• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Book Review Book Review: Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace

Book Review: Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace

Posted on July 19, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments


Cold Case ChristianityA while ago, J. Warner Wallace approached me about doing a review of his book, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels. I was aware of his work as a result of reading the Cold Case Christianity Blog and was interested in reading the book so agreed to to the review.

Based on my previous exposure, I expected the book to be worth reading and in this I was not disappointed. I especially like the way that Mr. Wallace weaves in stories from his days as a detective to illustrate the principles found in the book.

The premise of the book is that the author, who spent many years as a cold case detective, would apply the lessons learned in investigating old murder cases to evaluating the claims of Christianity.

Here is how the author describes the similarities between investigating cold case murders to investigating the claims of Christianity:

Unlike other lesser crimes, an unsolved homicide is never closed; time doesn’t run out on a murder investigation. My particular agency has dozens of unsolved murders that remain open, waiting for someone to take the time to reexamine them. There are many similarities between investigating cold cases and investigating the claims of Christianity. Cold-case homicides are events from the distant past for which there is often little or no forensic evidence. These kinds of cases are sometimes solved on the basis of eyewitness testimony, even though many years have passed between the point of the crime and the point of the investigation . . . Christianity makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little or no forensic evidence. Like cold cases, the truth about what happened can be discovered by examining the statements of eyewitnesses and comparing them with what little additional evidence is accessible to us.

J. Warner had me hooked right from the start of the book with a story about how a police officer learned to trust his bullet proof vest as a result of a shoot-out with a parolee who did  not want to return to jail. As the story was related in print, the hours that I wasted watching crime dramas through the years finally paid off as I could clearly imagine the scene as it was described in the book.

What I like about the book is that it covers many topics of an apologetic nature in a non-technical way and free of jargon. If any words are used that are particular to the study of apologetics, they are explained in side bars throughout the book. In addition, there are helpful graphics sprinkled throughout the book that help illustrate the ideas being presented.

There are two major sections to the book. The first is called “Learn to be a detective” where Mr. Wallace goes through the process of collecting and evaluating the various bits of evidence for the subject in question. Using his experience as a detective and using real-life stories as illustrations, we learn how to sort through the evidence to determine its value in arriving at a conclusion. In the second section, J. Warner walks us through the process of using those principles to examine the claims of the New Testament.

I have the privilege of being a small group leader for our church. While reading the book, I came up with the idea that it would be a great book for the small group to read and discuss this fall. So, I vetted the book to the members of the group and the unanimous opinion is that we will indeed work through the book this fall.

In addition to use in small groups, I think that this book would be a good recommendation for someone who wants to examine the claims of Christianity. Like Mere Christianity and A Case for Faith, a non-theologian and former skeptic walks us through his journey to faith through examination of the claims of Jesus Christ.

It is a worth while read and a book that will likely spend little time on your shelf since it is likely to be lent out over and over again.


Filed Under: Book Review

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

KP on Suffering

K. P. Yohannan on willingness to suffer

K. P. Yohannan offers a challenge to us about being willing to suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ. A short post containing a quotation from “Against the Wind.”

A. W. Tozer

Tozer: the truth about exposition –

I received an email containing the quote from A. W. Tozer and thought it worth sharing: Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such […]

Six

Six Daily Affirmations

I found these affirmations by Frank Viola to be quite helpful to me and thought I would bring them to the attention of my readers.

Use your mouth wisely

Oh be careful little mouth what you say

Can we be honest and admit that sometimes it seems to be a chore to read through the regulations in the opening books of the Bible. But every once in a while (perhaps less often than it should) I find a connection that makes the reading seem worth while. For example, this morning I read […]

Living Water or Broken Cisterns – A Choice for Western Society

Nature abhors a vacuum is a proverb that came to me as I contemplated Jeremiah 2:12–13 recently: 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, […]

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
February 2023
SMTWTFS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728 
« Jan    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in