Cold-Case Christianity

J. Warner Wallace

Starts with an impressive list of 18 endorsements that includes Rick Warren, Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell, Greg Koukl, Craig Hazen, J.P. Moreland, Paul Copan - the ones that I have considerable acquaintance with. A special thanks to Sean McDowell. A forward by Lee Strobel. Foreward by Rice Broocks, Author of God's Not Dead.

Preface: The Detective Way, Moving from "Belief That" to "Belief In"

Shares the story of a fellow detective who had to "Believe in" his bullet-proof vest when a long-time criminal pointed a gun at him. He shared this story at the NCCA in Charlotte in 2017. He went on to use this as the intro to sharing his testimony of coming to "belief in".

Section 1:Learn to Be a Detective
Ten important principles every aspiring detective needs to master

Ch 1: Don't Be a "Know-it-All"

p25 Tells the story of his first murder investigation when his much more-experienced partner presumed to identify the killer quickly as the victim's husband based on a number of clues plus his long experience with such cases. It turned out that all the presuppositions were wrong and hindered the progress of the investigation. His take-away is that we should go into investigations without presuppositions and follow the evidence.

p27 "Philosophical Naturalism: The presuppositional belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural forces) operate in the world. Philosophical naturalists believe that nothing exists beyond the natural realm."

p27 Whole page is a good articulation of methodological naturalism.

p27 "Most scientists begin with this presupposition and fail to consider any answer that is not strictly physical, material, or natural. Even when a particular phenomenon cannot be explained by any natural, material process or set of forces, the vast majority of scientists will refuse to consider a supernatural explanation."

p28 Richard Lewontin in "Billions and Billions of Demons,", review of The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan, New York Review, Jan 9, 1997, p31. "We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."

p28 Good discussion of Bart Ehrman and a quote that helps us understand his rejection of faith. "The bottom line I think is one we haven't even talked about, which is whether there can be such a thing as historical evidence for a miracle, and, I think, the answer is a clear 'no,' and I think virtually all historians agree with me on that."

p28 Wallace: "Ehrman rejects the idea that any historical evidence could demonstrate a miracle because, in his words 'it's invoking something outside of our natural experience to explain what happened in the past.' It shouldn't surprise us that Ehrman rejects the resurrection given his presupposition; he arrived at a particular natural conclusion because he would not allow himself any other option, even though the evidence might be better explained by the very thing he rejects."

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Ch 2: Learn How to "Infer"

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Ch 3: Think "Circumstantially"

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Ch 4: Test Your Witnesses

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Ch 5: Hang On to Every Word

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Ch 6: Separate Artifacts from Evidence

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Ch 7: Resist Conspiracy Theories

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Ch 8: Respect the "Chain of Custody"

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Ch 9: Know When "Enough is Enough"

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Ch 10: Prepare for an Attack

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Section 2:Examine the Evidence
Applying the principles of investigation to claims of the New Testament

Ch 11: Were They Present?

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Ch 12: Were They Corroborated?

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Ch 13: Were They Accurate?

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Ch 14: Were They Biased?

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Postscript: Becoming a "Two Decision" Christian

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