Faith Examined: New Arguments for Persistent Questions, Essays in Honor of Dr. Frank Turek

by Clark R. Bates (Author), Sean McDowell (Contributor), Jorge Gil Calderon (Contributor)

At an Unshaken conference in 2023 Frank was both shocked and honored to learn that a group of graduates from the CrossExamined Instructor Academy (CIA) began a festschrift project back in 2019 called, ‘Faith Examined: New Arguments for Persistent Questions, Essays in Honor of Dr. Frank Turek’. The first copy of that book was given to Frank that night! 

You may be thinking "What's a festschrift?  In academia, Wikipedia defines a Festschrift as "a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the honoree's colleagues, former pupils, and friends."  So, it makes sense that there were many contributors.  In addition to Clark Bates, contributors to the book include, Alisa Childers, Natasha Crain, Jorge Gil, Sean McDowell, Alex McElroy, Tim Stratton, Eric Chabot, Phil Fernandes, Melissa Dougherty, William Soo Hoo, and Eric Hernandez. 

A labor of love that was four years in the making, ‘Faith Examined" serves two purposes—to honor the apologist and author Dr. Frank Turek and, in the spirit of his ministry, present reasoned responses to challenges currently facing the church. Every year, for more than a decade, Dr. Turek has hosted the Cross Examined Instructors Academy (CIA) through his Cross Examined Ministries, wherein he leads a group of professors and apologists as they teach and train others in the field of apologetics. Several rising stars within the apologetics community began their ministries because of Dr. Turek and the CIA program. The authors of this book were chosen from this ever-widening pool of CIA attendees, past and present, most of whom have gone on to academic instruction or their own successful apologetics ministries. Their contributions broadly address challenges from philosophy and science; challenges against Jesus and the Bible; and even challenges facing parents and the church. Many topics offer new approaches, while others reestablish existing responses, but all seek to provide answers to a skeptical world for the hope that rests within all Christians.

Want to here more about this project?  Click HERE  to listen as podcast episode where Frank interviews the book’s editor, Professor and New Testament scholar, Clark Bates, who spearheaded the project. During their conversation, Frank and Clark answer questions like:

• How did a festschrift in honor of CrossExamined come about?
• Which apologists have contributed to the book and what are some of the key points they make?
• Who is Richard Rohr and what is the so-called “Jesus Hermeneutic” that is popular among progressive Christians?
• How do we know that way of interpreting the Bible is wrong?
• How does Clark approach the reliability of Scripture?
• How is this book actually an honor for all supporters of CrossExamined?

Publisher ‏ : ‎ WIPF and Stock (October 13, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 242 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 166674929X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1666749298
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.55 x 9 inches