This fall Christopher Hitchens will debate at VCU. The time/place will be announced as soon as a candidate is selected. Below are bibliographies of some of the candidates:
Dr. Fred Smith

http://www.liberty.edu/academics/religion/seminary/index.cfm?PID=15677
TITLE
Associate Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies

COURSES
Introduction to Apologetics
Introduction to Global Apologetics
New Testament Orientation
Systematic Theology
Philosophy of Religion

BIOGRAPHY
53 years old. Born: Memphis TN in 1954
Saved at First Baptist Church, Memphis, in 1971
Married to Laverne Smith (since 1988) no children
BA: Memphis State University
BA: University of Memphis Major: US History
Master of Divinity: Mid-America Baptist Theological
Seminary, cum laude 1992
Specializations: New Testament and Greek, Church
History, Theology
Ph. D.: Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,
Fort Worth, Texas 1999
Specializations of the Evangelical Theological Society, The Denver
Seminary Journal.
Blog: www.faithandworld.blogspot.com

EXPERTISE
Apologetics and Worldview

Specializations:
Philosophy of Religion, New Testament
Dissertation: “An Evangelical Evaluation of Key
Elements in Lesslie Newbigin’s Apologetics” published
online at www.lesslienewbigin.net
Other Publications:
“Does Open Theism Deny Devine Transcendence” in
Bibliotheca Sacra (June 2003)
Articles in The Holman Illustrated Dictionary of the
Bible (Rev Ed.), 2004
Reviews in Journal of Evangelism and Missions, Journal


Teaching: New Testament, Near Eastern Religions, World
Religions, Philosophy of Religion, Ethics
Areas of Research: Biblical Worldview, Eastern Religions
Other interests: Camping, Fishing, Music (Jazz,
Classical, Folk), Cinema/Film, Cooking, Travel.


Robert A. Mohler
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

From Wikipedia:

Christianity Today recognized Mohler as a leader among
American evangelicals and Time called him the
"reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in
the U.S."[3]
R. Albert Mohler, Jr. (born 1959) is the ninth
president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Kentucky. Mohler hosts The Albert Mohler
Program, a nationwide radio show devoted to engaging
contemporary culture with the biblical truth.[1]
He is a member of the board of James Dobson's Focus on
the Family and a member of the governing body of the
Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Mohler formed Together for the Gospel with Ligon
Duncan, Mark Dever and CJ Mahaney.
He is married to the former Mary Kahler, with whom he
has two children, Katie and Christopher.

Shortly after his term as President began, Mohler
drafted a policy (which was ratified by the trustees)
that the Seminary would only hire professors who
agreed to sign an Abstract of (theological)
Principles. Those who refused to sign it were
dismissed or resigned.
Theologically, Mohler represents an intellectual,
conservative, evangelical Christianity. He advocates a
complementarian position on gender, the sanctity of
human life, and opposes homosexual marriage. [10] . He
believes in the "verbal plenary inspiration" of the
Bible, and that it is the inerrant, infallible Word of
God and as essential for every aspect of every
Christian's life.

Mohler is an Evangelical which for him means that he
believes Jesus is the only way through which an
individual can attain salvation or communicate with
God the Father. As a Calvinist, Mohler believes that
human salvation is a free gift from God, and cannot be
earned by human action or will. He has publicly
advanced this position with respect to Judaism, Islam,
and Catholicism. He recently stated that "any belief
system, any world view, whether it's Zen Buddhism or
Hinduism or dialectical materialism for that matter,
Marxism, that keeps persons captive and keeps them
from coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, is
a demonstration of Satanic power."[11]

Deliberate Childlessness

Mohler spoke in June, 2004 about married adults who
choose not to have children.

"The Scripture does not even envision married couples
who choose not to have children. The shocking reality
is that some Christians have bought into this
lifestyle and claim childlessness as a legitimate
option. The rise of modern contraceptives has made
this technologically possible. But the fact remains
that though childlessness may be made possible by the
contraceptive revolution, it remains a form of
rebellion against God's design and order.[5]'

Abstinence from alcohol

In 2005, Mohler spoke at a forum at the Southern
Baptist Seminary on the subject of "Alcohol and
Ministry." While he agreed that the Bible does not
explicitly condemn alcohol, he gave the following
practical admonition to his audience, most of whom
were seminary students:[7]
"I can assure you of this: if you are associated with
the use of beverage alcohol, I think I dare exaggerate
not to say that 99% of all doors of ministry in the
Southern Baptist Convention will be closed to you. And
I do not believe that is an exaggeration. And let me
tell you why...you may think, 'That just shows
high-bound and unthinking the Southern Baptist
Convention is.' Why should the Southern Baptist
Convention or a local church take a risk? Why should
it be in the position of deciding whether this is a
problem or not. I mean, you have to understand, why
would the church take that on?
Mohler has praised the efforts of Daniel Akin,
President of the Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary, who, like most Southern Baptists, is opposed
to even moderate consumption of alcohol.[8]

Homosexuality

If a biological basis is found, and if a prenatal test
is then developed, and if a successful treatment to
reverse the sexual orientation to heterosexual is ever
developed, we would support its use as we should
unapologetically support the use of any appropriate
means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable
effects of sin.
—R. Albert Mohler, Jr., [9]

Mohler was frustrated by the public response to his
statement.[10]
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Marxism
According to Albert Mohler, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam
and Marxism are "demonstration[s] of satanic
power".[11]
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Frank Turek

honorarium taken care of
Current Seminar topics:
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist— From the
award-winning book of the same title, find out why
Christianity is true beyond a reasonable doubt and why
every other belief (including atheism) requires more
faith than belief in the Bible. Learn the one tactic
that will help you refute most objections against
Christianity and three irrefutable arguments outside
the Bible why God exists.
The Top Ten Reasons We Know the Bible is True— Not
sure about the Bible? Have questions, doubts,
concerns? Frank has had questions, doubts and concerns
too, but he’ll give you the Top Ten common-sense
reasons why you can trust the Bible. You won’t look at
the Bible the same way again after this presentation.
The Crash Course in Truth So You Don’t Crash in
College— 70% of Christians kids deny their faith after
one year of college! Frank and Alex McFarland will
show you how to inoculate your children from the
atheism and liberalism taught in their schools.
Includes the Six Reasons Why Darwinism is False (and
creation is true!).
The Search for Noah’s Ark in Iran — Frank was on the
June 2006 expedition to Iran to find the remains of
Noah’s Ark (as reported by Fox News, CNN, Good Morning
America and National Geographic). Is the petrified
wood they found at 13,000 feet really the remains of
the ark? Why Iran and not Mount Ararat in Turkey? How
did they get into Iran and get out? Can we really
believe in a story like Noah? Frank will show you the
evidence, including pictures, video & samples.
Why You Can’t NOT Legislate Morality! — Christians are
often silenced in the public square by slogans such as
“the separation of church and state” or “stop imposing
your religion on me” especially on issues such as
abortion and homosexual marriage. Frank will show you
how answer them decisively (without using the Bible),
and demonstrate why political participation is
important to Christianity and even to the spread of
the Gospel!

http://www.gnpcb.org/contributor/turek.frank
Frank Turek holds two Master’s degrees and is pursuing
a doctorate in apologetics at Southern Evangelical
Seminary, where he serves as vice president. He has
appeared on numerous television and radio programs
including The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, and
Politically Incorrect. His first book, Legislating
Morality: Is It Wise? Is It Legal? Is It Possible?
(coauthored with Norman Geisler) won the Evangelical
Christian Publishers Association’s Gold Medallion
award as the best book in its category.



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