Christian students have invited one of the world's leading Christian apologists to conduct a two-week tour of English universities next month, in a bid to help them win the intellectual arguments for Christianity, and teach them how to evangelise in our increasingly secular society.

Dr William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in California, USA, will be in England from February 26 to March 10.

Here, he will conduct debates with academics, give public lectures, and speak at campus 'lunch-bar' events where he will be questioned by atheists and agnostics. Topics will include contemporary arguments for the existence of God, the historical origins of Christianity, the foundations of morality and the problem of suffering and evil.

Dr Craig earned a doctorate in philosophy at Birmingham University and then a doctorate in theology at the University of Munich. He has a specialist interest in the philosophy of science. A popular international lecturer on university campuses, Dr Craig has authored or edited over 30 books, including his signature work Reasonable Faith, as well as over 100 articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology.

Dr Peter May, the tour organiser and chairman of UCCF said: "Bill Craig is a highly gifted communicator and one of Christianity's foremost apologists. This is in no small part due to his breath of expertise. He speaks with authority on issues ranging from science to ethics, from philosophy to biblical studies, from Islam to history.

"He is a very able debater, having formally debated with some of the world's leading academic atheists. Bill studies their writings carefully and brings a freshness and an intellectual credibility to Christian evangelism which this country urgently needs to hear.

"Nowadays, evangelism has developed into a long-term, personal relationship strategy, and of course that's important. But at the heart of most evangelism lay fundamental, intellectual questions about the Christian faith which, by and large, Christians struggle to answer, while clergy seem ill-equipped to help them.

"Bill Craig demonstrates the value of both hard work and courtesy in his dialogues with unbelievers."

The tour starts on 27 February at Central Hall Westminster, when Dr Craig will debate 'Is God a Delusion?' with Professor Lewis Wolpert, Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College London. A well known broadcaster and writer, Professor Wolpert is the author of the Evolutionary Origins of Belief. He is well-known for his atheism.