Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle Unpack Apologetics on College Campuses

May 28, 2026
00:00 21:47
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Cliffe Knechtle has been standing on college campuses answering skeptics for 46 years. His son Stuart joined him, bringing a background in psychology and mental health that turns hard arguments into something people can actually feel healed by. Together they have written Demolishing Doubt, a book that walks readers from evidence for God's existence to the reliability of the Gospel accounts to what it means to take a genuine step of biblical faith — and it was built for exactly the kind of person who shows up on a college quad with a list of reasons not to believe.

Apologetics, the emotional fragility of Gen Z, and a revival that is spreading from campuses into the local church: Cliffe and Stuart walk through their go-to arguments for the existence of God and the resurrection of Christ, why answering "I don't know" has become one of the most powerful things a Christian can say to a skeptic, and why they believe the questions young people are asking now are more urgent and more honest than ever before. Stuart also shares the story of a top Division I athlete who broke down in tears at a dinner table, saying he was jealous that Stuart had objective value and meaning in his life — and why that moment captures exactly what is driving the spiritual hunger they are witnessing everywhere they go.

Highlights

  • How Cliffe's open-air Q&A ministry started 46 years ago on the beaches of Fort Lauderdale and never stopped
  • Why the content of skeptics' questions hasn't changed much, but the emotional stakes behind them have grown dramatically
  • The four-part argument Cliffe uses in two minutes to make the case that your worldview already assumes God
  • Why the best answer a Christian apologist can give is sometimes "I don't know," and why skeptics love it
  • Stuart's background in psychology and how he pairs counseling instincts with Cliffe's hard arguments to reach the whole person
  • What the historical explosion of Jewish converts to Christianity reveals about the reality of the resurrection
  • Why Cliffe and Stuart believe secularism is not dying but dead, and what is rushing in to fill the vacuum

Resources / Links / CTA

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Meet Your Host
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and culture for more than two decades. His stories have appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel, Christianity Today, Toronto Star and Baptist Press.

Michael enjoys popcorn, college football, history, hiking, growing tomatoes, and watching his children play sports. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, husband to his amazing wife, Julie, and the father of four super kids.
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