Paratus

Can Christian faith be intellectually responsible—and what role should reason play in knowing and trusting God? Host Luke Betzner is joined by Christian apologist and scholar Dr. Don Deal for a careful exploration of faith, reason, evidence, logic, revelation, and truth.

Dr. Deal explains why biblical faith is neither blind belief nor skeptical paralysis. Faith and reason perform distinct but cooperative roles: reason evaluates evidence and exposes contradiction, revelation supplies truths human inquiry could not discover on its own, and faith entrusts the believer to what God has revealed. The conversation also examines how Christians can reason faithfully without elevating human reason above God.

In this episode

• How faith and reason work together without becoming identical
• Why reason is a God-given capacity rather than an autonomous judge over God
• General revelation, special revelation, and rational grounds for belief
• The dangers of fideism, rationalism, pragmatism, and circular reasoning
• Deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning explained
• Why logical training matters for discipleship, discernment, and evangelism
• Scientific reasoning, certainty, probability, and inference to the best explanation
• Truth, beauty, love, logic, and realities that science cannot measure directly
• How to engage skeptics and materialists through thoughtful questions rather than information overload
• How Jesus used Scripture, questions, evidence, analogy, and logical argument
• How Christians can weigh evidence with intellectual honesty and theological confidence

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Paratus
00:27 Introducing Dr. Don Deal
01:39 Dr. Deal’s journey from aviation to apologetics
03:57 How faith and reason work together
11:56 What reason is—and what it is not
20:34 Pragmatism, contradiction, and competing worldviews
23:40 Deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning
28:22 Learning to reason well
29:40 Why Christians should study logic
31:49 The real conflict: truth versus error
33:45 Science, induction, and levels of certainty
36:10 What science cannot see
39:12 Engaging materialists without “beating them with information”
44:45 How Jesus used reason and evidence
50:32 Weighing evidence as a Christian
54:33 Faith that understands and reason that seeks truth
55:54 Recommended reading
57:15 Norm Geisler International Ministries and Veritas
58:18 Preview of the next episode

Guest

Dr. Don Deal is a Christian apologist, scholar, and Director of Classical Apologetics at Norm Geisler International Ministries. He also teaches scientific apologetics at Veritas International University. Learn more about his work and the Norm Geisler Institute at ngim.org.

Recommended reading

• Reasons for Belief: Easy-to-Understand Answers to 10 Essential Questions — Norman L. Geisler and Patty Tunnicliffe
• Twelve Points That Show Christianity Is True — Norman L. Geisler; available through the NGIM store
• Christian Apologetics — Norman L. Geisler
• Reasons for Faith: Making a Case for the Christian Faith — edited by Norman L. Geisler and Chad V. Meister
• Come, Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking — Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks

Season 8 resource

This season’s conversations are guided by The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith, edited by William A. Dembski, Casey Luskin, and Joseph M. Holden.

About Paratus

Paratus is the broadcast ministry of Veritas International University, helping Christians develop a biblical worldview so they can think deeply, stand firmly, and live purposefully in changing times.

To learn more about VIU—or to support this outreach—visit ves.edu.