New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary hosted their 17th annual Defend Apologetics Conference Jan. 4-9.
Nearly 400 attendees from 18 different states gathered to hear lectures about a variety of apologetics topics including the resurrection of Christ, intelligent design, artificial intelligence, suffering and creation.
Tawa Anderson, NOBTS associate professor of philosophy and apologetics and director of Defend, welcomed attendees to “the best apologetics conference in the world.”
“You will be equipped, you’ll be inspired, you’ll learn and you’ll be stretched in ways you didn’t know you could be stretched. I’m excited for what God has in store for you this week,” Anderson said.
This year’s Defend Conference was the second time Anderson has directed the event since Bob Stewart, professor emeritus of philosophy and theology and founder of Defend, retired in 2024.
Stewart kicked of the plenary sessions on Sunday night (Jan. 4) by speaking out of 1 Peter 3:15 and explaining the most important part of Christian apologetics.
“It’s virtually impossible to attend an apologetics conference and not have at least one of the speakers refer to 1 Peter 3:15,” Stewart said. “Speakers often stress our responsibility to be prepared to defend the hope that we have as believers, but there is a whole lot more going on than just that.”
Stewarts outlined 6 key points from the passage in 1 Peter:
He said the truth of the Gospel is not dependent upon our ability as believers to defend the Gospel.
“We have Gospel hope and a secure future expectation,” Stewart said.
“This hope does not depend on apologetics. The truth of the Gospel does not rise and fall with our ability to answer every question. Apologetics explains our hope, but apologetics does not establish our hope because our hope is not based our ability.”
The entire conference centered about the theme of the goodness of God and Christianity, and NOBTS President Jamie Dew focused his plenary session on why Jesus Christ cultivates virtue in mankind better than anything else.
“Christianity offers a superior system of belief and practice for the formation of virtue,” Dew said. “If we want to grow in virtue, then ultimately it is Christ and Christ alone that can do this.
“Naturalism will not do this for you, and none of the other world religions can help you become virtuous. To become virtuous, you must have Christ. Christianity offers a philosophical framework, spiritual resources and the body of Christ to help us grow into virtuous people.”
Dew said Christianity offers a true opportunity to become a virtuous person and should not be viewed as simply a belief system to be defended with evidence.
“Christian apologists, I hope you learn to think well and pursue your education to the fullest extent possible,” Dew said. “But at the end of the day, do not reduce Christianity to merely some bucket of evidence. Yes, Christianity is intellectually robust and has stood the test of time, but remember that it is more than some intellectual system.
“Christ is not just data sitting on a shelf somewhere. We’re talking about a person, a being who moves into our lives, invades our souls and transforms us from the inside out. As apologists, I don’t think we should be ashamed to talk about those types of things.”
Other plenary speakers at the week-long conference included apologist Alycia Wood; Greg Koukl, founder and president of Stand to Reason; David Calhoun, professor of philosophy at Gonzaga University and Gary Habermas, distinguished research professor of apologetics and philosophy at Liberty University.
Breakout topics at the event included:
Exhibiters at the conference included the International Mission Board (IMB), Send Network, B&H Academic, Reasons to Believe, Kregel Academic and Apologetics, Inc.
Anderson called this year’s Defend “a smashing success,” and invited college students from across the country to attend next year’s Defend conference.
“As we follow Europe into a post-Christian age, it is essential for young Christians to know not just what they believe and why it is true but also how Christianity has been an unquestionable good for believers and for society,” Anderson said.
“We're looking forward to illuminating the beauty of Christianity at next year’s Defend conference.”
To learn more about upcoming NOBTS conferences and events, click here.
