Over the last 12 months I have had engaged in several discussions online with atheists. These discussions have streteched me in a variety of ways.

For example, in one discussion I was confronted with the argument that it’s foolish to follow Jesus because he never actually existed – he was (the person contended), simply a combination of mythological sun gods. This discussion challenged me to not just respond with ‘you’re crazy and don’t know what you’re talking about’, and forced me to look into the reliability of the New Testament documents and research what scholars and historians (both Christian and otherwise) have to say on this issue.

Richard Dawkins brought the subject of God back into the mainstream media’s agenda, and inspired many a news article and discussion thread. For Dawkins (and many of the other so-called ‘new atheists’), the issue isn’t whether or not Jesus existed, but how any educated person can actually believe in (a) god. In the debates I witnesses and participated in, the debates revolved around science, the age of the earth, the beginning of the world, evolution, Christian violence over the ages, etc. These aren’t new questions, but I felt ill-equipped to answer them. Thankfully, others much smarter than me have considered these questions. I’d like to share with you some resources I discovered in my search for answers.

• Centre for Public Christianity. A Sydney-based online resource launched by John Dickson and Greg Clarke with a range of apologetic resources in print and on video.
• The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. As a journalist, Stroblel doesn’t avoid the tricky questions, but tackles them head on by engaging with well-respected academics. His chapter on ‘how can a loving God send people to hell?’ was particularly helpful for me. Strobel has also written many other books including ‘The Case for the Real Jesus’ (which I can also recommend) and ‘The Case for Christ’.
• The God Delusion Debate. John Lennox is a mega-brain and his famous debate with Richard Dawkins (available online) is a great encouragement – both in his manner and his responses. He has written ‘God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?’, and his website hosts a collection of audio/video apologetics resources.
• Apologetics 315. A huge resource of book reviews, podcasts, interviews, quotes, links, talks essays and more on just about every apologetics topic under the sun.
• It was on the Apologetics website that I discovered William Lane Craig. He is one of the best known apologists, and has debated at universities and other platforms around the world. He has a website -  Reasonable Faith, with a comprehensive collection of resources.
• Finally, I enjoyed watching a short video explaining how former atheist, Peter Hitchens (brother of atheist Christopher) came to know Jesus, via a piece of Revelation-inspired art! How appropriate given our current evening sermon series.