About Us
Our Mission
The ultimate hope of the ChristianQuisition label is to present each and every listener with a question they find difficult to answer. In particular, both members of the Christian faith and persons who find themselves either alienated from, or in direct opposition to, the Christian faith ought to come closer together in the ability to understand and empathize with opposing positions. Furthermore, we hope to demonstrate for our audience what it looks like for members of dissenting parties to discuss their differences in a civil and productive manner. Put simply, ChristianQuisition aims to replace ridicule with compassion in the hearts and minds of its diverse audience.
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Meet Justin
Over the course of my life, I’d say my defining trait has been passion. I don’t generally find myself uninterested in whatever I’m doing. In elementary school, this manifested as obsession with whatever recent character in fiction I found particularly compelling (Naruto, Spartan 117, Zuko - if you know you know). In high school the passions multiplied tenfold - I do envy the energy of my former youth for having the capacity to withstand so many fixations at once, though my primary focus was certainly the strong friendships I had formed. In my college years, that passion was fixated on faith - until it wasn’t.
I spent summers working at a Christian Summer Camp in the small, mountain town of Running Springs, California. I spent my school seasons balancing my education with a full-time job and a part-time internship (free labor) for my home church. My mind was fixed on becoming a pastor, and some of my fondest memories took place burning myself out for my church.
As I neared graduation, I was 23-years-old and finding it increasingly difficult to accept that my best friend was undoubtedly headed for hell. Even the prospect of his conversion was met with a bleak retort, knowing his salvation did not suddenly change the logic that troubled me - there were others, assuredly, who would meet that fate. Beautiful souls destined for eternal torment. So I decided at that junction that service to such a God felt decidedly unrighteous.
Meet Kevin
August of 1999 was a big month for me. Not only was my future wife born, but yours truly was born again. To this day, I could take you to the very church kitchen where I prayed the sinner’s prayer. At the time I was mostly just signing up for fire insurance, as the elderly lady at Vacation Bible School had just informed me that Hell awaited the sinner who did not trust in Jesus for forgiveness of sin.
Ever since then, I have been on the roller coaster that is faith. My doubts have ebbed and flowed. Some classics that swirl around in my head include the trustworthiness of the Bible, the hiddenness of God, reconciling doctrine with science and history, and oh yeah, Hell. Sometimes it seems just too heavy to be true—that a person can be punished for the rest of eternity, lest God saves them.
I suppose if the bones of Jesus were definitively produced, or if I could enter a time machine and see that Christianity was made up, I might gravitate towards Stoicism or a sort of philosophical Buddhism. Temperamentally, I can accept “it is what it is,” even if it makes me uncomfortable. The fact is, though, that God has graciously given me enough reasons and experiences to keep the faith to this point. When I read my Bible, I find myself relating to Job, and David in the Psalms. I struggle with some things about God, but at the end of the day, I accept that he is God and I am not.
That said, I want to pursue the truth, wherever it may lead.
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