Where Do You Go When Your Child Asks a PhD Level Question?
[Editor’s Note: This blog was originally posted at MamaBearApologetics, so its tone and original audience and intent are for moms ministering to their children. That said, the content applies to all sorts of discipleship settings – pastors, parents, teachers, and more].
We all know those conversations are coming. Whether it’s from your college freshman, agnostic uncle, deconstructing niece, or a seasoned atheist brother-in-law, you’re dreading that conversation. You may feel intimidated or just ill-equipped. But guess what!? You are not alone! Too many of us are under the misconception that we have to have the answers for every question, every challenge to Christianity that could come our way. But not having the answer doesn’t mean you have failed, and it doesn’t mean that the answer isn’t out there. We are all on a journey with God, and as we deepen our knowledge of Him and His Word, we will grow in wisdom. So, we don’t have to dread the questions – either from others or from ourselves. Doubt is part of the human condition. It is not a sin or a failing. It is an opportunity to come even closer to Christ. And not everyone can answer all the questions. So, if you have a doubter in your life who is asking things that make your eyes glaze over, we’ve got a great resource for you!
We here at Mama Bear Apologetics can only do so much. We probably won’t ever have a PhD Astrobiologist on staff. But you know who will? My friend, Jonathan McLatchie! Jonathan has created an invaluable resource for when you are presented with questions that go beyond the “who made God” variety and extend into challenges like, “Does distant starlight prove that the Bible is wrong about the age of the earth?” Or maybe it’s “Did Moses actually write the first five books of the Bible?” or “Why is there no archeological evidence for the exodus?” No matter the doubt, Jonathan will have an expert who can address the claims!)
So, meet my friend, Jonathan! And hear about his ministry, Talk About Doubts below, or visit www.talkaboutdoubts.com!
Tell us a little about yourself and your expertise.
I am originally from the UK but now living in Seattle, Washington. I am married to an Austrian woman (Katharina) and have a two-year-old son. My primary academic interest and expertise is New Testament studies, particularly the historical reliability of the gospels & Acts, and how this relates to the broader set of arguments for the truth of Christianity. I am persuaded that the gospels and Acts are best understood as historical memoirs, and that they are composed by individuals who are close up to the facts, well-informed, and in the habit of being truthful. The major lines of argument for Christianity that I defend include the resurrection of Jesus, other credibly attested New Testament miracles, the conversion of Paul, the Christological Trilemma, Messianic prophecy, and modern miracles.
I am also interested in the scientific evidence for a Creator behind life and the Universe, and professionally, I work with the Discovery Institute Center for Science & Culture as a fellow and resident biologist. I completed a doctoral degree in biology in 2019 at the University of Newcastle, with a focus on the origins of the eukaryotic cell division cycle.
What is TalkAboutDoubts? What inspired you to create it?
TalkAboutDoubts.com is a ministry that I launched in December of 2021. We offer free private Zoom meetings to Christians who are struggling with doubts about faith, as well as former Christians who are interested in exploring whether there is a rational path back to faith. We also occasionally talk to non-Christians who are exploring the claims of the gospel. Having watched numerous deconversion testimonies on YouTube and having read books by deconverts, I have often been frustrated by how little consideration was given to the public evidence of the gospel, of which there are many. It is not that deconverts carefully investigated the arguments for Christianity and found them wanting, but that they failed to even consider them. At best, they are familiar only with weak caricatures of those arguments. My passion, then, is to give people the opportunity to engage seriously with the most robust arguments for Christianity before they make their decision to abandon the faith, or to give due consideration to returning to the faith. This is what motivated me to create TalkAboutDoubts.com.
Tell us about some of the people who work with you and their expertise. What kinds of questions do they get?
We have more than seventy specialists in our volunteer network, with diverse areas of expertise in fields ranging from New Testament scholarship to Old Testament to Biblical archaeology to textual criticism to philosophy to the natural sciences. Most of our volunteers are at a PhD level of expertise in their respective fields. A few examples include Dr. Tim McGrew (theory of knowledge, New Testament), Dr. Titus Kennedy (Biblical archaeology), Dr. Douglas Axe (biology, intelligent design), Dr. Luke Barnes (astronomy), Dr. Brian Miller (physics, intelligent design), Dr. Travis Campbell (philosophical theology), Dr. Max Baker-Hytch (philosophy of religion, divine hiddenness/problem of evil), Erik Manning (New Testament), and many others. Some of our past inquirers are now volunteers themselves as well and can offer guidance to others who are walking the path they have themselves trodden.
If a person is struggling with an upper-tier question, how would they go about setting up an appointment to talk to one of your scholars?
To schedule a meeting, one may submit a contact form concerning their doubts via our website, and one of our specialists will reach out to schedule a private Zoom meeting to talk about their doubts in confidence.
What is a session typically like? How many questions can a person ask? Is there any follow-up?
An individual session typically lasts an average of an hour to an hour and a half. Typically, these meetings offer a survey of evidence for Christianity (giving plenty of opportunity for interaction and questions), or engage specifically with particular objections to the faith. Meetings may be recorded (for personal use only) with permission from the volunteer(s). We have found that generally meetings are most productive when they are focused around one or a few connected subjects rather than trying to superficially cover many unrelated topics and not really doing justice to any of them. If you need to talk about various different subjects, we will suggest breaking up the material over multiple meetings. With some inquirers, we talk with them once; in other cases, we mentor them over a period of weeks or months (or sometimes years). There is no in-principle limit to the number of meetings any person can have, provided we are convinced that one is engaging with the material in good faith and is growing in one’s thinking about the subjects.
We also have a Discord community, which we invite past inquirers to. This promotes continued engagement with people we have spoken with. Moreover, we have an emotional support group that runs twice every other week (run by two of our past inquirers). We also have a book club (also run by a past inquirer). These are available only to those who have done at least one meeting with us.
Thank you so much for talking with us, Jonathan!
Mama Bears, be encouraged. Questions are good! But too many questions can lead to doubt if our kids think that there are no intelligent Christians within higher academia. We may not be able to answer all their questions, but we can introduce them to experts who can! If you are struggling with a PhD-level question-asker, take advantage of Jonathan and his team at TalkAboutDoubts.com. Remind yourself of what is true (no matter the question) is that is that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We can trust that tough questions have good answers.
[John Ferrer, Jonathan McLatchie, Hillary Ferrer = friends 4ever!]
Recommended Resources:
How Old is the Universe? (DVD), (Mp3), and (Mp4 Download) by Dr. Frank Turek
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Paperback), and (Sermon) by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek
Stealing From God by Dr. Frank Turek (Book, 10-Part DVD Set, STUDENT Study Guide, TEACHER Study Guide)
Macro Evolution? I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be a Darwinist (DVD Set), (MP3 Set) and (mp4 Download Set) by Dr. Frank Turek
Hillary Morgan Ferrer is the founder and President of Mama Bear Apologetics. She feels a burden for providing accessible apologetics resources for busy moms. She is the chief author and editor of the bestselling books Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies, Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design, and the soon to be released Honest Prayers for Mama Bears. Hillary has her master’s degree in biology and loves helping moms to discern truths and lies in both science and culture. She and her husband, John, have been married for 16 years and minister together as an apologetics team. She can never sneak up on anybody because of her chronic hiccups, which you can hear occasionally on the podcast and in interviews.
Originally posted at: https://bit.ly/3Tlhqvm
