Reader Response

Click for feedback from readers of Apologia Report in these categories:

Educators
Pastors
Apologetics ministries
Students of apologetics
College campus ministry
Christian missions


Educators

Thank you so much for providing current and condensed summaries of contemporary resources. As a teacher it is important to stay current, yet ministry often leaves too little time for the thoroughness desirable. I not only skim your report regularly, but I keep it as a resource I can refer to as needed. You have helped me recently in both my writing and my teaching.
Jack Lewis, Assoc. Prof. of Biblical Studies
Moody Bible Institute, Northwest Center in Spokane, WA

Apologia Report provides up-to-date information on some of the most crucial issues in Christian apologetics. I always find a new source or important article in every edition. Apologia Report should be consulted by anyone interested in the latest developments in world and new religions, ethics, philosophy, pop culture, and theology.
James A. Beverley
Professor, Tyndale Seminary
Toronto, Canada

The thing I appreciate about Apologia Report is that it highlights current matters of apologetic interest and provides websites for following up. Not every item has immediate application, but there is usually at least one topic that arouses more than a passing interest. As a teacher of biblical and theological subjects, I'm sure that there will be many topics that will be most helpful. One that comes to mind is the coverage you have given to the current "Da Vinci Code" phenomenon and the relevance this info will be for courses such as "Revelation and Inspiration of the Scriptures".
Fred Barton, Dean of Studies
Hawkes Bay Centre, Bible College of New Zealand

I appreciate Apologia Report for several reasons. It keeps me up to date on issues in theology, religion, and ethics I might not otherwise have known. I have often been alterted to materials that I have used either in class lectures or for my research.
Douglas Groothuis
Assistant Prof. of Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
Denver Seminary

Apologia Report is a helpful, time saving gift to me as a professor. It allows me to maximize my time by pointing me to a helpful array of published material that I might well not be aware of without the service it provides. We like AR enough that we continue to renew on a group subscription basis for our faculty.
Darrell Bock, Research Professor, NT Studies
Dallas Theological Seminary

I am grateful for Apologia Report because it is varied enough in its scope that I can always find something interesting, useful and informative for those I teach. It is focused enough, however, to provide enough detail for questions that may arise.
Michael Martin, HanYang University
South Korea

I find Apologia Report extremely helpful. It would be virtually impossible for me to stay informed about the wide range of alternative spiritual movements and responses to them without this summarizing work. Apologia Report is one of the few responsible voices in the much neglected area of ministry to the cults and alternative spiritual systems.
James A. Herrick, Chair
Department of Communication
Hope College, Holland, MI

Thanks for Apologia Report. It has been helpful in informing me of important books and articles that have been published. The review format gave me some understanding of what the book or article is about. Your web links are a very helpful feature that allows follow-up with the material that interests me most.
Donald Leung
Singapore Bible College

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Pastors

I am thankful for Apologia Report. I was an international student at Dallas Theological Seminary when I first subscribed and am now working back in my own country, responsible for the development of a team of about 100 young ministers. I find the material useful to me as a resource to enrich them.
Chi-ho Chan

I use Apologia Report for illustrative material in sermons. The editors of Apologia Report keep me informed of what I do not read. If I'm interested in an issue, I can follow through with sources they list.
Dan Towery, Grace Bible Church
Leesburg, Virginia

As a pastor that does not have access to a big theological library, your newsletter informs me of many things that I use in sermon preparation and teaching. It's concise format allows me to read through the material pretty quickly and decide whether to research it more. Apologia Report has been very helpful to me.
Stephen Thompson
Kauai, Hawaii

I would like to thank you so much for what you do for me in my ministry. You help me keep updated as a pastor-teacher and in return minister to God's people. I'm very much interested in the topics you cover because I also teach apologetics in a small institute.
Leonardo F. Galanza II, Antipolo City
Rizal, Philippines

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Apologetics ministries

One of the biggest problems in trying to direct a multi-staff ministry is finding enough time to get everything done. Administrative and staffing responsibilities often drain on time that could be used in research and increasing one's personal knowledge in our field. That's where the services provided by Apologia come in. Apologia is an invaluable resource for helping us to stay on top of developing trends and breaking news, in addition to providing a resource forum where we can go when we need answers. In a very real sense the Apologia staff are like having another research field office for our own ministry efforts.
Bob Waldrep
Alabama Director, Watchman Fellowship

We are living in an age in which it is impossible for anyone to keep up with the massive growth of information sources dealing with the cults, the occult, world religions, and general apologetics. I've been using Rich Poll's reports for years. In every issue that I've read I have discovered several important articles (and often entirely new sources) relating to my research that I was completely unaware of. Moreover, I have found that continued reading of what is now Apologia Report has helped me to keep a finger on the religious pulse of America. Through this publication I gain an awareness of spiritual trends and preferences in the United States and around the world.
Ron Rhodes, Executive Director
Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries

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Students of apologetics

I'm a grad student at the University of Texas in Dallas. The diversity of belief systems at the secular campus is stunning: from Christian to atheist to Muslim to Hindu to Wiccan to mystical to Sufi to Bahai to full-blown post-modern. Every current topic somehow finds it way on this campus, and Apologia Report has helped me stay on top of the swarm of ideas, and to assist others in the Body of Christ who are likewise working on their education.

Some of your pointers have been particularly helpful. Reviews of Philip Jenkins' The Next Christendom have broadened my grasp of Christianity and have aided my discussions with Roman Catholics, Muslims, and others whose understanding of Christianity is provincial. Recent details on The Da Vinci Code have helped me see it as merely another "hidden gospel" copycat. Your articles on Witchcraft in 1st world countries have been sharp and insightful. Your coverage of the recent popularity of occultic Kabbalah hits close to home with personal friends who were until recently caught up in its clutches. Even larger on the radar are your announcements about the activities of the Witness Lee's Local Church, which has an active presence on our campus. Finally, the notice on J.P. Moreland's and William Lane Craig's textbook, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview has been the most overwhelming and substantial benefit from you, one that has helped both myself and others within our body, allowing us to get up to speed in philsophical issues very quickly. Many thanks!
Michael Hamblin

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College campus ministry

I'm impressed with the amount and quality of effort you put into Apologia Report. The contents listing enables me to target certain topics for primary study, but I must admit that I normally end up reading the whole lot in order to keep up with the attack on all spirtual fronts. Thanks especially for your work on Islam as it is making real inroads into Western civilization for the first time in centuries.
Frank White, Campus Crusade for Christ

Apologia Report is very valuable to me. I direct a faculty/staff/grad-student outreach at Purdue University and find myself in need of current articles, research and general info on a wide variety of religious and academic subjects. Your updates on the current debates and doctrines within other belief systems have helped me to understand them better. You provide research that I would likely never find for myself.
John Engberg, <leaderu.org>
Christian Leadership Ministries

Apologia Report is an essential tool for any researcher who wants to remain current on a variety of topics and issues having to do primarily with the vast domain of new religions, world religions, current religious issues, and religious personalities. The way Apologia Report is organized makes it easy for the researcher to find the topic or issue in which he or she is interested. And the brief annotation is just enough to inform the reader concerning the perspective of the author(s). I highly recommend Apologia Report for every person who wants to remain informed but who doesn't have the time to scan the myriad of periodicals and other materials calling for our attention in this information age.
Dean C. Halverson, World Religions Specialist
International Students, Inc.

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Christian missions

I am the Africa/Europe Area Director for a church-planting agency. As soon as I first saw Apologia Report, I subscribed with enthusiasm. It has helped me greatly often. I file it preciously away for later use when needed. I oversee about 100 missionaries in Africa and Europe who are constantly coming up against tough issues. Items in AR help give us perspective and direction. We obviously do not have access to a library that would allow us to find them ourselves. This way, after reading AR, we can write our contacts in the States and have the articles sent to us.
(name withheld by request)
Paris, France

I like the way Apologia Report abstracts the articles in a brief format along with links for longer articles and resources. It's a time saver and also alerts me to information I would not have otherwise known about.
Rich Robinson, Research Librarian & Web Site Administrator
Jews for Jesus

Apologia Report is a fantastic service to the world missions community. I read every word of every issue, and constantly find information that is valuable in my own work for the Lord. This is one of those rare ministries that raises the level of knowledge and understanding across a wide community of Christian leaders. Apologia has a tremendous impact that cannot be measured.
Michael Jaffarian
Missions Researcher, CBInternational
Associate Research Editor, World Christian Encyclopedia
Contributing author: Operation World

I teach at a small Bible college in the former Soviet country of Estonia. Our access to Christian literature is limited, which makes it that much more difficult to train Christian leaders in the defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have used the information I get from Apologia Report, not only in my apologetics class, but in other classes as well. For me, it is an irreplacable source of concise and reliable information. Thank you for helping me to prepare the next generation of church leaders for the former communist world.
Mark P. Nelson
Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary

Apologia Report is a helpful tool for our work. The stories and links help us to stay abreast of the latest publications, news, and trends in the world of religion so we may respond quickly and accurately to inquiries we receive from our constituency.
Tal Davis, Interfaith Evangelism Associate
Southern Baptist Convention, North American Mission Board

My wife and I teach at a local seminary. The resource info that you send us is vital as very few materials are available here. We are able to expose our students to "fresh" statistics, ideas and materials that otherwise would not be available to them. This is aiding in creating better educated, THINKING Christian leaders for the future. Some of the articles help us "stretch" the students' thinking so they become more attentive to cultural keys in their assigned fields. So you are helping us "sow seed" into future leaders and church planters here in this Moslem-majority nation.
(name withheld by request)
general location, Indonesia

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