About the Speakers

Reasonable Faith Tulsa and The Church at Battle Creek are delighted to bring a powerhouse group of speakers to the Tulsa area for this year’s conference entitled, “On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision.” The name of this year’s conference is taken from the title of one of William Lane Craig’s newest books that addresses the need to equip the local church to share the Christian faith with reason, precision, and love. We have invited some of the most prominent Christian scholars of the day to speak at this year’s conference on a wide variety of subjects including scientific evidence that God exists, addressing the problem of suffering and evil, the historical reliability of the New Testament, and the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.

William Lane Craig, Ph.D., D.Theol., D.Litt.

Research Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology

Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Birmingham, England
D.Theol. Systematic Theology, University of Munich, Germany

Dr. Craig is one of the leading philosophers of Religion and holds the position of Research Professor of Philosophy at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology. He has a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Birmingham, England and another in New Testament from Munich, Germany. He is the author of numerous cutting-edge works in philosophy, apologetics, and New Testament studies including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; God, Time and Eternity; Reasonable Faith; On Guard, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology. Professor Craig is well known as one of the best debaters on behalf of the Christian faith in the world today.

Find out more about Dr. William Lane Craig by visiting his website: http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Gary Habermas, Ph.D.

Distinguished Research Professor
Chair of the Department of Philosophy & Theology, Liberty University

Ph.D. History and Philosophy of Religion, Michigan State University

Dr. Gary Habermas is widely regarded as a leading expert on the historical Jesus and the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. He is the author or co-author of over 30 books and 100 articles and reviews in journals and magazines. In the last 16 years he has given over 1500 lectures in about 100 universities, seminaries, and colleges. He holds a PhD in History and Philosophy of Religion from Michigan State University as well as an MA in Philosophical Theology from the University of Detroit. He currently acts as ‘Distinguished Research Professor and Chair’ in the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University, where he has taught for the past 30 years. His main areas of research include the philosophical study of miracles, near-death experiences, the historical Jesus, and the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus.

Find out more about Dr. Gary Habermas by visiting his website: http://garyhabermas.com/

Mike Licona, Ph.D.

External Research Collaborator, Faculty of Theology
North-West University, South Africa (Potchefstroom Campus)

Ph.D. New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria

Dr. Mike Licona has a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies which he completed with distinction from the University of Pretoria. He is the author of numerous books including The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (IVP Academic, 2010), Paul Meets Muhammad (Baker, 2006), co-author with Gary Habermas of the award-winning book The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Kregel, 2004) and co-editor with William Dembski of Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy, and Science (Baker, 2010). Dr. Licona was interviewed by Lee Strobel in his book The Case for the Real Jesus and appeared in Strobel’s video The Case for Christ. He has engaged in public debate on Jesus’ resurrection with Bart Ehrman (UNC), Elaine Pagels (Princeton), and numerous others. He has spoken on more than 50 university campuses and has appeared as a guest on dozens of radio and television programs. He is a member of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Society of Biblical Literature. Dr. Licona is currently the president of Risen Jesus ministries and serves as an external research collaborator at North-West University (Potchefstroom).

Find out more about Dr. Mike Licona by visiting his website: http://risenjesus.com/

Guillermo Gonzalez, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Astronomy & Physics, Grove City College
Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute

Ph.D. Astronomy, University of Washington

Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez has a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Washington. His academic specialties include astrobiology, stellar spectroscopy, and stellar photometry. He is an associate professor of astronomy and physics at Grove City College and a Fellow of the Discovery Institute. He is co-author with Jay W. Richards of The Privileged Planet: How our place in the cosmos is designed for discovery. He is also co-author with D. Scott Birney and David Oesper of the widely used textbook Observational Astronomy, 2^nded. He has published nearly 80 research papers in peer-reviewed astronomy journals. He has been featured in several television-broadcast documentaries, including The Privileged Planet and The Case for a Creator. His work has been covered in Nature, Science and New Astronomy.

Paul Copan, Ph.D.

Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University
President of the Evangelical Philosophical Society

Ph.D. Philosophy, Marquette University

Dr. Paul Copan is a professor of philosophy and ethics, and the Pledger Family Chair at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He is the author of True for You, But Not for Me, That’s Just Your Interpretation, How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong?, When God Goes to Starbucks: A Guide to Everyday Apologetics, Is God a Moral Monster? Understanding the Old Testament God, and Loving Wisdom: Christian Philosophy of Religion. He has co-authored (with William Lane Craig) Creation Out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration. He has co-edited three books on the historical Jesus and three other books in the philosophy of religion. He has co-edited (with William Craig) Passionate Conviction and Contending with Christianity’s Critics. He has contributed articles and book reviews to various professional journals as well: Philosophia Christi, Faith and Philosophy, Trinity Journal, Southern Journal of Theology, the Journal for the Evangelical Theological Society, and The Review of Metaphysics. He is the current president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, and he regularly speaks on university campuses, at conferences, and to church groups.

Find out more about Dr. Paul Copan by visiting his website: http://www.paulcopan.com/

Doug Geivett, Ph.D.

Professor of Philosophy of Religion & Ethics

Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Southern California

Dr. Geivett’s interests range over the philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, epistemology, and the history of modern philosophy. He is the author of Evil and the Evidence for God and co-editor of Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology and In Defense of Miracles: A Comprehensive Case for God’s Action in History. Dr. Geivett has contributed chapters to God Matters: Readings in the Philosophy of Religion; God Under Fire; The Rationality of Theism; and Does God Exist? The Craig-Flew Debate. Dr. Geivett is the former president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. In the past, Dr. Geivett has served as minister to college students at churches in the Pacific Northwest and in Southern California and continues to speak in churches and on university campuses on subjects related to apologetics and the Christian life.

Find out more about Dr. Doug Geivett by visiting his blog: http://douggeivett.wordpress.com/