In the opening chapter of the Book of Isaiah, the LORD calls the heavens and earth to witness a remarkable but tragic thing. Planets and stars and all the heavenly hosts, which do not have ears, will listen and obey their Creator, but we who do have hears fail to hear or understand. Even oxen and pack animals have more sense than we do, according to what God says through the prophet.

In order to circumvent our sinfulness, Jesus often used parables stories to get His audience's attention. And to this day, Jesus's parallels are the most well-known stories in the world. From the Prodigal Son, to the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us of the kingdom of God and of His mercy and grace toward sinners.

C.S. Lewis likewise believed stories were perfectly suited to convey spiritual and theological truths. Lewis used stories to get past our analytical "watchful dragons" of bias, skepticism, and false beliefs we might harbor about God, lessons and truths we might miss if spoken directly to us as an object moral lesson.

This week and next on the Profile, we have a delightful rambling chat about Lewis's science fiction with author, budding philologist, cosmologist and C.S. Lewis enthusiast, Dr. Luke Barnes. We hope the conversation will inspire you to have likewise enjoyable and meaningful conversations, too, as well as inspire you to use words wisely!

Luke A. Barnes is a theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist, and postdoctoral researcher at Western Sydney University.

"He received his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge in 2009. He is a John Templeton Fellow. He has published papers in the fields of galaxy formation and the fine-tuning of the Universe for life. He is the author, with Geraint Lewis, of A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos published by Cambridge University Press. He has also published papers on the philosophy of science, and regularly engages in public outreach through public speaking, articles in the popular press, and social media. He has modeled galaxy formation in a cosmological context with supercomputer simulations, and connected those simulations to observations with modeling of radiative transfer (particularly Lyman alpha emission and absorption) and realistic models of IFU observations.

He has investigated the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life, modeling the effect of the cosmological constant on galaxy formation and the effect of alternative nuclear physics on stars. He has contributed to the philosophy of science by considering the challenges of testing multiverse theories using probability theory."

Daniel and Luke's co-authored profile on Scientism. https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf

Additional Resources

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (around 700 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/Notebook
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/Give

Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

If intelligent design is so apparent in living organisms and in the cosmos, why don't more people accept it?

Here on part two of our conversation with President of Reasons to Believe, biochemist, author, and apologist, Dr. Fuz Rana, we explore this question and reveal how people do in fact recognize design, but yet suppress that truth. Fuz will give us some winsome wisdom about how we as Christians can intelligently engage in the theology-science dialogue and help unbelievers see Christ more clearly.

Fuz's Testimony and Background:
"As a graduate student studying biochemistry, I was captivated by the cell’s complexity, elegance, and sophistication. The inadequacy of evolutionary scenarios to account for life’s origin compelled me to conclude that life must come from a Creator.

Reading through the Sermon on the Mount convinced me that Jesus really was who Christians claimed him to be: Lord and Savior. Still, encouraging others to join me in following Christ wasn’t important to me—until my father died. His death changed that.

In 1999, I left my position in research and development at a Fortune 500 company to join Reasons to Believe. I felt the most important thing I could do as a scientist was to show Christians and non-Christians alike the powerful scientific evidence for God’s existence and for the reliability of the Bible."

Free Resources from Watchman Fellowship

Naturalism: https://www.watchman.org/Naturalism/ProfileNaturalism.pdf
Scientism: https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf
Panpsychism: https://www.watchman.org/files/ProfilePanpsychism.pdf
Atheism: https://www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/atheismprofile.pdf

Additional Resources

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (around 700 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/Notebook
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/Give

Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

"Evolution is a settled fact!" we're often told by scientists, science popularizers, and probably have seen this statement not a few times on social media.

But there has been another, perhaps less-noticed trend in the evolutionary sciences today. There is an ever-increasing academic dissent against evolution by means of natural selection as the best explanation for the variety of life we see on Earth today. The more scientists probe the wonders of living organisms, and the stunningly overwhelming variety of species that exist today, the more improbable the Neo-Darwinian account of the diversification of species seems to many.

This week on the Profile we feature a conversation with the President of Reasons to Believe, biochemist, author, and Christian apologist Dr. Fuz Rana. We'll discuss some of the key reasons why intelligent design in biology is seemingly making a comeback. We go beyond mere intelligent design though, and discuss the specifics of how design in biology and in the universe points us back to Scripture and ultimately to Christ.

Fuz's Testimony and Background:
"As a graduate student studying biochemistry, I was captivated by the cell’s complexity, elegance, and sophistication. The inadequacy of evolutionary scenarios to account for life’s origin compelled me to conclude that life must come from a Creator.

Reading through the Sermon on the Mount convinced me that Jesus really was who Christians claimed him to be: Lord and Savior. Still, encouraging others to join me in following Christ wasn’t important to me—until my father died. His death changed that.

In 1999, I left my position in research and development at a Fortune 500 company to join Reasons to Believe. I felt the most important thing I could do as a scientist was to show Christians and non-Christians alike the powerful scientific evidence for God’s existence and for the reliability of the Bible."

Free Resources from Watchman Fellowship

Naturalism: https://www.watchman.org/Naturalism/ProfileNaturalism.pdf
Scientism: https://www.watchman.org/scientism/ProfileScientism.pdf
Panpsychism: https://www.watchman.org/files/ProfilePanpsychism.pdf
Atheism: https://www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/atheismprofile.pdf

Additional Resources

FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free
PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (around 700 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/Notebook
SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/Give

Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.