Josh McDowell > Quotes

“Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.”
― Josh McDowell

“Many people entertain the idea that Christianity,like almost any other religion,is basically a system of beliefs-you know, a set of doctrines or a code of behavior, a philosophy, an ideology.
But that's a myth.
Christianity is not at all like Buddhism or Islam or Confucianism. The founders of those religions said (in effect), 'Here is what I teach. Believe my teachings. Follow my philosophy.' Jesus said, 'Follow me'(Matthew 9:9).
Leaders of the world's religions said, 'What do you think about what I teach?' Jesus said, 'Who do you say I am?'(Luke 9:20)”
― Josh McDowell, Don't Check Your Brains At The Door

“Christianity is not a religion. Religion is humans trying to work their way to God through good works. Christianity is God coming to men and women through Jesus Christ.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“If one discards the Bible as unreliable historically, then he or she must discard all the literature of antiquity. No other document has as much evidence to confirm its reliability.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“You can laugh at Christianity, you can mock it and ridicule it. But it works. It changes lives. I should say Jesus Christ changes lives. Christianity is not a religion; it’s not a system; it’s not an ethical idea; it’s not a psychological phenomenon. It’s a person. If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“What you are as a single person, you will be as a married person, only to a greater degree. Any negative character trait will be intensified in a marriage relationship, because you will feel free to let your guard down -- that person has committed himself to you and you no longer have to worry about scaring him off.”
― Josh McDowell

“This is what God has done for us: He has said, “I forgive you.” But he paid the price for the forgiveness himself through the Cross. It’s a payment that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, or any other religious or ethical leader cannot offer. No one can pay the price by “just living a good life.” I know it sounds exclusive to say it, but we must say it simply because it is true: There is no other way but Jesus.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“The words Jesus Christ are not a first and last name; they are actually a name and a title. The name Jesus is derived from the Greek form of the name Jeshua or Joshua, meaning “Jehovah-Savior” or “the Lord saves.” The title Christ is derived from the Greek word for Messiah (or the Hebrew Mashiach, see Daniel 9:26) and means “anointed one.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“God is not a harsh taskmaster who simply wants obedience. His instructions in his Word for thinking and acting rightly are for our benefit. He knows that when we live according to his ways, it brings us joy, fulfillment, and meaning in life.”
― Josh McDowell, God-Breathed: The Undeniable Power and Reliability of Scripture

“The Old Testament records the preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The Gospels record the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord. The book of Acts records the propagation of the gospel (the good news) concerning Jesus Christ. The Epistles (letters) explain the gospel and its implications for our lives. The book of Revelation anticipates and describes the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His eternal kingdom. From beginning to end, the Bible glorifies Jesus Christ and centers on Him. Its Christ-centeredness is one of its wonderful features.”
― Josh McDowell

“I spent months in research. I even dropped out of school for a time to study in the historically rich libraries of Europe. And I found evidence. Evidence in abundance. Evidence I would not have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes. Finally I could come to only one conclusion: If I were to remain intellectually honest, I had to admit that the Old and New Testament documents were some of the most reliable writings in all of antiquity.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“the value of Christian faith is not in the one believing, but in the One who is believed in, its object.”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

“I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“Speaking in math terms, they are one to the infinite power. Jesus said, “The Father and I are one”
― Josh McDowell, The Unshakable Truth

“Most important of all, individual believers can experience the power of the risen Christ in their lives today. First of all, they can know that their sins are forgiven (see Luke 24:46-47; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Second, they can be assured of eternal life and their own resurrection from the grave (see 1 Corinthians 15:19-26). Third, they can be released from a meaningless and empty life and be transformed into new creatures in Jesus Christ (see John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17).”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“We've been given a mind innovated by the Holy Spirit to know God, as well as a heart to love him and a will to choose him. We need to function in all three areas to have a maximum relationship with God and to glorify him.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“Thomas Aquinas writes: “There is within every soul a thirst for happiness and meaning.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“The first to speak in court sounds right—until the cross-examination begins” (Proverbs 18:17).”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“atheistic regimes, such as communist China, communist Russia, and Nazi Germany is more than one hundred million people.32 There is no close second place. David Berlinski, a secular Jew who received his PhD from Princeton University, believes that one of the main reasons for such atrocities is the absence of ultimate accountability: “What Hitler did not believe and what Stalin did not believe and what Mao did not believe and what the SS did not believe and what the Gestapo did not believe . . . was that God was watching what they were”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“Do not underestimate the role you may play in clearing the obstacles in someone’s spiritual journey.”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

“Endorsing immoral behavior is not equivalent to loving a person, nor is correcting that behavior equivalent to rejecting a person.”
― Josh McDowell, The Beauty of Intolerance: Setting a Generation Free to Know Truth and Love

“Influential theologian J. Gresham Machen perhaps said it best: False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the Gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation to be controlled by ideas which prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. (Machen, CC, 7)”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

“My pastor had told me that forgiveness doesn’t mean justifying or condoning what he did, but it would begin the process of freeing me from the past, and it would offer a lost person the opportunity for redemption.”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

“My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed.” (John 20:26-28). Jesus accepted Thomas’s acknowledgment of him as God. He rebuked Thomas for his unbelief but not for his worship.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“We talked for almost an hour, and then I received one of the greatest thrills of my life. This man who was my father, this man who knew me too well for me to pull the wool over his eyes, looked at me and said, “Son, if God can do in my life what I’ve seen him do in yours, then I want to give him the opportunity. I want to trust him as my Savior and Lord.” I cannot imagine a greater miracle.”
― Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter

“Este Jesús de Nazareth sin dinero ni armas, conquistó a más millones que Alejandro, César, Mahoma y Napoleón; sin ciencia y sin erudición derramó más luz sobre las cosas divinas y humanas que todos los filósofos y eruditos combinados; sin la elocuencia de las escuelas, habló tales palabras de vida como nunca antes o después fueron dichas, y produjo efectos que yacen más allá del alcance del orador o poeta; sin escribir ni una sola línea, y proporcionó temas para más
sermones, oraciones, discusiones, volúmenes de erudición, obras de arte , y cánticos de alabanza que él ejercito completo de grandes hombres de los tiempos antiguos y modernos”.”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict

“People naturally have questions. They always have and always will. One of the key functions of apologetics, then, is to respond to questions and clear away objections people have that hinder their trust in Christ.”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

“I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. (1 John 2:26–27)”
― Josh McDowell, God-Breathed: The Undeniable Power and Reliability of Scripture

“Apologetics is not listed as a spiritual gift for teachers, preachers, or evangelists, as though only some ought to become apologists. Rather, all Christians are called to be ready with an answer (1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3). We all make a case for Christianity in some fashion or another—but are we doing it well?”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

“Many Christians claim to believe in Jesus, but only a minority can articulate good reasons for why their beliefs are true.”
― Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World