Why are so many people walking away from the faith they grew up with, and what if the real reasons have less to do with arguments than we think? Dr. John Marriott reveals the hidden drivers behind the deconversion crisis, the critical difference between losing faith and rebuilding it, and how to respond when someone you love starts to doubt.

Dr. John Marriott is one of the leading voices on deconversion, having written his PhD dissertation on why people leave Christianity for atheism. He is the author of six books on the subject, including The Anatomy of Deconversion and Set Adrift (with Sean McDowell). He teaches in the Department of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and serves as Director of Curriculum for Biola University’s Winsome Conviction Project.

In this episode, he joins host Troy and US Director Harry to explain:

■ The Critical Distinction: Why deconversion (walking away entirely) and deconstruction (taking inherited beliefs apart to rebuild what can truly be held) are two very different journeys.

■ The Essentials of Faith: How the historic creeds and the identity of Jesus define the core of Christianity, and why believers have real freedom on secondary issues.

■ The Hidden Drivers of Unbelief: Why suffering, church hypocrisy, and failures of leadership often push people away more powerfully than intellectual doubts.

■ The Two Evangelicalisms: How politically charged “Big E” evangelicalism differs from historic “Little E” evangelicalism rooted in biblical authority, personal faith, and social good.

■ The Long Game: Why listening, thanking someone for their trust, and assuring them of unconditional love matters more than winning the argument.

0:00 Welcome Dr. John Marriott

2:32 How John and Harry came to faith

5:40 Losing faith, deconversion, and deconstruction

10:28 When does deconstruction go too far?

18:09 Do Christians need to study theology and church history?

21:31 Hypocrisy, lived experience, and the problem of evil

31:19 Postmodern distrust and value misalignment

36:21 Why the church misdiagnoses deconversion

38:58 How evangelicalism got tied to politics

53:24 What a good apologist looks like.

58:19 Closing

Plus: download Apologetics Canada’s free AI for Educators resource, and join us November 7th at Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim, California for Hemorrhaging Faith: Understanding the Deconversion Crisis. Find more of Dr. Marriott’s work at johnmarriott.org.

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