william lane craig

William Lane Craig is a Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Birmingham, England, before taking a doctorate in theology from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany, where he was for two years a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. Prior to his appointment at Talbot he spent seven years at the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the Katholike Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

He has authored or edited over forty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time, and Eternity, as well more than 150 articles in professional publications of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science. His website is www.reasonablefaith.org.

BISHOP MICHAEL NAZIR-ALI

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali was the 106th Bishop of Rochester for 15 years until September 2009. Originally from Asia, he was the first non-white Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England. Before that, he was the General Secretary of the Church Mission Society from 1989 to 1994 and prior to holding this position was Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan. He holds both British and Pakistani citizenship and from 1999 was a member of the House of Lords where he was active in a number of areas of national and international concern. He has both a Christian and a Muslim family background and is now President of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue (OXTRAD).

Bishop Nazir-Ali's secondary education was in Pakistan. He later studied economics, Islamic history, and sociology at the University of Karachi (BA 1970). He studied in preparation for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge (1972) and undertook further postgraduate studies in theology at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford (BLitt 1974, MLitt 1981), Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (MLitt 1976), and the Australian College of Theology (PhD 1983). He was awarded the Lambeth DD in 2005 and has many honorary doctorates as well.

His interests have led him to research and study in several fields, including comparative literature, comparative philosophy of religion and theology at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and elsewhere. He has taught at colleges and universities in the United Kingdom and Pakistan. He is an Honorary Fellow of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He is Visiting Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Greenwich, Senior Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and on the faculty at the London School of Theology.

From 1997-2003, he was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and Chair of its Ethics and Law Committee. For many years, he led the Anglican Communion’s dialogue with the Islamic world (both Shia and Sunni) and is now a leading advocate of freedom in the Middle East. He is also a member of ARCIC (Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission).

Bishop Nazir-Ali has been a visiting lecturer in a number of universities and colleges in the United Kingdom, Canada, the U.S.A., and Australia. He has traveled widely in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America, in promoting mission and a properly Christian understanding of our changing world.

He is the author of 11 books and of numerous articles on faith and public life, freedom of belief, bioethics, mission, ecumenism, the Anglican Communion, and relations with people of other faiths (particularly Islam). Some of his published writings include: The Unique and Universal Christ, Triple Jeopardy for the West: Aggressive Secularism, Radical Islamism and Multiculturalism; Conviction and Conflict: Islam, Christianity and World Order; Understanding My Muslim Neighbour; Shapes of the Church to Come; Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faith in a Plural Society; Frontiers in Christian-Muslim Encounters; and Islam: A Christian Perspective.

PHILIP JENKINS

Philip Jenkins was educated at Cambridge University. From 1980 through 2011, he taught at Penn State University, where he holds the rank of Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities. In 2012, he became a Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University, where he also serves in the Institute for Studies of Religion. He has published 25 books, including The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (2002), The Lost History of Christianity (2008), and The Great and Holy War (2014). His most recent book is The Many Faces of Christ (Basic Books 2015).

YVONNE HADDAD

Yvonne Haddad, Ph.D., is Professor of the History of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Professor Haddad's fields of expertise include 20th-century Islam; intellectual, social and political history in the Arab world; and Islam in North America and the West. Currently, Professor Haddad is conducting research on Muslims in the West and on Islamic Revolutionary Movements. She also teaches courses on Muslim-Christian Relations and Arab Intellectuals.

Haddad has been described as ”at the top of her field in the study of Muslims in America” and ”the foremost interpreter of the Islamic experience in the United States.” She is the leading figure in a school of thought that sees the key issue for Muslims in the U.S.A. as being the conflict between traditional Islamic values and integration into mainstream U.S. society.

Haddad received her Ph.D. in the Economic, Political Development, and Islamic Heritage in 1979 from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, and her master’s degree in Comparative History 1971 from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Additionally, she attended Boston University, where she received an M.R.E. in Religious Education and Leadership Development in 1966, and the Beirut College for Women in Lebanon. She was also Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Haddad (born in Syria) describes herself as a Presbyterian. She emigrated to the United States in 1963.

