#829 Are You Not Doing Speaking Engagements Anymore?

Dr. craig’s response

I am, Anthony. I just got back from Houston, where I taught for a week at Houston Christian University on the doctrine of the Trinity, spoke at a weekend apologetics conference at a church, and presented a paper at a professional conference. Later this month, I’ll be speaking to the scientists and staff at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. But, as you have noticed, I am doing much less traveling and speaking these days.

The coronavirus pandemic changed everything. Since I could no longer travel and speak, I turned to social media as a means of outreach. What I discovered was that I could touch thousands more lives through the social media than I could in person. So now, even though the pandemic is over, I prefer to give my time to online interviews, talks, and podcasts as opposed to traveling. In fact, it’s marvelous to be able to speak to a group without the trouble of going through the airport and taking a flight somewhere, which is very time consuming.

Speaking of time, the other factor in my decision to cut back on travel is that when the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, I began to write my life’s work: a systematic philosophical theology. It has now become something of “a magnificent obsession.” I devote every working day almost entirely to its production (unless I need to write a Question of the Week!). I’ve made tremendous progress over the last two years and will not take my foot off the accelerator. So now I am much more selective about which speaking engagements I accept because each one takes me away from working on my systematic philosophical theology. It’s all a matter of priorities. I’m persuaded that the production of this work will leave a legacy that will long outlast me and continue to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God. So it naturally takes precedence over all but the most significant speaking engagements, such as the tour I did in December of five Ivy League universities. Keep your eye on our calendar at www.ReasonableFaith.org to see when and where I’ll be speaking.