How Does a Skeptical Philosopher Become a Christian? with Wikipedia Co-Founder Larry Sanger

I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST

Dr. Frank Turek

Religion & Spirituality, Education, Christianity

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How does someone go from co-founding one of the world’s most visited websites as an atheist to becoming a Bible-believing Christian? And what kind of evidence can shake a skeptical philosopher out of his naturalistic worldview? This week, Frank sits down with Dr. Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, to explore the surprising path that led him back to faith in Christ. Tune in as they answer questions like:* When and why did Larry stop believing in Christianity?* How did Wikipedia get started and what does it teach us about human nature?* What was it about the Bible that inspired Larry to read through it with a critical lens and what passages intrigued him the most?* How did reading the Bible in 90-days change his perspective?* What do skeptics and apologists often overlook in the evidence for God?* Why is changing someone's worldview so difficult and what's the best approach to do so?From confronting evil in the world to exploring the design behind creation, Larry’s journey is both intellectual and deeply personal. If you're curious about faith, philosophy, or how one of the internet’s pioneers found truth in Scripture, be sure to read Larry's testimony on his website using the link below!Resources mentioned during the episode:Larry's Website - https://larrysanger.org/ (https://larrysanger.org/)Larry's Testimony - https://larrysanger.org/2025/02/how-a-skeptical-philosopher-becomes-a-christian (https://larrysanger.org/2025/02/how-a-skeptical-philosopher-becomes-a-christian)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ladies and gentlemen, how did the co-founder of Wikipedia, way back in 2001, how did he in the past few years, after being a skeptic, after being an atheist, agnostic, actually a philosophy PhD, how did he recently become a Christian and why? Was it arguments?
0:25.0	Was it the Bible? Was it something else? A combination? We're going to hear about it today from
0:30.6	Dr. Larry Sanger who helped, as I say, co-founded, he co-founded Wikipedia way back in 2001.
0:39.2	He is a PhD in philosophy from the Buckeyes of Ohio State University.
0:45.5	I go there at least once a year, and of course they're the world champions or the college
0:49.5	football champions this year.
0:51.6	But Larry's going to join us for the full hour here on I Don't
0:54.8	Have Enough Faith to Be an atheist. Here he is, Dr. Larry Sanger. Larry, thanks so much for
1:00.1	joining us. How are you? I'm doing great. It's good to be with you. It's absolutely great to
1:05.9	have you on. I've been reading through your testimony, which we're going to put in the show notes.
1:11.3	It's over 30 pages of kind of your history, you know, how you became a Christian after many years of being a skeptic.
1:20.5	Let's start at the beginning, though, Larry.
1:22.2	I mean, I know you were brought up in a Lutheran home.
1:25.8	Was Christianity a big part of your life as a child?
1:30.3	Pretty big. My family went to church every Sunday until about the age of 12. My dad was an elder at the branch, you know, the church that we went to.
1:49.2	Let's see.
1:50.7	I remember praying a lot.
1:55.0	And in reading the Bible, I've memorized a few verses, I suppose.
2:00.3	I can't say that I understood it very well,
2:02.7	you know, but I was actually, what do you call it, confirmed in the Lutheran Church,
2:12.6	Missouri Synod, about age 12 or 13. And then you write in your testimony that maybe as a teenager, 16 or 17, you began to ask
2:23.1	clergy some questions, and what kind of attitude did you get back?
	...

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