Rebekah Valerius, MA
President and Senior Fellow
Rebekah earned a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington and an MA in Apologetics from Houston Christian University. She is an alumna of the Discovery Institute’s C.S. Lewis Fellows Program on Science and Society. Her academic interests include the works of G.K. Chesterton, philosophical and literary apologetics, and the philosophy of science. She has written for Christian Research Journal and The Worldview Bulletin. You can find more of her writing at her personal Substack, In This Perilous Grace.
A favorite Bible passage of hers is from the book of Job, where God answers him out of the whirlwind: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth … when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” (Job 38: 4-7.)
She lives with her husband and two daughters in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. She teaches Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry and Biology, and Christian Apologetics at a classical Christian school in the area.
Julie Miller, PhD
Treasurer and Senior Fellow
Julie earned a PhD in Humanities with a concentration in Philosophy from Faulkner University’s Great Books Honors College, where her dissertation research focused on critiquing the philosophy of transhumanism. She holds an MA in Apologetics from Biola University and a double degree in Finance and Accounting from Texas A&M University. She is the author of Critiquing Transhumanism: The Human Cost of Pursuing Techno-Utopia and has also written for An Unexpected Journal and The Worldview Bulletin. She has served with Ratio Christi, a campus apologetics ministry, for almost ten years, first at Rutgers University and now at Texas A&M University (https://ratiochristi.org/). She is motivated by Paul’s message to the Athenian intellectuals in Acts 17 as a model for her work to bring the intellectual voice of Christ to the secular university.
Julie lives in College Station, Texas with her husband and their dog Keeper. They have two married sons and three grandchildren.
Lanie Anderson, MDiv
Senior Fellow and Editor-in-Chief of Shadowlands Dispatch
Lanie Anderson earned her MDiv with a specialization in Christian Apologetics from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She also holds a BA in English from the University of Mississippi. Her research and writing interests include cultural apologetics, an “apologetic of meaning” in the scriptures (to borrow a phrase from Kevin Vanhoozer), biblical interpretation, the atonement, and its implications for forgiveness.
Lanie has been writing widely for over 15 years with experience in journalism, Bible studies, and even copywriting. She is most passionate about equipping fellow Christians to study the scriptures in a way that builds not only Bible literacy, but intimacy with God. A formative verse for her has been Philippians 4:6: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Lanie has written for Christianity Today and The Center for Faith and Culture. She currently lives in Tupelo, Mississippi, with her husband and two children. She stays home with them and works remotely, helping nonprofit organizations with their marketing and fundraising efforts.
Melissa Cain Travis, PhD
Founder and Senior Fellow
Melissa earned the PhD in Humanities (Philosophy) from Faulkner University, where her dissertation research focused upon the natural philosophy and natural theology of Johannes Kepler. She also holds an MA in Science and Religion from Biola University and a BS in Biology from Campbell University. She is a Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, an instructor at DiscoveryU.org, and a member of the executive council for the Evangelical Philosophical Society. She is the author of Thinking God’s Thoughts: Johannes Kepler and the Miracle of Cosmic Comprehensibility (2022), Science and the Mind of the Maker: What the Conversation Between Faith and Science Reveals About God (2018), and is a contributor to The Story of the Cosmos: How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God (2019). Read more at melissacaintravis.com.
A verse of Scripture that has been formative in her vocation and ministry is Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Melissa lives in The Woodlands, Texas with her husband of 26 years. They have a son in high school, a son in college, and a huge, fluffy cat named Kepler.
The Society for Women of Letters 