Timothy Dalrymple, 34, editor of Patheos.com, was the NCAA's top-ranked gymnast as a sophomore at Stanford until a broken neck ended his career. In God's providence, that disaster opened up opportunities for him to deepen his faith and also earn a Ph.D. at Harvard.

While lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, Timothy had plenty of time to think.

He says that even as a child "I had a philosophical bent and spent a lot of time thinking about all sorts of ultimate questions, especially the question of whether there is some sort of existence beyond death. I don't know which one I found more terrifying, that there would be some existence or that there would not."

Yet, when asked what helped him to grow in his faith, philosophical questions gave way to a personal relationship and example.

"The example of my father," Dalrymple replied, "not only a pastor but a genuinely loving, faithful, righteous person, helped. I saw in his life something undeniably true that I couldn't explain away."