“Deeper Waters” is a blog and podcast by Christian Apologist Nick Peters - who recently joined the speaking and debate team, The Mentionables. Peters makes no secret of the fact that he and his wife are both “Aspies,” that is, clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome – a type of high-functioning autism. In fact, Peters has stated that the intellectual focus that comes with his autism has allowed him to be very productive in his Apologetics work, and that, if offered a ‘cure,’ he’s not certain he would take it.
This focus is evident in the volume of material that Peters produces, regularly reading and reviewing full books and contacting high-profile guests for his two-hour weekly podcast, as well as hosting forums and regularly engaging in debates and discussions both formally and informally on the subjects of theology and apologetics. This list of projects has now increased significantly with Nick's new association with, and participation in the work of The Mentionables.
The Deeper Water’s podcast serves as an interview podcast, wherein Peters speaks with mostly high-profile speakers and writers in the world of Theology and Science on a variety of subjects related to the field of Christian Apologetics. The range of topics covered is broad and has included subjects as diverse as Supposed Forgeries in the New Testament, The Occult, The Hook-Up Culture, and Harry Potter’s relation to Christianity.
The range of guests Peters has managed to snag for the show is impressive, and includes such well known names as Paul Copan, author of Is God a Moral Monster, eminent New Testament scholar Michael Licona, New Testament textual scholar and critic Daniel Wallace, and astrophysicist Hugh Ross.
But “Deeper Waters” is more than just a ‘who’s who’ of Apologetics: the topics of conversation are developed well across the course of the two-hour discussion so that the show is informative and educational for those interested in broadening their knowledge on scholarly and philosophical topics without having to be scholars or philosophers.
As an interviewer, Peters is able to ask the right questions to ask to keep the interview focused and well-paced, so that each episode remains interesting and informative. While Peters is clearly more comfortable discussing the purely intellectual aspects of the topic at hand, it’s clear that he makes a conscious effort to bring a human interest aspect into the show, interspersing the interviews with humorous stories of his own, and encouraging his guests to do the same, so that the tone remains generally light and conversational, no matter how deep “waters” become.
In every respect, the “Deeper Waters” podcast is a professional endeavor, except – perhaps – for the audio quality, which is less clear than one would expect from a professional recording. The podcasts are certainly listenable, but lack a certain clarity, which is surprising given the overall quality of the rest of the production.
The “Deeper Waters” podcast is worth adding to your podcast list for the simple fact that it asks qualified Christian scholars - who do not receive as much public exposure as they ought to - to come on and talk less about themselves and more about the topics in which they are experts. While many shows bring this kind of information to the public, few do it from the lips of the experts themselves.
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