Cross Examined

About Cross Examined

Cross Examined is the YouTube channel of Frank Turek, a Christian apologist, author, and speaker who has dedicated his career to making the case for Christianity on college campuses and in public forums across the United States. Turek co-authored the widely used apologetics resource I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist with Norman Geisler, first published in 2004, and has delivered the arguments contained in that book at hundreds of universities, high schools, and churches. The channel carries his name-recognition tagline and serves as the primary online home for his campus lectures, debates, podcasts, and interviews.

Theological and Philosophical Position

Turek is a conservative evangelical Christian who approaches apologetics through a blend of classical theistic arguments and evidential reasoning. He affirms biblical inerrancy, the historical resurrection of Jesus, and the moral law as evidence for the existence of God. He holds a broadly Reformed position on salvation and maintains a consistent emphasis on the logical coherence of the Christian worldview against atheism, agnosticism, and religious pluralism.

His philosophical framework draws heavily on the cosmological argument, the moral argument, and the teleological argument for theism. He is particularly known for his use of the acronym CRIMES (Cosmology, Reason, Information, Mind, Evil and Morality, Scripture) as a memorable summary of his evidential case for Christianity.

Campus Ministry Focus

A distinctive feature of the Cross Examined channel is its strong campus ministry orientation. A large proportion of videos are recordings of live university events in which Turek presents his case for Christianity and then fields questions from a mixed audience of believers, skeptics, atheists, and students from other religious backgrounds. These Q and A sessions are a hallmark of the channel, demonstrating his willingness to engage adversarial questioning in real time. Universities represented include large state institutions across the American South, Midwest, and Northeast.

Approach to Scripture

Turek's use of scripture is heavily weighted toward Genesis, which appears as the starting point for cosmological and origins arguments, and the Gospel of John and Romans, which ground his Christological and soteriological case. He pays careful attention to messianic prophecy in the Old Testament, drawing particularly on Isaiah, Micah, and Zechariah to argue for the predictive reliability of Scripture. He is also attentive to the internal logic of the biblical narrative, frequently framing the gospel as the only coherent solution to the problem of human moral failure.

Breadth of Topics

Beyond classical theism and Christology, the channel addresses questions of sexual ethics and gender from a traditional Christian perspective, religious freedom, the intersection of Christianity and politics, the problem of evil and suffering, and critiques of alternative worldviews including Islam, atheism, and moral relativism. Turek is willing to engage politically charged questions directly, situating Christian ethical commitments in a broader natural law framework.

Distinctive Style

Turek's communication style is fast-paced, witty, and rhetorically practiced. His live presentations make frequent use of humor and accessible analogies to make philosophical and theological arguments comprehensible to undergraduate audiences with no prior background in theology or philosophy. The podcast format on the channel also features extended interviews with scholars, authors, and fellow apologists on specific topics.

Target Audience

The channel is particularly well-suited to students, young adults, and anyone who has encountered objections to the Christian faith in academic or professional settings and wants substantive responses. It also serves Christian parents and educators preparing young people for challenges to their faith. The content is accessible to general audiences and requires no prior theological knowledge.