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Posts by Sean McDowell

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Sean McDowell

Sean McDowell (Ph.D.) is an associate professor in the Christian Apologetics program at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He is a gifted communicator with a passion for equipping the Church, and in particular young people, to make the case for the Christian faith. Sean travels throughout the United States and abroad, speaking at camps, churches, schools, universities, and conferences. He is the co-host for the Think Biblically podcast, and he has authored or edited over twenty books, including Chasing Love: Sex, Love, and Relationships In A Confused Culture and So The Next Generation Will Know (with J. Warner Wallace). Sean hosts one of the leading apologetics blogs at seanmcdowell.org, and he hosts some great conversations on his YouTube channel. Sean and his wife, Stephanie, have three children and live in San Juan Capistrano, CA.

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  • The Good Book Blog

    Do the Apostles of Jesus Qualify as Martyrs?

    Sean McDowell — 

    Pastors, apologists, and other Christians love proclaiming the deaths of the apostles as evidence for the Christian faith. As I lay out in The Fate of the Apostles, the willingness of the apostles to be martyred for their faith is one critical piece of evidence for the reliability of the resurrection accounts. Despite the popularity of this claim, there are no early, reliable accounts that the apostles were given the opportunity to recant their beliefs before being killed. Does this undermine the claim that they were martyrs? ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Was Paul Beheaded in Rome?

    Sean McDowell — 

    The traditional view is that Paul was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero AD 64-67. In my recent book The Fate of the Apostles, I make the case that the apostles were all willing to suffer and die for their faith. While the evidence for individual apostles varies, there is very good historical reason to believe that Paul died as a martyr in the mid to late 60s ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Were the Apostles Willing to Die for a Misguided Faith?

    Sean McDowell — 

    Could the apostles have been sincere but misguided in their convictions about Jesus? In my recent book The Fate of the Apostles, I make the case that all the apostles were willing to suffer and die for their faith, and some of them did. A common objection, however, is that they were sincere but misguided. In other words, the apostles were not liars—they just mistakenly died for something that was false ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Was Joseph Smith a Martyr?

    Sean McDowell — 

    In my recent book The Fate of the Apostles, I make the historical case that the apostles were all willing to suffer and die for their belief that they had seen the risen Jesus. This does not prove the truth of their claims, but that they were sincere. But what about Joseph Smith? Didn’t he die as a martyr for his faith? Does that mean he was equally sincere, and hence Mormonism may be true as well?

  • The Good Book Blog

    Was Peter Crucified Upside Down?

    Sean McDowell — 

    Perhaps the most common claim regarding the martyrdom of Peter is that he was crucified upside down. As the story goes, Peter refused to be crucified upwards as his master Jesus, and so he requested an upside-down death. And the Romans were more than happy to oblige ...

  • Biola Magazine

    Did the Apostles Really Die as Martyrs for their Faith?

    Sean McDowell — 

    “Even though they were crucified, stoned, stabbed, dragged, skinned and burned, every last apostle of Jesus proclaimed his resurrection until his...

  • Biola Magazine

    What are the Key Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity?

    Sean McDowell — 

    Mormonism is everywhere. The Republican nominee for president is a Mormon, there is a play on Broadway about the Book of Mormon and the LDS Church...