recruits” on the apologetics team. Thanks be to God!
For further reading, check out Stephen Notman’s blog, Psalm Trees, and Mikel Del Rosario’s blog, Apologetics Guy.
You can also find out more information here about my book, Not God’s Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith.
For my speaking schedule and links to selected radio interviews, you can visit my Lectures and Interviews page at Hieropraxis (or just click on those links!).
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Awesome review. This event was huge! Great to finally meet you, Holly. We’re in this thing together and I pray God blesses our efforts to develop and equip future defenders of the faith!
-Mikel