Something Extra Podcast with Lisa Nichols, CEO of Technology Partners

Episode 296: Shifting from Skepticism to Evangelism with Vince Vitale

Written by Insights Contributor | Jul 25, 2024 6:00:44 AM

 

Dr. Vince Vitale, the Executive Director at Kardia and Faculty Scholar at The CEO Forum, is here to share his impressive academic background from Princeton University and the University of Oxford, where he has taught philosophy and theology. Vince has contributed significantly to the field of Christian apologetics, developing a unique response to the problem of evil, and has spoken at leading universities and major corporations worldwide. Tune in to hear his insights on faith, reconciliation, leadership, and the intersection of faith and sport.

Bio: Dr. Vince Vitale was educated at Princeton University and the University of Oxford, and he taught philosophy and theology as a faculty member briefly at Princeton and then for several years at Oxford. It was during his undergraduate studies at Princeton that Vince was challenged to read the Bible by two soccer teammates and took an unexpected journey from skeptic to evangelist. He then completed master’s and PhD studies at Oxford, receiving a Daniel M. Sachs Graduating Scholarship (at the time awarded annually to one graduating Princetonian) and a Clarendon Scholarship (supported by Oxford University Press).

Alongside his work with Kardia, Vince serves as Faculty Scholar at CEO Forum and as a host of the Unbelievable? podcast. Previously, he served as RZIM’s Regional Director for the Americas and before that as Team Director of The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics.

While researching at Oxford, Vince developed a new response to the problem of evil. This response is discussed in Vince’s Philosophia Christi article, “Non-Identity Theodicy,” and in book form with Oxford University Press as Non-Identity Theodicy: A Grace-Based Response to the Problem of Evil (2020). For his work on Søren Kierkegaard, InterVarsity Press and Tyndale House selected Vince as IVP Young Philosopher of Religion of the Year 2013.

Vince has commended the Christian faith in numerous countries and on the campuses of many leading universities including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Johns Hopkins, West Point, and Oxford. He also has had the privilege of speaking at Google; Amazon; Facebook; Autodesk; The Brooklyn Tabernacle; and Passion City Church; and he was the keynote speaker at the 54th National Prayer Breakfast of Canada.

In addition to his focus on biblical and cultural questions, Vince has strong interests in the topics of reconciliation, leadership, and theology of work, as well as in the intersection of faith and sport. He played varsity soccer at Princeton, was a “double Blue” at Oxford (competing for the university in soccer and boxing), and has traveled with Athletes in Action mission teams to four continents. While teaching at Princeton, Vince served as Faculty Director of the Athletes in Action ministry on campus.

Vince is married to Dr. Jo Vitale. Vince and Jo enjoy teaming up for the Ask Away podcast, giving talks together, and trying (unsuccessfully!) to keep up with their young children, Raphael and Jonathan.

Vince's Something Extra:  "I think humility is so significant for leadership. Often, I think, you know, it's a misunderstood word. Humility is not thinking less of yourself but in a sense of thinking of yourself less."

Guest Links:

- Lisa Nichols, Host
- Jenny Heal, Executive Producer
- Joe Szynkowski and Landon Burke, Marketing Support
- Portside Media, Podcast Engineer

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