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September 4, 2024
A CONCISE PRESENTATION OF JOSH MCDOWELL'S APOLOGETIC
Joslin "Josh" McDowell (born 1939) is a Christian author best known for his many works of apologetics; he has been affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ (now "Cru") since 1964. His many books include 'Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Historical Evidence for the Christian Faith,' 'More Evidence That Demands a Verdict,' 'Daniel in the Critics' Den,' 'The Islam Debate,' 'The Resurrection Factor,' 'Josh McDowell Answers Five Tough Questions,' etc. His life story was told in Joe Musser's book 'Josh: Excitement of the Unexpected' and also in the DVD 'Undaunted.'
Josh's first two books were material used for his lectures, etc., and were filled with long quotations, which often covered the same ground; they weren't exactly the sort of book that a Christian would hand to a non-Christian and say, "Here, read this," as the non-Christian would probably get "lost" in the quotations, or the complex and technical discussions of Volume II. This 1977 book precisely fills that gap. [There was also a VHS tape of the same name released by Johnson/Nyquist Productions, but it's no longer available.]
He begins by asking, "How is Jesus different from other religious leaders? Why don't the names of Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius offend people? The reason is that these others didn't claim to be God, but Jesus did. That is what makes him so different from other religious leaders... He was presenting himself as the only avenue to a relationship with God, the only source of forgiveness for sins, and the only way of salvation." (Pg. 10)
He adds, "Jesus received honor and worship that only God should receive... Jesus received worship as God (Matt 14:33, 28:9) and sometimes even demanded to be worshipped as God (John 5:23...)." (Pg. 12)
He recalls that a professor once asserted to him that "Mark, the earliest Gospel, never once mentioned Jesus' claiming to be God... In response I turned to Mark's Gospel. There Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins... By Jewish law this was something only God could do; Isaiah 43:25 restricts this prerogative to God alone... we can forgive injuries committed against us, but in no way can anyone forgive sins committed against God except God himself. That is what Jesus did." (Pg. 18-19)
He countered another professor's assertion that "the New Testament was written so long after Christ that it could not be accurate in what it recorded" by saying, "By the twentieth century... archaeological discoveries had confirmed the accuracy of the New Testament manuscripts. Discoveries of early papyri manuscripts [the John Ryland manuscript, A.D. 130; the Chester Beatty Papyri, A.D. 155; and the Bodmer Papyri II, A.D. 200) bridged the gap between the time of Christ and existing manuscripts from a later date." (Pg. 42)
The book (as did Volume I of "Evidence") concludes with Josh's moving testimony.
Josh has written many other books, including several which cover this material in much greater detail ['Jesus: A Biblical Defense of His Deity,' 'He Walked Among Us']; but as the most "readable" introduction to Josh's apologetic, this smaller book can hardly be beaten.
Joslin "Josh" McDowell (born 1939) is a Christian author best known for his many works of apologetics; he has been affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ (now "Cru") since 1964. His many books include 'Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Historical Evidence for the Christian Faith,' 'More Evidence That Demands a Verdict,' 'Daniel in the Critics' Den,' 'The Islam Debate,' 'The Resurrection Factor,' 'Josh McDowell Answers Five Tough Questions,' etc. His life story was told in Joe Musser's book 'Josh: Excitement of the Unexpected' and also in the DVD 'Undaunted.'
Josh's first two books were material used for his lectures, etc., and were filled with long quotations, which often covered the same ground; they weren't exactly the sort of book that a Christian would hand to a non-Christian and say, "Here, read this," as the non-Christian would probably get "lost" in the quotations, or the complex and technical discussions of Volume II. This 1977 book precisely fills that gap. [There was also a VHS tape of the same name released by Johnson/Nyquist Productions, but it's no longer available.]
He begins by asking, "How is Jesus different from other religious leaders? Why don't the names of Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius offend people? The reason is that these others didn't claim to be God, but Jesus did. That is what makes him so different from other religious leaders... He was presenting himself as the only avenue to a relationship with God, the only source of forgiveness for sins, and the only way of salvation." (Pg. 10)
He adds, "Jesus received honor and worship that only God should receive... Jesus received worship as God (Matt 14:33, 28:9) and sometimes even demanded to be worshipped as God (John 5:23...)." (Pg. 12)
He recalls that a professor once asserted to him that "Mark, the earliest Gospel, never once mentioned Jesus' claiming to be God... In response I turned to Mark's Gospel. There Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins... By Jewish law this was something only God could do; Isaiah 43:25 restricts this prerogative to God alone... we can forgive injuries committed against us, but in no way can anyone forgive sins committed against God except God himself. That is what Jesus did." (Pg. 18-19)
He countered another professor's assertion that "the New Testament was written so long after Christ that it could not be accurate in what it recorded" by saying, "By the twentieth century... archaeological discoveries had confirmed the accuracy of the New Testament manuscripts. Discoveries of early papyri manuscripts [the John Ryland manuscript, A.D. 130; the Chester Beatty Papyri, A.D. 155; and the Bodmer Papyri II, A.D. 200) bridged the gap between the time of Christ and existing manuscripts from a later date." (Pg. 42)
The book (as did Volume I of "Evidence") concludes with Josh's moving testimony.
Josh has written many other books, including several which cover this material in much greater detail ['Jesus: A Biblical Defense of His Deity,' 'He Walked Among Us']; but as the most "readable" introduction to Josh's apologetic, this smaller book can hardly be beaten.
June 26, 2025
This book dives into the historical accuracy and evidence on which the Gospel accounts are based. The author was previously an atheist and through his education in law school he decided to disprove the validity of the claims made by Christ and His disciples. Turns out that God changes lives.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews