Contributors

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  Neil Placer

  Podcast Guest
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Team Members



Neil Placer

Podcast Guest

Neil Placer was apathetic about the question of God until his own dissatisfaction in life led him to search for something more.


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  Jana Harmon

  Senior Fellow For Christian Apologetics, CSLI
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Team Members

Jana Harmon
Senior Fellow For Christian Apologetics, CSLI
Jana Harmon, Ph.D, is the Senior Fellow For Christian Apologetics for the C.S. Lewis Institute and a Teaching Fellow for C.S. Lewis Institute Atlanta. She serves on the Atlanta Advisory Board and as an Adjunct Professor of Cultural Apologetics at Biola University. Her doctoral research studied the religious conversion of atheists to Christianity looking at the perspectives and stories of 50 former Atheists. She views apologetics through a practical, evangelistic lens. She is the host of the podcast eX-skeptic for the C.S. Lewis Institute. Jana received her PhD from the University of Birmingham, England.
 
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  Randy Newman

  Senior Fellow for Apologetics and Evangelism, CSLI
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Team Members

Randy Newman
Senior Fellow for Apologetics and Evangelism, CSLI
Randy Newman (1956-2024) was the Senior Fellow for Apologetics and Evangelism at the C.S. Lewis Institute. He taught at several evangelical seminaries. After serving for over 30 years with Campus Crusade for Christ, he established Connection Points, a ministry to help Christians engage people’s hearts the way Jesus did. He has written seven books, Questioning Evangelism, Corner Conversations, Bringing the Gospel Home, Engaging with Jewish People, Unlikely Converts: Improbable Stories of Faith and What They Teach Us About Evangelism, Mere Evangelism. and his most recent, Questioning Faith: Indirect Journeys of Belief through Terrains of Doubt. Randy has also written numerous articles about evangelism and other ways our lives intertwine with God’s creation. He earned his MDiv and PhD in Intercultural Studies from Trinity International University. Randy went home to be with the Lord in May 2024.
 
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  Mark Galli

  Author
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Team Members



Mark Galli

Author

Mark Galli is former editor in chief of Christianity Today. Mark is the author of numerous books on prayer, preaching, and pastoral ministry, including Karl Barth: An Introductory Biography for Evangelicals and When Did We Start Forgetting God?: The Root of the Evangelical Crisis and Hope for the Future. He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz and holds a M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary. Mark was a Presbyterian pastor for ten years, changed his denominational affiliation to the Anglican Church in North America and converted to Catholicism in 2020.

 

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  Aimee Riegert

  CSLI Fellow
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Team Members

Aimee Riegert
CSLI Fellow
Aimee Riegert, CSLI Fellow, earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and foreign language studies from Southern Methodist University. In addition to supporting various national security efforts in Northern Virginia, she has worked as an itinerant high school math teacher and drama coach, and has served in women’s ministries, praise teams, on the adult support team for Young Life and as a “mentor mom” for MOPS International ministries, as well as English instructor in several ESL programs in Japan. She is a graduate of the C.S. Lewis Institute Year One Fellows Program.
 
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  Stefani Ruper

  Philosopher of Religion
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Team Members



Stefani Ruper

Philosopher of Religion

Stefani Ruper is a writer and philosopher of religion. She holds a Ph.D. from Oxford and an M.Th. from Boston University.


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  Louis A. Markos

  Professor
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Team Members

Louis A. Markos
ProfessorLouis A. Markos, is a Professor of English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University. He holds a BA in English and History from Colgate University and an MA and PhD in English from the University of Michigan. Markos is the author of many books including, C. S. Lewis: An Apologist for Education, From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics, and Lewis Agonistes: How C. S. Lewis can Train us to Wrestle with the Modern and Postmodern World, and his latest work C.S. Lewis For Beginners. He is the author of two lecture series with the Teaching Company/Great Courses: The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis and Plato to Postmodernism.  
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  Joel Woodruff

  President, C.S. Lewis Institute
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Team Members

Joel Woodruff
President, C.S. Lewis Institute
Joel Woodruff, President, C.S. Lewis Institute, has worked in higher education, “tent-making,” nonprofit administration, and pastoral ministries in Alaska, Israel, Hungary, France, and Northern Virginia. He served as Dean of Students, Chaplain, and Professor of Bible & Theology at European Bible Institute, where he helped train Europeans both for professional ministry and to be Christian leaders in the marketplace. Prior to joining the Institute, he was on the leadership team of Oakwood Services International, a nonprofit educational and humanitarian organization. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, earned his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and has a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. As a Parish-Pulpit Fellow, he studied Biblical Backgrounds & Archaeology in Israel for a year.
 
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  Matt Bagwell

  Pastor
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Team Members



Matt Bagwell

Pastor

Matt Bagwell is a former atheist who became a pastor. He holds a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministries from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary


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  Mike McKinley

  Pastor
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Team Members



Mike McKinley

Pastor

Mike McKinley, Pastor, was raised in suburban Philadelphia. He received a B.A. in Religion and Classics from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. In 2004, Mike was brought onto the pastoral staff at Capitol Hill Baptist Church as a church planter. He now serves as the senior pastor of Sterling Park Baptist Church in Sterling, Virginia. He is the author of Church Planting Is for Wimps, Am I Really a Christian?, Did the Devil Make Me Do It?, Passion, The Resurrection in Your Life and his most recent publication, Friendship with God: A Path to Deeper Fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Mike also co-authored with Mark Dever, 90 Days in Ruth, Jeremiah and 1 Corinthians.
 

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  James M. Houston

  CSLI Co-Founder
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Team Members

James M. Houston
CSLI Co-FounderJames M. Houston (1922 – 2026) is a co-founder of the C.S. Lewis Institute. Jim served as a Senior Fellow of the Institute, lecturing at CSLI events over the past five decades. He received his Bachelor of Science and M.A. degrees from the University of Edinburgh and a D. Phil. from Oxford University. He was a University Lecturer at Oxford from 1947 – 1971 where he taught cultural and historical geography. While teaching at Oxford, he met C.S. Lewis and participated in a regular Bible study with him for six years. He is known as one of the “founding fathers” of Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia where he has served as the first Principal, Chancellor and Professor of Spiritual Theology.  
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  Joshua Rasmussen

  Professor
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Team Members

Joshua Rasmussen
ProfessorJoshua Rasmussen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Azusa Pacific University. He holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and his area of expertise is analytic metaphysics. He is the author of How Reason Can Lead to God and Is God the Best Explanation of Things?