Southern Evangelical Seminary Welcomes 1,800 to 26th National Conference on Christian Apologetics

45+ Top-Name Speakers, Hundreds of Attendees, Students and Faculty Gather in Charlotte for Nation’s Premier Apologetics Event

October 15, 2019

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—One might call it the nation’s top “meeting of Christian minds.”

Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES, www.ses.edu) hosted its annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics (NCCA) this past weekend, and nearly 1,800 attendees heard from 45-plus nationally known speakers and experts in their field.

“By all accounts, the 2019 NCCA was a roaring success,” said Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary who spoke on “Racism, Social Justice and the Gospel” at the conference. “I have been inundated on all sides by people telling me how much they enjoyed the conference and how much they learned. There was nary a negative comment from anyone—from new attendees, to long-term attendees, to exhibitors, to speakers, etc. Over the weekend, I encountered three different groups of conference attendees (at least 30 people were on their way back to Oklahoma, Michigan and Minnesota). They came up to my table to tell me how much they appreciated the conference and they would be back next year. We thank the many speakers, faculty members, staff, students, and volunteers who played such prominent and crucial roles in once again making the conference an incredible success.”

Several attendees also provided positive feedback on the weekend event:

• “I teach Christian apologetics in a small group at our church in the Raleigh-Durham area. I heard about this conference and was looking for specific information that I can use to build some additional lessons in the area of science and Christianity, and other topics that were on the list. It has been very insightful!”
• “This conference is truly a unique experience. The amount of breakout sessions and expert speakers make for an amazing conference every year.”
• “My husband and I wanted to attend the conference so we could better explain what we believe to our kids who aren’t believers.”

Additional speakers and their topics included the following:

• Michael Brown—Radio host, author, SES adjunct faculty and leader of AskDrBrown Ministries and FIRE School of Ministry—“How the Church Has Driven Jews Away from Jesus” and “How Did Job Speak Rightly About God?”
• Alisa Childers—Blogger, speaker, worship leader and former member of the recording group ZOEgirl—“Progressive Christianity: A Biblical Response to a Growing Movement”
• David Geisler—Son of SES co-founder Dr. Norman Geisler and president of Norm Geisler International Ministries—“The New World of Apologetics: Questions and Answers with Dr. David Geisler and Don Deal” and “Billy Graham Meets Thomas Aquinas: A Tribute to the Work of Dr. Norman Geisler”
• Gary Habermas—Distinguished Research Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University—“Updating the Resurrection Time-Line Argument” and “How to Treat Emotional Doubt”
• Richard Howe—SES Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Apologetics—“Dialog with Mike Licona: What Does It Mean to Say the Bible is Inerrant?” and “How Theology Needs Philosophy”
• Chip Ingram—CEO and teaching pastor for Living on the Edge—“Rethinking Apologetics for the 21st Century” and “What’s Your First Domino?”
• Stephen Meyer—Director of the Center for Science & Culture at the Discovery Institute—“Darwin’s Doubt” and “Return of the God Hypothesis”
• Jeff Myers—President of Summit Ministries—“How to Reach Millennials and Gen Z with Biblical Truth”
• Hugh Ross—President of Reasons to Believe—“The Ultimate Darts Player” and “New Design Evidences: Habitable Zones”
• Frank Turek—President of CrossExamined.org and SES adjunct faculty—“Sex and Your Commanding Officer” and “Why Are There So Many Denominations?”

SES’s well-known two-day event brought together some of the nation’s best minds to address the most pressing cultural and religious issues of our day. The conference, with the 2019 theme of “Why Truth Still Matters,” has been an annual destination for longtime attendees, while new attendees discover SES at this powerful event every year. For 26 years, SES’s National Conference on Christian Apologetics has given believers the tools, knowledge and motivation to defend their beliefs in a culture that is sometimes hostile toward Christianity.

At the conference, SES also paid tribute to its co-founder and Christian apologetics legend Dr. Norman Geisler, who passed away July 1 at the age of 86 after more than a half-century-long commitment and invaluable contribution to the field of Christian apologetics. Called the “Father of Apologetics,” he was a prolific author, veteran professor, speaker, lecturer, traveler, philosopher, evangelist and theologian, and had been described throughout his lifetime as a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Billy Graham.

One week after Geisler’s death, SES announced the creation of the “Dr. Norman L. Geisler Memorial Fund,” which will be used for student scholarships and special projects that would have been near and dear to Dr. Geisler’s heart. This spring, SES also named Dr. Geisler the seminary’s President Emeritus and renamed its graduate school “The Dr. Norman L. Geisler Graduate School of Apologetics.”

Read more about Southern Evangelical Seminary and SES President Dr. Richard Land, as well as his radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive” here.

For more information on SES, visit its web site at www.ses.edu or its Facebook page, follow the SES Twitter feed, @sesapologetics, or call (800) 77-TRUTH.

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To interview Dr. Richard Land or other Southern Evangelical Seminary representatives, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Jeff Tolson, 610.584.1096, ext. 108, or ext. 102.