ARCHBISHOP MOUNEER ANIS

The Most Reverend Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis received his Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery at Cairo University, Egypt, in 1974. From 1979-2000, he served at Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf both as a resident (until 1989) and from 1980 as the Director of the hospital.

In 1986, Dr. Mouneer received a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the London School of Tropical Medicine. In 1993, Dr. Mouneer received a Certificate in Hospital Management and Administrations from the School of Public Health at the University of California.

In 1999, Dr. Mouneer was ordained a priest and served at All Saints Cathedral, Cairo. He then became the Administrator of the Diocese of Egypt and later was elected by the Diocesan Synod to be the third Egyptian Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. He then did practical and theological training at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia, the Diocese of Canterbury in Kent (U.K.), as well as at Nashotah House in Wisconsin before his consecration in 2000. In 2007, Archbishop Mouneer was elected as the Primate of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. He was re-elected to serve another term as Primate in 2012. He was elected Chairman of the Global South of the Anglican Communion in 2012. 

Archbishop Mouneer is married to Nancy and they have two sons, Shady and Ramez. He strongly believes in the importance of “life dialogue” and of being a bridging church between traditional churches (orthodox, catholic, and protestant) as well as between Christians and Muslims.

He is a photographer and painter, and Archbishop Mouneer studied with Dr. Naseeb Baroody who studied under the notable Ansel Adams, John Sexton, and Bruce Barnbaum. He is a vociferous reader and is often found translating books from English to Arabic and vice versa.

NABEEL QURESHI

Nabeel Qureshi is an itinerant speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and bestselling author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. Since completing his medical degree in 2009, he has dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel through teaching, preaching, writing, and debating.

Dr. Qureshi has lectured to students at more than 100 universities, including Oxford, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Hong Kong. He has participated in 18 public debates around North America, Europe, and Asia. His focus is on the foundations of the Christian faith, the early history and teachings of Islam, and the interface of science and religion.

Dr. Qureshi holds an M.D. from Eastern Virginia Medical School, an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and an M.A. in Religion from Duke University. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in New Testament studies at Oxford University where he lives with his wife, Michelle.

REVEREND FOUAD MASRI

Author and lecturer Fouad Masri was born and raised in the war zone of Beirut, Lebanon. As a third generation pastor, he has a passion for sharing the love of Christ with Muslims and has spent most of his life doing just that.

After coming to the United States to attend seminary, Fouad realized the urgency for teaching American Christians to reach out to the growing population of internationals, particularly Muslims. In 1993, he founded Crescent Project to nurture transformational relationships between Christians and Muslims and overcome misconceptions about Islam and Christianity.

Fouad Masri is an ordained minister and has been ministering to Muslims since 1979. He has trained more than 18,000 ChristianS to sensitively and purposefully share their faith with Muslims through both the Bridges One-Day and Sahara Challenge training programs. He has served as a guest instructor at several universities and Christian ministries and has been featured in several media publications, including Christianity Today, Newsweek, Mission Network News, and on CBN, TBN, the Janet Parshall Show, and Prime Time America.

He is the producer and teacher in the DVD study, Bridges: Christians Connecting with Muslims. In Bridges, he further exposes Christians to the urgent need for understanding about Islam and Muslims.

Fouad is author of Is the Injeel Corrupted? and Ambassadors to Muslims. Fouad holds a B.A. in Mass Communication and an M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Islamic Studies. Fouad lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with his wife Lisa and their two children.

REVEREND Chris royer

The Reverend Chris Royer was named Executive Director of Anglican Frontier Missions (AFM) in June 2014. Chris was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. He graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, with a B.A. in Biblical Studies and Philosophy and with a M.A. in New Testament Studies, both in 1989. In 1990, he joined Operation Mobilization and served in a Middle Eastern country. He spent his first three years learning that country’s language and culture. From 1993-1994, he lived in South Korea, where he learned the culture and language of his fiancé and future wife. Then from 1995-2006, Royer pioneered two different church plants in the Middle East. In 2004, he earned a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and a diploma of Anglican Studies from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, in 2007. He was ordained to the transitional deaconate in 2008 and the priesthood in 2009. From 2008-2014, Royer served in parish ministry until he was called to lead AFM in 2014. Royer and his wife have two teenage daughters.