April Monthly Update - 2018 - William Lane Craig

Dear Friends of Reasonable Faith,

I’ve just returned, along with Michael Lepien, the Executive Director of Reasonable Faith, from a very successful ten day speaking trip to Brazil. Our overriding aim for this trip was to produce additional videos in Portuguese of my talks for use in Brazil. Therefore, although we visited three different cities, I gave a different talk each time I spoke. As a result, thanks to Michael’s technical skills, we now have 12 new videos in Portuguese to post on our YouTube channel. Praise the Lord!

As I look back over this trip, I think the two outstanding events were the two engagements at secular universities that formed the bookends of the tour: a talk at the Federal University of Paraiba in João Pessoa and a talk at the Catholic University in São Paulo (only 20% of which is Catholic). At each place there were overflow crowds and such electricity in the air, as someone dared to defend Christianity in the public square. One professor remarked that he had never seen such an event at the university before. My translators were well-prepared and delivered top-notch translations, according to the feedback I received. The events were in both cases live-streamed on the Internet, as well as video recorded.

Eros translating for Dr. Craig at Congresso Juvep.

After my opening event at the Federal University I spent several days at a Christian missions conference, speaking twice a day. Brazilian Christians are so warm and enthusiastic and appreciative! After each time I spoke, I was mobbed by people asking me to sign one of my books, which they had purchased at the booth set up by Vida Nova, the publisher of seven of my books in Brazil. Eros, my translator at the conference, was a stocky man with a shaved head, whose tough guy appearance belied a gentle spirit. He was thoroughly prepared and gave excellent translations of my talks. We came away from this conference greatly encouraged at the hunger of Brazilian Christians for training in apologetics and their familiarity with my work through my books and YouTube videos.

Denise translating for Dr. Craig at Unievangelica.

On Easter Sunday we flew to Brasilia and then drove to the University town of Anápolis to speak at Unievangelica, which, as the name suggests, is an evangelical university. I spoke there four times over two days to crowds well over a thousand. More importantly, the events were again live-streamed and video recorded. My translator for these talks was a dark-haired Brazilian woman named Denise who was an extremely skilled interpreter, even mimicking my gestures as she repeated in Portuguese what I had just said in English. Since what really matters in these events is the Portuguese, not the English, I was so grateful for the excellent translators that were provided for me!

Michael Lepien, Leandro Borges, and Dr. Craig on the plane to Anápolis.

We finished out the trip in São Paulo, speaking at the Catholic University. This event featured a dialogue on “What Difference Does It Make if God Exists?” with a Catholic professor there. I gave a talk which was quite evangelistic in nature, and the professor afterwards thanked me profusely for it, wishing me God’s blessing! The morning of our return flight to the States, we squeezed in one last speaking event, to make a baker’s dozen: a talk to the students at a Christian high school and middle school in São Paulo. I decided that such a younger audience would appreciate seeing three of our animated videos in Portuguese. So we showed our animations on the cosmological, fine-tuning, and moral arguments for God, interspersed with questions from the students. As expected, they were riveted by the videos, as the expressions on their faces revealed. It was a fun way to draw a very successful ministry trip to a close.

One unexpected benefit of this trip is the proliferation of Reasonable Faith chapters in Brazil! Leandro Borges, one of our chapter directors in São Paulo, accompanied us throughout the trip and enthusiastically promoted Reasonable Faith chapters at every venue. As a result, he has numerous applications from interested persons to start local chapters in their cities—even one applicant from the former Portuguese colony of Angola in Africa!

On a side note, I was also able to record prior to the Brazil trip a new round of podcasts with Kevin Harris, including reflections on the death of Stephen Hawking and my dialogue with Jordan Peterson. I’m told that the events in Toronto have now had over 750,00 views on YouTube! I’ve been working with the talented Zangmeister on our next animated video, “Who Was Jesus?” I’m also correcting the proofs for my forthcoming book The Atonement with Cambridge University Press. I’m very pleased to report that Oxford University Press has decided to release my book God Over All in paperback, which is very welcome news, indeed!

Thank you for your prayers that sustained us all during the Brazil trip! Please enjoy the photo album down below.

For Christ and His Kingdom,

Bill and Jan

MONTHLY TESTIMONIAL

Dr. Craig,

I want to share my testimony and thank you for the work you do. I have a story of losing faith in God, becoming a naturalist, and ultimately discovering the absurdity of life. My church used my video testimony for their Easter service in 2014. What I don't mention in the video is the long process of studying apologetics that started with that moment of clarity in 2011. Your work in both apologetics and doctrine was foundational during the time I was rebuilding my Christian beliefs. I have led a defenders class for my church small group and I'm currently working with a friend to develop a course for our students that teaches them how to dissect doubt and search for truth. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for teaching me how to regain faith when it was a matter of life and death.

-Jarrod