Undaunted by Josh McDowell with Cristobal Krusen

As a Christian bookseller, I was certainly familiar with Josh McDowell's books on apologetics. I had no idea how he came to that ministry until I read Undaunted.

Josh (Jos) grew up on the family farm in Union City, Michigan. His father was an alcoholic, losing his management job, then running the farm into the ground. His mother had a thyroid condition and was obese. She was unable to do the household chores for the family, so a man was hired to work in the house and cook. This man molested Josh until Josh was old enough and big enough to make him stop.

By the time he was eleven years old, Josh considered himself the loneliest, most God-forsaken person on the planet. He turned his back of God.

Josh was at Kellog Community College harassing some Christian students when they challenged him. Josh had plans to become a lawyer so they asked him to disprove the reality of the resurrection, just like you would do so in a courtroom. Josh took up the challenge and went to Europe to investigate, checking original documents and interviewing specialists. The evidence for the truth of the Bible was overwhelming and Josh became a Christian.

Josh's story is more than just a biography of a boy with a difficult life making good. Josh takes us through the conversations he had in Europe and we receive a very readable lesson in apologetics in the process.

Josh's biography is meaningful in two areas. First, it is a good story. It is well written and really keeps your interest. It is an encouragement to anyone who has had a horrible childhood. With God's help, you too can live life undaunted.

Second, this would be a great book to give to an unsaved friend. Not only is the story good, but the reader is right along with Josh as he tries to disprove the Bible. All the evidence for the reliability of the Bible is laid out in an dialog manner, not like a textbook.

There is a book discussion guide available at www.bookclubhub.net.

This is the story behind the award winning film, Undaunted. Find out more about the film here.

Watch a trailer here.

Josh McDowell has given more than 24,000 talks to over 10 million young people in 118 countries since beginning his ministry in 1971. He is the author of More Than a Carpenter and The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. He and his wife have four children and eight grandchildren. Find out more about Josh at his ministry at http://www.josh.org/

Tyndale House Publishers, 258 pages. Publisher product page.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.