J. Warner Wallace > Quotes

“Tolerance used to be the attitude that we took toward one another when we disagreed about an important issue; we would agree to treat each other with respect, even though we refused to embrace each other’s view on a particular topic. Tolerance is now the act of recognizing and embracing all views as equally valuable and true, even though they often make opposite truth claims.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“Biased people are seen as prejudicial and unfair, arrogant and overly confident of their position. Nobody wants to be identified as someone who is biased or opinionated. But make no mistake about it, all of us have a point of view; all of us hold opinions and ideas that color the way we see the world. Anyone who tells you that he (or she) is completely objective and devoid of presuppositions has another more important problem: that person is either astonishingly naive or a liar.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“If skeptics were willing to give the Gospels the same 'benefit of the doubt' they are willing to give other ancient documents, the Gospels would easily pass the test of authorship.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“In a culture where image is more important than information, style more important than substance it is not enough to possess the truth. [Christian] case makers must also master the media.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“While we are often willing to spend time reading the Bible, praying, or participating in church programs and services, few of us recognize the importance of becoming good Christian case makers.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“When we devote ourselves to this rational preparation and study, we are worshipping God with our mind, the very thing He has called us to do (Matt. 22:37).”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“The question is not whether or not we have ideas, opinions, or preexisting points of view; the question is whether or not we will allow these perspectives to prevent us from examining the evidence objectively.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“Jesus was truly the smartest, most interesting, and most transformative man who ever lived—if he was truly God—we ought to be able to make a case for his existence and impact, even without a body or any evidence from the New Testament. When our investigation is complete, we’ll determine if Jesus matters. We’ll discover if he was a work of fiction, just another ancient sage, or history’s uniquely divine person of interest.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

“The size of the Roman Empire allowed Jesus’s teaching to spread within its expansive borders, but it was also the power of the empire that allowed the message of Jesus to be heard.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

“My friend J. Warner Wallace is one of the most thoughtful and winsome apologists for the gospel I know. Cold-Case Christianity is literally packed with insights to share with the skeptics in your life, and this book will give you the confidence to share it!” Dr. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“While physical states can be publicly known, mental states are only privately known. This characteristic of the mind is not shared with the brain; the properties of the brain and the mind are not identical.”
― J. Warner Wallace, God's Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe

“First, if we live in a purely natural, physical world governed by the “cause and effect” relationships between chemical processes in our brains, “free will” is an illusion, and the idea of true moral choice is nonsensical. How can I, as a detective, hold a murderer accountable for a series of chemical reactions that occurred in his brain when he didn’t have the freedom to escape the causal chain of biological events?”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“When we smuggle our conclusions into our investigation by beginning with them as an initial premise, we are likely to beg the question and end up with conclusions that match our presuppositions rather than reflect the truth of the matter.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“Physical brains are subject to the laws of physics; mental states are subject to the laws of logic. Those who think mental states are entirely physical hold a logically contradictory position. In order to think rationally about their thoughts , they must have the freedom to do so, but this freedom is unavailable if the laws of physics and chemistry are controlling their thoughts.”
― J. Warner Wallace, God's Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe

“The apostles never described themselves as wealthy; instead, they warned those who were rich that their wealth could indeed threaten their perspective on eternal matters. Like”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“all of us have a point of view; all of us hold opinions and ideas that color the way we see the world. Anyone who tells you that he (or she) is completely objective and devoid of presuppositions has another more important”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“I also investigated Jesus as if he were a person of interest in a no-body homicide case.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

“Compared to eternity, this mortal existence is but a vapor, created by God to be a wonderful place where love is possible for those who choose it.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“determine”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“humans flourish when we cultivate (1) deep, meaningful relationships with (2) a small number of (3) virtuous friends.”
― J. Warner Wallace, The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life

“If Jewish believers approached the evidence for Jesus as they might approach the evidence in a crime scene, they would be far more likely to accept him as the prophesied Messiah.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

“Deep diving” friends are the ones who shape and direct us—people who know us genuinely and are willing to invest in our future.”
― J. Warner Wallace, The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life

“It was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls. —MAX PLANCK”
― J. Warner Wallace, Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible

“In fact, while other men within the culture often had more than one wife, the apostles allowed men to rise to leadership only if they limited themselves to one wife (1 Tim. 3:2).”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“Objectivity is paramount; this is the first principle of detective”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

“God doesn’t ask us to stop being us to be known as his. In fact, God is the source of our unique attributes. He gave us gifts and a distinctive personal history so we could find our place in his story.”
― J. Warner Wallace, The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life

“Moral relativism denies the “immoral” minority the chance to argue logically against a “moral” majority, if there is no standard”
― J. Warner Wallace, God's Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe

“(Wisdom is) the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgments.”
― J. Warner Wallace, The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life

“If there are good reasons why God might permit evil in this life (such as the preservation of free will and the ability to love genuinely), concerns about His failure to act are simply unreasonable. Doubts about God’s existence based on the problem of evil may have emotional appeal, but they lack rational foundation because reasonable explanations do, in fact, exist.”
― J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels