Yes, many of evangelicalism’s best authors are all in one place this weekend: Dallas.
“Is Dallas’ new mega-event for Christian book lovers really featuring a best-selling atheist author who delights in arguing that ‘religion poisons everything’? You better believe it,” Sam Hodges wrote for a front-page story in today’s Dallas Morning News.
Hodges was writing about the Christian Book Expo taking place today through Sunday. CT’s own Stan Guthrie, Mark Galli, and Andy Crouch will be moderating panels with several big-name authors from the Christian world.
“John Calvin, age 499, shapes book award winners,” writes Cathy Lynn Grossman at USA Today. Three of the six book of the year awards – a best-selling study Bible, which took top honors in two categories, and a new book by popular pastor/author John Piper – draw from John Calvin’s writings. And atheist Christopher Hitchens will battle some Christian authors tomorrow afternoon.
On Twitter, Mark Galli is soliciting some questions for interviews he’s conducting.
What is the Gospel?
Friday, March 20, 2009 / 9:00 – 10:30 AM
Our post-Christian culture loves spirituality but can be suspicious or ignorant of the historic Christian faith. We prefer a do-it-yourself spirituality and a Jesus of our choosing to the good news offered in Scripture. Is there one gospel, or many? A panel of pastors and scholars shows why we can trust our Bibles—and how to separate the doctrinal wheat from the chaff.
Moderator : Darrell Bock, Jesus According to Scripture (Baker Academic)
Panelists:
•Richard Stearns, President, World Vision International and author of The Hole in Our Gospel (Nelson)
•Mark D. Roberts, Can We Trust the Gospels? (Crossway)
•Tullian Tchividjian, Do I Know God? (Multnomah)
•Justin Taylor, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World (Crossway)
A Guided Tour of Heaven and Hell
Friday, March 20, 2009 / 1:00 – 2:30 PM
Polls show that more Americans believe in heaven than in hell. The Bible, however, tells us both are real destinations. What are heaven and hell like, and how do we enter one and avoid the other? Author experts examine the afterlife from theological, pastoral—and personal—perspectives.
Moderator: Mark Galli, Christianity Today
Panelists:
•Don Piper, 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life (Baker)
•Sam Storms, The Hope of Glory (Crossway)
•Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Tyndale)
•J I Packer, Knowing God (Inter-Varsity Press)
Living Christianly in a Post-Christian Culture
Friday, March 20, 2009 / 3:30 – 5:00 PM
A Christian consensus could once be pretty much assumed for Western culture, even if many people didn’t possess personal faith. That is no longer true. Christianity is today viewed as just one of many spiritual options—and often with suspicion. How do followers of Christ respond in both word and deed?
Moderator: Andy Crouch, Culture Making (IVP), Global Conversation editor at Christianity Today
Panelists:
•Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (Nelson)
•Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms (Inter-Varsity Press)
•Randy Frazee, Making Room for Life (Zondervan)
•Mary E. DeMuth, Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House)
The Emerging Church
Saturday, March 21, 2009 / 9:00 – 10:30 AM
We hear much about the emerging church, but pinning down its beliefs and goals can be challenging. What is the movement emerging from and where is it headed? How influential is the emerging church? Participants, observers, and critics examine this movement from all angles—biblical, theological, pastoral, and missional.
Moderator: Mark Galli, Christianity Today
Panelists:
•Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet (Zondervan)
•Tony Jones, The New Christians (Jossey-Bass)
•Kevin DeYoung, Why We Are Not Emergent (Moody)
•Alex and Brett Harris, Do Hard Things (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
Saturday, March 21, 2009 / 1:00-3:00 PM
The New Atheists usually make two charges against Christianity: (1) that it is untrue and (2) that it is harmful. A panel of apologetics experts responds to an atheist critic with evidence from Scripture, science, and history about why the faith is both reasonable and good for the world.
Moderator: Stan Guthrie, Christianity Today
Panelists:
•Lee Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus, The Case for a Creator (Zondervan)
•William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith (Crossway)
•Douglas Wilson, Is Christianity Good for the World? (Canon Press)
•Christopher Hitchens, Is Christianity Good for the World? (Canon Press) and God Is Not Great (Twelve Books)
•Jim Denison, Wrestling with God (Tyndale)
