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, 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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  Heather Holleman

  Author
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Team Members

Heather Holleman
Author
Heather Holleman is an associate teaching professor at Penn State, speaker, and author. Dr. Holleman attended the University of Virginia, graduating with the highest distinction for her thesis on the poetry of Emily Dickinson. She authored Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison. She also authored: This Seat’s Saved, written for middle-grade audiences, helping young readers discover they are already seated at the best table with Jesus, winning Christianity Today’s Book of the Year in the Young Adult category. Heather and her husband, Ashley, work with the missions organization (Cru) serving as the Executive Director of Graduate Student Ministry. Heather enjoys writing and speaks regularly to encourage audiences to connect deeply with Jesus and one another.
 
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  Maryam Rostampour-Keller

  Author
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Team Members

Maryam Rostampour-Keller
Author
Maryam Rostampour-Keller was born into a Muslim family in Iran. After becoming a Christian in her teens, she studied theology in Turkey. Her story of how Maryam and her friend, Marziyeh Amirizadehis, were imprisoned for their faith and sentenced to death in Iran is told in the book, Captive in Iran: A Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph Amid the Horror of Tehran’s Brutal Evin Prison. Maryam has a B.S. and M.S. in International Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.
 
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  Kevin J. Vanhoozer

  Professor, Senior Fellow for Systematic Theology, CSLI
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Team Members

Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Professor, Senior Fellow for Systematic Theology, CSLI
Kevin J. Vanhoozer is the Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Systematic Theology and the Journal of Theological Interpretation. He earned his M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. Previously, he served as Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College and as Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at New College, University of Edinburgh. He has edited multiple books, including The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology and Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible. He is the author of many books, most notably, Is There a Meaning in this Text? and The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology.
 
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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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  Thiago M. Silva

  City Director, CSLI Lake Charles
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Team Members

Thiago M. Silva
City Director, CSLI Lake Charles
Thiago M. Silva, D.Min., is the City Director for the C. S. Lewis Institute Lake Charles. He has been the pastor of Bethel Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Lake Charles, Louisiana, since August 2022. He earned his Th.M. in Systematic Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary (2016) and completed his doctoral studies at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (2024). He’s authored several articles and books including Discipleship in a Post-Christian Age: With a Little Help from C. S. Lewis (Wipf & Stock, 2025). Thiago’s God-given vocation is to equip people to live as Christians in every sphere of life through teaching and preaching.
 
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  Michael Houts

  Scientist
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Michael Houts
Scientist
Michael Houts is a dedicated scientist whose journey began with a passion for science and engineering. He earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT. He spent 11 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he held key roles including team leader for criticality reactor and radiation physics. Now, Michael is a nuclear research manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center, working on advanced propulsion systems to boost space exploration.
 
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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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  Richard L. Gathro

  VP Programs
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Team Members

Richard L. Gathro
VP Programs
Richard L. Gathro, VP Programs, formerly served as program director for the Pepperdine Washington DC program. He was formerly the executive vice president of the Council for Christian College & Universities, an association of 182 campuses in 24 countries and headquartered in Washington, D.C. He received his doctorate in education and theology from the University of Oxford.
 
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  Brian Smith

  Podcast Guest
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Brian Smith
Podcast Guest
Brian Smith is a Student Pastor at Dunwoody Baptist Church in the Metro of Atlanta. He has been in student ministry for 16 years, and is a loving husband and father of four.
 
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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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  J.I. Packer

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Team Members

J.I. Packer
J.I. Packer (1926 – 2020) is known for his best-selling book, Knowing God, as well as his work as an editor for the English Standard Version of the Bible. He was a signer on the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, a member on the advisory board of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and also was involved in the ecumenical book Evangelicals and Catholics Together in 1994. His last teaching position was as the board of governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was awarded the St. Cuthbert's Cross at the Provincial Assembly of ACNA on 27 June 2014 for his "unparalleled contribution to Anglican and global Christianity."