Contributors

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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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  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.  
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  Andy Bannister

  Author and Speaker
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Team Members

Andy Bannister
Author and Speaker
Andy Bannister is an author, speaker, and broadcaster. He is currently the Director of the Solas Center for Public Christianity, an evangelism and training ministry, as well as the Adjunct Research Fellow at Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and has taught extensively at universities across the world on both Islam and Philosophy. Andy speaks regularly on Christianity to audiences of all faiths across Europe, Canada, the US, and further afield. He is an author of several books including: The Atheist Who Didn't Exist, Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? and most recently, How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like an Idiot.
 
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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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  Gerald McDermott

  Professor
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Team Members

Gerald McDermott
ProfessorGerald McDermott, Professor, is a retired Anglican Chair of Divinity at Samford’s Beeson Divinity School. Prior to that, he served as Jordan–Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College where he taught for 26 years. His career focuses on Jonathan Edwards, a Christian’s understanding other religions, and the meaning of Israel. Gerald has authored many books, including his award-winning coauthoring of Theology of Jonathan Edwards. He grew up in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Chicago (B.A., New Testament and Early Christian Literature). Gerald started and ran a private school, pastored for five years in Iowa, and earned a Ph.D. in religion at the University of Iowa.