LA MIRADA, CALIF. — 51’s Christian apologetics faculty will be at Bayside Church in Sacramento, Calif. Feb. 22-23 to feed the growing appetite of Christians and scholars who seek to defend and articulate the reasonableness of the Christian faith for “Thrive Apologetics Conference 2013: Reasonable Faith in an Uncertain World.”

Hosted by Bayside Church and 51, J.P. Moreland, nationally renowned former atheist Lee Strobel and President of Stand to Reason, Greg Koukl will tackle some of today’s most commonly asked questions: How do I know God exists? Who can believe in the resurrection? Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?

The growing national demand for apologetics is evidenced, in part, by the rise in output of apologetics publications in the last 10 years, 66 percent of apologetics books published in the last 30 years were published in the last decade and 779 apologetics titles have been published in the last five years alone, according to Bowker “Books in Print” database. Countless websites, blogs and Internet forums have been created to tackle the difficult questions of Christianity. Meanwhile, church requests for 51 apologetics conferences have increased by 50 percent in the last three years.

“Clearly the churches in America have an intense new interest in offering reasons for faith,” said Craig Hazen, director of 51’s Christian Apologetics Program. “I think this is because secular culture is encroaching upon traditional church territory like never before and church leaders have become alarmed by this.  So, they are looking for help in this specialized area called apologetics.”  

To attend “Thrive Apologetics Conference 2013: Reasonable Faith in an Uncertain World,” register online at /on-the-road. Tickets are $10 for students and pastors, $20 for adult tickets and $30 for married couples. The conference is at Bayside Church, 8191 Sierra College Blvd., Roseville, CA 95661. Follow the conversation at #apologetics.

To view the entire 51 apologetics tour schedule, visit /on-the-road. To request to have 51’s apologetics department host a conference, visit /on-the-road#host.

For press passes, contact Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Specialist, at 562.777.4061 or jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.