Dear Dr. Craig,
I am writing to you both as an enormous thank you, and as a testament to the impact of your work and ministry. I was raised in a Christian home in Somerset, MA, and considered myself a very conservative evangelical. After high school, I moved to Kennesaw, GA, and began working for the Cobb County judicial system. It was here where my Christian convictions were challenged for the first time. The challenges I found myself up against hurled me into a bit of an existential crisis and sent me desperately searching to justify every belief I had ever held. This led me to youtube, where I found a host of "drcraigvideos" and was introduced to your exceptional philosophical approach to the Christian worldview. I had interacted with many popular, apologetics-style resources before, but none had ever struck me as intellectually satisfying--at least, not as your work did.
I discovered your resources back in 2011 (I was 21 at the time) and have since put myself in the way of being a student of everything Dr. Craig. I have read almost all of your books, listened to every one of your podcasts (maybe 2 or 3 times), and have gone through each series of your defenders class. I have even been able to attend some of your classes in person at JFBC. Your work and ministry lit a fire in my heart and has been the means of clarity for God's calling on my life. There is a deep burden I sense to play a part in revolutionizing the way our church members understand their Christian convictions--especially for greater effectiveness in evangelism.
I am currently on staff at a church in Vicksburg, MS, and am pursuing a BA in Religion with the intent of pursuing a graduate degree in Philosophy. Every day I am afforded the opportunity to influence our church's ministry decisions with the many insights from your work in philosophy at the foundation (e.g., the most strategic approaches to children's ministry, student ministry, our small groups, and how we can train our congregation to be more disciplined in their thinking). I have turned many of my coworkers on to your work and have seen the same excitement and fire ignited within them that I felt all those years ago.
I say all this not to boast (except in the Lord), but to speak to the reverberating effect that your ministry is undoubtedly having all over the world. Just in my own sphere, hundreds of lives are being influenced, even if but a little, because of the resources, discipline, and the dedication of you and the Reasonable Faith team. I am so thankful to be alive in a time where Philosophers such as yourself and the many others (Alexander Pruss and Alvin Plantinga being two of my favorites) can share such a wealth of knowledge so accessibly. I am anxiously awaiting your new book on the historical Adam and Eve and, even more so, your Systematic Theology.
Thank you for your life-long dedication to closing the gap between the heart and the mind and for the impact you have had on me personally. Sincerely, Josh Arruda P.S., My family and friends regularly refer to me as a Dr. Craig fanboy, and in one sense, I can't deny it. But I am much more so a seeker of the truth, and time and time again, your work seems to unveil it most accurately.
-Josh
