An intelligent or intellectual book this is not. The whole first chapter is, what else? His personal testimony. “I thought I had it figured out but it was all fake. Now I’m tellin’ the truth!” Really? Sounds like more of the same. I mean, I’m glad you’ve found Jesus and all. I think understanding his grace and learning to fear God is the beginning of wisdom, but that doesn’t mean any of the next things you are about to say is worth listening to. How about I judge that by it’s own merits? If your reasoning is good then I will consider it. If it is weak, I will dismiss it. I know that what you say and believe and work toward are inseparable from you as a person, but understand that I AM NOT YOU. Your work must stand on it’s own. I don’t want to hear about YOU unless it’s directly relevant to your work. A true writer or artist doesn’t need to talk about themselves all day. Their work says everything far better than they could.
The book, published in the early 1980s is a couple hundred pages trying to prove in a quasi-scientific manner the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. You’d think he might cite Josephus at least once. Nope. It’s just the four gospel accounts mixed with commentary from very contemporary psychologists and law professors. The whole of Church history – what everyone, everywhere, has believed about the resurrection for two-thousand years – there is no mention of those things at all. I was curious so I looked up some things that Augustine had to say about the resurrection. All kinds of great stuff, but it’s completely off his radar. Practically everything except the last 50 years of American evangelism might as well not exist. It’s like the church started with him and Jesus in nineteen-seventy whenever when he got saved in college. Parents don’t matter. Elders don’t matter. Great thinkers and saints of the past don’t matter. Despite the assumed conservatism, what could be more liberal and hyper-independent than this myopic self-centered narrative? “It’s ME. I’m the center of the universe. Let me try to impart some of ME – it’s all I got!”
This book drove me nuts. This stuff can’t stand up to criticism AT ALL, and in the 21st century west, your faith NEEDS to be able to stand up to criticism. This is not terribly hard really, but not any old thing will work. I suggest you skip Evidence that Demands a Verdict and it’s ilk. Instead, read just about anything from C.S Lewis (including his fiction), or N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian, or if you find biographies more engaging, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Better yet, read the gospel of John again and ask God to change your heart.
So, sorry to say mean things about your book Josh. I know you’ve been real successful as an author and speaker and that a lot of folks have found your work helpful. That’s great. I just think we really need something better, and fortunately, we have it. Maybe your new material is better. Probably is. Not sure if I’ll get around to it though. Peace out.