Q&A with Steven Garofalo
Author of “Equipped: Basic Training in Apologetics for Evangelism”
Q: Why is apologetics important for Christians?
A: Apologetics removes obstacles in order to unlock the door to the Gospel. With as many as three out of five Christian students abandoning their faith during the first year of college, we must admit that our churches are making students ill-equipped for the secular world. Many students in the 21st Century believe they need to feel what is truth and what is true about God instead of what they know to be factual evidence about the true God. Young people need to be able to apply Scripture; therefore, apologetics training is no longer a luxury. It is an essential part of equipping today’s youth and adults to defend and advance their Christian faith.
Q: What are your goals for the EQUIPPED book, workbook, and online academy?
A: I wrote this curriculum to help people of all ages prepare to defend their Christian faith as Paul did in Acts 9 where it says Paul “confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.” Paul lived in an expressive culture much like we do, where passion and emotion are paramount. But Paul led with his head and appealed to their hearts. By imitating Paul’s style, we can learn to effectively share the Gospel and draw people back to a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.
Q: How did you decide on the topics for EQUIPPED?
A: We answered the most common questions asked in today’s world regarding Christianity in a pluralistic world. The book and course cover the existence of God, the proof of the resurrection, why bad things happen to good people, the problem of evil, moral relativity, and why Christianity is true above other religions.
A: Apologetics removes obstacles in order to unlock the door to the Gospel. With as many as three out of five Christian students abandoning their faith during the first year of college, we must admit that our churches are making students ill-equipped for the secular world. Many students in the 21st Century believe they need to feel what is truth and what is true about God instead of what they know to be factual evidence about the true God. Young people need to be able to apply Scripture; therefore, apologetics training is no longer a luxury. It is an essential part of equipping today’s youth and adults to defend and advance their Christian faith.
Q: What are your goals for the EQUIPPED book, workbook, and online academy?
A: I wrote this curriculum to help people of all ages prepare to defend their Christian faith as Paul did in Acts 9 where it says Paul “confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.” Paul lived in an expressive culture much like we do, where passion and emotion are paramount. But Paul led with his head and appealed to their hearts. By imitating Paul’s style, we can learn to effectively share the Gospel and draw people back to a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.
Q: How did you decide on the topics for EQUIPPED?
A: We answered the most common questions asked in today’s world regarding Christianity in a pluralistic world. The book and course cover the existence of God, the proof of the resurrection, why bad things happen to good people, the problem of evil, moral relativity, and why Christianity is true above other religions.
Q: Your mentor was Norman Geisler who is well known in apologetics circles. What was the most important thing you learned from him?
A: It is difficult to name one because there are so many. Dr. Geisler gave me a deeper love for learning and writing. He spent six months editing my first book and taught me how to write a book. Above all other things, Dr. Geisler taught in 3D, often repeating important concepts three different ways, similar to the way Jesus taught. A friend told me after reading my first book that he noticed some redundancy, but that it was not simply redundant. When I explained that Dr. Geisler taught this way, I realized that the student had become the teacher. That was always Dr. Geisler’s goal.
Q: The Ravi Zacharias scandal seems to have given apologetics a bit of a black eye. Any comment on that?
A: My opinion regarding Ravi is that we need to look at what he did right and what he did wrong. If we fail to do that, many will fall into the same trap. Being made a “Rock Star” is a serious issue in the Christian community. Many of our leaders such as Billy Graham, Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Geisler, Bill Bright, Dr. Geisler and others—maintained a sense of humility about themselves. I pray daily that I give God the glory. He is the One and only source of all wisdom, power, knowledge, Truth, and love. As such, my goal is to proclaim the Gospel through apologetics and remember who I am֫— a servant of God who desires to glorify Him in all I say and all I do. That’s my goal. I’m not perfect by any stretch, but I am very fearful to play God.
Q: What do you think makes EQUIPPED different from other apologetic books? A:
EQUIPPED simplifies some of the most academic questions by utilizing decades of research, scripture, and personal life stories that illustrate each lesson while also glorifying God. I always try to determine what lies behind people’s objections to Christianity. By offering personal stories behind each argument, I believe people will be more receptive to the Gospel and less combative about the disagreements. EQUIPPED provides a unique systematic teaching style which not only simplifies complex topics, but also connects each subject to one another for the common goal of using apologetics in evangelism.
