Contributors

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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, CSLIRandy 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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  William L. Kynes

  Senior Fellow for Pastoral Theology, CSLI
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Team Members

William L. Kynes
Senior Fellow for Pastoral Theology, CSLIWilliam L. "Bill" Kynes is the Senior Fellow for Pastoral Theology at the C.S. Lewis Institute, and retired Senior Pastor of Cornerstone, an Evangelical Free Church, in Annandale, VA, where he served from 1986 - 2022. He majored in Philosophy at the University of Florida, where he also played quarterback and was later inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving an MA in theology. He received an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, before returning to England for a PhD in New Testament from Cambridge University.    
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  Thomas A. Tarrants

  Author, President Emeritus, CSLI
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Team Members



Thomas A. Tarrants

Author, President Emeritus, CSLI

Thomas A. Tarrants is President Emeritus of the C.S. Lewis Institute. After serving twelve years as president and nine years as vice President, he retired from his position as Vice President for Ministry and Director, Washington Area Fellows Program, with CSLI in June 2019. He holds a Master's of Divinity Degree, as well as a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Christian Spirituality. Tom is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Church Alliance and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society. He spends his time writing, mentoring, consulting and traveling. His life story is told in Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 

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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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  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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  Alex Blagojevic

  Author
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Team Members

Alex Blagojevic
AuthorAlex Blagojevic, Author, is the vice-president of Faith Thinkers. Though an atheist for his earlier years, in 2003, through a series of dramatic events, he gave his life to Jesus.  Alex teaches regularly on theology, finance/investing, and politics at churches, conferences, and universities (Florida GulfCoast University, Florida Southwestern College, and Palm Beach Atlantic University). Alex is also the regional director for Florida of Ratio Christi, a Christian organization on college campuses across the country, challenging students on college campuses to think critically about Christianity and other religions.  
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  Tom Schwanda

  Professor, Senior Fellow for Christian Spirituality, CSLI
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Team Members

Tom Schwanda
Professor, Senior Fellow for Christian Spirituality, CSLI
Tom Schwanda is the Senior Fellow for Christian Spirituality at the C.S. Lewis Institute, Fellow in the Royal Historical Society of England, associate professor emeritus of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College, and visiting scholar at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He holds degrees from Durham University (PhD, 2009), Fuller Theological Seminary (DMin, 1992), New Brunswick Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (MDiv, 1975), and Moravian College (BA, 1972).He is also the author of numerous articles and book chapters and four books, including The Emergence of Evangelical Spirituality: The Age of Edwards, Newton, and Whitefield and most recently George Whitefield, New Birth to Enjoy God, in the Crossway Theologians on the Christian Life series. He is an experienced pastor and has taught widely on Christian spirituality.

 
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  J. Warner Wallace

  Author, Apologist, Homicide Detective
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Team Members

J. Warner Wallace
Author, Apologist, Homicide Detective
J. Warner Wallace, Author, Apologist, Homicide Detective, is a cold-case homicide detective who gave his life to Christ at the age of 35 after using his investigative skills to assess the claims of the Gospel. He serves as a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center, and is an adjunct professor at Talbot School of Theology, Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a faculty member at Summit Ministries. Wallace has authored nine books, appeared in television shows and movies such as God’s Not Dead 2. More information about Wallace can be found at his website at coldcasechristianity.com.
 
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  Trevin Wax

  Professor
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Team Members

Trevin Wax
Professor
Trevin Wax, Professor, is senior vice president of theology and communications at LifeWay Christian Resources and a visiting professor at Wheaton College. He is the general editor of The Gospel Project and the author of multiple books, including Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, Eschatological Discipleship, and Gospel Centered Teaching. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin was recently named by Christianity Today as one of 33 millennials leading the next generation of evangelicalism. He is the co-host of the Word Matters podcast that explores difficult and contested passages of Scripture. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, and his Masters of Divinity at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY.
 
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  Dawn Simon

  Speaker
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Team Members

Dawn Simon
Speaker
Dawn Simon, Podcast Guest, is also a University biology professor, dismissed belief in God until faced with convincing intellectual arguments from an informed Christian, Tim Stratton.
 
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  Jim Phillips

  CSLI City Director, Annapolis & Senior Fellow for Cross-Cultural Discipleship
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Team Members

Jim Phillips
CSLI City Director, Annapolis & Senior Fellow for Cross-Cultural DiscipleshipJim Phillips founded the C.S. Lewis Institute in Annapolis, Maryland in 2009 and is currently a Senior Fellow helping facilitate the discipleship of Believers in Christ from non-Western cultural backgrounds. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. After graduation he served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an AV-8A Harrier pilot and in the corporate world as an information technology executive. He received an MLA from St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland, a Post Graduate Diploma in Theology and Religion, Oxford University, UK, and a PhD in Islamic Studies from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/Middlesex University, Oxford, UK. Jim has authored several books which can be found at https://amazon.com/author/phillipsjim.