NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Many of the brightest minds in Christian apologetics and philosophy gathered in New Orleans with a common goal -- teaching believers how to defend the Christian faith.

The seventh annual Evangelical Philosophical Society's Apologetics Conference drew a who's who lineup of Christian thinkers skilled in presenting the case for Christianity to a skeptical world. The Nov. 19-21 sessions at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary featured such scholars as Gary Habermas of Liberty University, Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary, Doug Geivett of Talbot School of Theology, James Walker of Watchman Fellowship and others -- 21 speakers in all.

The apologetics conference is held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and Evangelical Philosophical Society. This year's ETS/EPS meetings were held in New Orleans Nov. 18-20.

"We have to know why we believe what we believe," said J.P. Moreland, distinguished professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in Mirada, Calif., in opening the conference with a discussion of why Christian knowledge matters.

"And we have to be able to defend our faith in an increasingly secular culture," Moreland said. "It is no longer an option; it has now become an obligation, given the situation we're in."

Moreland said three worldviews now dominate Western culture: scientific naturalism, postmodernism and Christianity, each with a different understanding of knowledge.

Those who hold to scientific naturalism, which Moreland described as the most prevalent worldview today, believe that knowledge of reality comes only from science; for something to be known, it must be proven empirically.

Postmoderns believe that truth is relative to individual cultures, Moreland said. They believe that something can be "true" for one culture but not for another.

The third worldview is Christianity; while scientific naturalism and postmodernism have gained wide acceptance, Moreland said the Christian worldview has not been completely marginalized. It remains "a vibrant worldview in this culture and it is still having an impact throughout society," he said.

Some proponents of scientific naturalism and postmodernism deny any possibility that Christianity might be true. Still others argue that even if Christianity is true, it cannot be known to be true. Moreland argued that not only is Christianity true, but its truthfulness can also be known.

Moreland said that the words "know" and "believe" carry different authority, with people in Western culture being accorded authority based on knowledge rather than belief.