Apologetics Conference | PBA • Palm Beach Atlantic University

2026 Apologetics Conference:
Faithful Witness

In the spirit of testing the most important ideas, Palm Beach Atlantic University invites you to join our community as we seek the knowledge, wisdom, and transformation that makes life meaningful and the gospel seen as reasonable and desirable.

About

Ideas create culture. Ideas shape what is deemed by those in culture as plausible or implausible, desirable or undesirable. Jesus understood this well, which is why he takes ideas, especially those at the core of human experience, so seriously. Those living in the way of Jesus are called to do what he did, to be a faithful witness—a trustworthy guide—who makes knowledge of God and life in his kingdom available to others.

Schedule

5:30 p.m.
Doors open

7–7:20 p.m.
Desantis Chapel: Welcome and Worship

7:20–8:20 p.m.
Keynote #1 Gavin Ortlund, “Longing for that Far-Off Country: Using Arguments to Speak to the Heart”

8:20–8:30 p.m.
Break

8:30–9:30 p.m.
Breakout Session #1 (3 Tracks)

De Santis: Paul Gould, “The Search for Meaning in a Disenchanted World”
Warren Library: Rachel Van Wyk, “The Original Influencer: The Gospel and Global Media”
Mac 1291: Matthew Mittelberg, “Confusion to Clarity: Knowing Truth in the Age of AI”

8–8:45 a.m.
Coffee hour

8:45–9 a.m.
Desantis Chapel: Welcome and Worship

9–10 a.m.
Keynote #2: Erica Carlson “How Science Almost Wrecked my Faith, and Why it Shouldn’t Have.”

10–10:10 a.m.
Break

10:10–11:10 a.m.
Break Out #2 (3 Tracks)

De Santis: Austin Freeman, “The Apologetic Significance of the Chronicles of Narnia”
Warren Library: Dolores Morris, “What Love Requires: Building a Christian Philosophical Imagination”
Mac 1291: Tyler Bauer, “AI, Transhumanism and the Pseudo-Gospel”

11:10–11:15 a.m.
Break

11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Keynote #3: Jim Spiegel, “A Thing of Beauty: How Everything is Art and Art is Everything”

12:15–1:15 p.m.
Box Lunch

1:30–2:30 p.m.
Keynote # 4: Naomi Wright, “Will the Real Messiah step forward? Surviving a Family Cult with Healing and Hope”

2:30–2:45 p.m.
Break

2:45–3 p.m.
Worship

3–4 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Erica Carlson, Naomi Wright, Jim Spiegel, Gavin Ortlund, Austin Freeman

4–4:15 4 p.m.
Wrap-up and End