RTB at 30: Online Courses Train Apologists

RTB at 30: Online Courses Train Apologists

In 2003, as the RTB scholars were working to develop the testable creation model approach, longtime friend Dr. Jack Hayford invited them to teach a class at The King’s University. In an effort to share that engaging approach with future RTB apologists, we decided to record the lectures, thinking the fresh content could update the old Science and Evangelism course material. Little did we know those lectures would be the foundation of what eventually became Reasons Institute.

Within the next couple of years, I came alongside Bob Stuart, who assembled the original course, to record additional lectures at Biola University. With the help of a high school summer intern, Tyler Green, we turned those lectures into a new and more comprehensive training course. Over the course of five summers together, Tyler and I built five additional online courses, as well as a high school course.

By setting up on an online-learning platform, we gained the ability to deliver course content the way many universities do. Our courses have since been incorporated into graduate programs at some top Christian universities, including Hope International University, Biola University, and Southern Evangelical Seminary. We’re currently in the midst of building an exciting new partnership with Regent University.

More than 250 students a year take classes through Reasons Institute, including volunteer apologists like Sue Dykes (in South Africa), who started out as an RI student and is now finishing a PhD in paleoanthropology. High school students have also taken our courses to prepare for college challenges. And we’ve trained a small army of workplace evangelists who use their training to reach skeptics, atheists, and others with the hope of Jesus Christ. Since its inception in 2003, Reasons Institute has blossomed into the premier provider of science apologetics courses, and we’re thrilled to train up a new generation of Christians who are ready to listen and give answers.