Q: What is your best argument for the existence of God?
A: Jesus always answered questions according to who He was speaking with. I would rather sit down and spend some time getting to know the person to discover their worldview and life experiences. Armed with the Word of God, the help of the Holy Spirit and a basic training in Apologetics, I would formulate a response for that specific person or group of people. For example, when sharing your faith, you might find that the person’s objections to the existence of God are emotional if they were abused, academic if they were raised in an atheistic home, rebellious if backslidden, or simply out of a lack of knowledge if the person was never given sufficient answers. Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” It is much easier to share with others the immense amount of evidence for the existence God with a willing heart than to debate with a person based on information only.
A: It is difficult to name one because there are so many. Dr. Geisler gave me a deeper love for learning and writing. He spent six months editing my first book and taught me how to write a book. Above all other things, Dr. Geisler taught in 3D, often repeating important concepts three different ways, similar to the way Jesus taught. A friend told me after reading my first book that he noticed some redundancy, but that it was not simply redundant. When I explained that Dr. Geisler taught this way, I realized that the student had become the teacher. That was always Dr. Geisler’s goal.
Q: The Ravi Zacharias scandal seems to have given apologetics a bit of a black eye. Any comment on that?
A: My opinion regarding Ravi is that we need to look at what he did right and what he did wrong. If we fail to do that, many will fall into the same trap. Being made a “Rock Star” is a serious issue in the Christian community. Many of our leaders such as Billy Graham, Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Geisler, Bill Bright, Dr. Geisler and others—maintained a sense of humility about themselves. I pray daily that I give God the glory. He is the One and only source of all wisdom, power, knowledge, Truth, and love. As such, my goal is to proclaim the Gospel through apologetics and remember who I am֫— a servant of God who desires to glorify Him in all I say and all I do. That’s my goal. I’m not perfect by any stretch, but I am very fearful to play God.
Q: What do you think makes EQUIPPED different from other apologetic books? A:
EQUIPPED simplifies some of the most academic questions by utilizing decades of research, scripture, and personal life stories that illustrate each lesson while also glorifying God. I always try to determine what lies behind people’s objections to Christianity. By offering personal stories behind each argument, I believe people will be more receptive to the Gospel and less combative about the disagreements. EQUIPPED provides a unique systematic teaching style which not only simplifies complex topics, but also connects each subject to one another for the common goal of using apologetics in evangelism.
Q: What is your best argument for the existence of God?
A: Jesus always answered questions according to who He was speaking with. I would rather sit down and spend some time getting to know the person to discover their worldview and life experiences. Armed with the Word of God, the help of the Holy Spirit and a basic training in Apologetics, I would formulate a response for that specific person or group of people. For example, when sharing your faith, you might find that the person’s objections to the existence of God are emotional if they were abused, academic if they were raised in an atheistic home, rebellious if backslidden, or simply out of a lack of knowledge if the person was never given sufficient answers. Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” It is much easier to share with others the immense amount of evidence for the existence God with a willing heart than to debate with a person based on information only.
About Steven Garofalo:
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Steven Garofalo is a speaker, author, and teacher on issues relating to Christian apologetics and theology. He completed his Master’s in Apologetics with an emphasis in Islamic Studies at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC. In addition to his most recent book “EQUIPPED: Basic Training in Christian Apologetics,” he has authored “Right for You, But Not For Me: A Response to Moral Relativism,” “All Roads Don’t Lead to Heaven: Discovering God in the New Age.” He is the president of Reason for Truth Ministry and host of the Reason for Truth Podcast and YouTube channel. For more information visit www.reasonfortruth.org.
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What others are saying about "Equipped"
“Few have been able to combine apologetics and evangelism into one practical volume for equipping the church. Steven Garofalo’s book does just that. I highly recommend Equipped for your edification and understanding so you can be genuinely prepared to defend and advance the Christian faith.”
