Wallace
is a cold case homicide investigator. He was a skeptic. He thought
the supernatural was impossible.
He
decided to investigate the evidence for Christianity using his skills
as a detective.
He
introduces us to the tools and techniques he used to crack unsolved
murders. He explains how he used the same analytical thinking on the
claims of Jesus.
Wallace
was thirty five when he began his journey, reading the gospelsfor the
first time. He used his training in Forensic Statement Analysis and
concluded them to be actual eyewitness accounts. As a cold case
investigator, he had been trained in working with facts from the
distant past.
As
he gives us the principles detectives must learn, he illustrates each
principle by using examples from his own cases to illustrate the
techniques. He writes about presuppositions, abductive reasoning,
circumstantial evidence, trusting eyewitnesses, separating artifacts
from evidence, establishing chain of evidence, and more.
In
the second part of the book he applies the investigative techniques
to the claims of Christianity.
I
was impressed with this book on several levels. I love to read
mysteries and I was fascinated with the way Wallace wrote this book.
He'd start a chapter with a case, perhaps how an eyewitness was
essential. Then he would describe the importance of that aspect of
the investigation. That is eventually applied to the claims of
Christianity.
An
insight that really impressed me was the idea of making a decision
while there are still unanswered questions, still pieces of the
puzzle missing. In many cases, there is enough evidence for a
decision even though the evidence is not absolutely complete. Wallace
applies that concept to Christianity. The evidence does not have to
be complete, just reasonable, for one to make a reasonable
conclusion.
His
collection of circumstantial evidence for a created universe is
impressive.
His
insight into how eyewitnesses may tell different stories depending on
their vantage point relates well to the differences in the gospels.
If
you are skeptic of Jesus being who he said he claimed to be, you need
to read this book. You can become a Christian because of the
evidence, not in spite of it.
If
you are a believer, this book will build your faith and help you
explain your faith to others in a more informed way.
I
have read many books on apologetics and this one is the most
interesting I've seen. The combination of investigative techniques
and evaluating the evidence is enlightening. Certainly skeptics
should not ask perfect evidence when a jury makes a life and death
decision on reasonable but not perfect evidence.
Great
work Wallace. I highly recommend this book.
Find
more about Wallace and his ministry: http://coldcasechristianity.com/
Jim
Wallace is a cold case homicide detective, a missions leader, and a
church planter. As a result of his work he has been featured on many
television programs. An outspoken atheist for many years, he is now
an apologist for Christianity with a master's degree in theology. He
and his wife have four children and live in southern California.
David
C Cook, 288 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for
the purpose of this review.
No comments:
Post a Comment