Josh McDowell
Founder, Josh McDowell Ministry
Author of The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict and 40 other books
“This book is clear, correct, and concise. I am happy to recommend it. Everyone who desires to defend the faith needs to read this excellent work.”
Dr. Norman L. Geisler
Author of over 100 books, Speaker, and Distinguished Professor at
Southern Evangelical Seminary and Veritas International University
“Steven Garofalo has distilled a mountain of biblical and theological information into one small practical volume to help all of us communicate the gospel with love and truth to our contemporary culture. He skillfully deals with such common questions as “Is Jesus the only way?” and “If God is good, what about all of the evil?” Buy Equipped and share it with others.”
Dr. John Munro
Senior Pastor, Calvary Church, Charlotte, NC
“As one who has been involved in ministry for over twenty years, it is part of the calling for a pastor/teacher to equip the local church for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11–12). In Equipped, Steven Garofalo provides a tool to help make that job a lot easier. As Steven says, ‘Being
equipped is not optional.’”
Jeremy R. Varner
Senior Pastor, Community Baptist Church, La Grange, NC
“Our youth are ill equipped by our churches for the coming potential spiritual and intellectual avalanches they’ll face when entering the university. Parents and grandparents ought to be concerned. All people ought to be concerned in this rapidly secularizing culture. Reading Equipped will enable you to help a fellow believer or an unbeliever have confidence in God. Informative and understandable, this book winsomely covers the various worldviews and several comparative religions. It also gives reasons to believe and effective ways to share your Christian faith.”
Dr. Corey Miller
President/CEO of Ratio Christi, Adjunct professor of Comparative
Religions and Philosophy at Indiana University, Author of Leaving
Mormonism: Why Four Scholars Changed Their Minds
“Equipped answers some of the basic questions asked about Christianity and religion, then presents a practical plan to help Christians present the truth of God by using apologetics in evangelism. Steven Garofalo has developed an excellent tool for Christians to defend and advance the Christian
faith in the 21st century. I highly recommend this book.”
Kent Suter
Youth Pastor, Cornerstone Bible College, Lilburn, GA
Josh McDowell
Founder, Josh McDowell Ministry
Author of The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict and 40 other books
“This book is clear, correct, and concise. I am happy to recommend it. Everyone who desires to defend the faith needs to read this excellent work.”
Dr. Norman L. Geisler
Author of over 100 books, Speaker, and Distinguished Professor at
Southern Evangelical Seminary and Veritas International University
“Steven Garofalo has distilled a mountain of biblical and theological information into one small practical volume to help all of us communicate the gospel with love and truth to our contemporary culture. He skillfully deals with such common questions as “Is Jesus the only way?” and “If God is good, what about all of the evil?” Buy Equipped and share it with others.”
Dr. John Munro
Senior Pastor, Calvary Church, Charlotte, NC
“As one who has been involved in ministry for over twenty years, it is part of the calling for a pastor/teacher to equip the local church for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11–12). In Equipped, Steven Garofalo provides a tool to help make that job a lot easier. As Steven says, ‘Being
equipped is not optional.’”
Jeremy R. Varner
Senior Pastor, Community Baptist Church, La Grange, NC
“Our youth are ill equipped by our churches for the coming potential spiritual and intellectual avalanches they’ll face when entering the university. Parents and grandparents ought to be concerned. All people ought to be concerned in this rapidly secularizing culture. Reading Equipped will enable you to help a fellow believer or an unbeliever have confidence in God. Informative and understandable, this book winsomely covers the various worldviews and several comparative religions. It also gives reasons to believe and effective ways to share your Christian faith.”
Dr. Corey Miller
President/CEO of Ratio Christi, Adjunct professor of Comparative
Religions and Philosophy at Indiana University, Author of Leaving
Mormonism: Why Four Scholars Changed Their Minds
“Equipped answers some of the basic questions asked about Christianity and religion, then presents a practical plan to help Christians present the truth of God by using apologetics in evangelism. Steven Garofalo has developed an excellent tool for Christians to defend and advance the Christian
faith in the 21st century. I highly recommend this book.”
Kent Suter
Youth Pastor, Cornerstone Bible College, Lilburn, GA