A Critique of

Evidence That Demands a Verdict

a book by Josh McDowell

I approached this book with the assumption that it would be an academic discourse on the evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ. I was extremely disappointed to find that it was really only a literary essay with no tangible proofs. The author relies heavily on the quotes of other Christian authors to support his case. He barely touches on any historic records, preferring to commit sins of omission by blatantly ignoring any evidence that is contrary to his point. This is decidedly unscientific and would still leave skeptics asking the same questions about Christianity that they had before reading the book.

The book is filled with half truths and emotional writing. For example (p.363) Josh states "The fact that I'm alive and doing things I do is evidence that Jesus Christ is raised from the dead." I wonder if this statement could be considered as an objective scientific observation? I think not!

His book is filled with statements like, "Can anyone demonstrate to me that Christ was not raised from the dead." and "The value of the Christian faith is not in the one believing, but in the one who is believed in." (p.4) These are hardly empirical facts. Using this logic he claims that the Christian is saved because the object of his faith, Christ, is important, whereas everything anyone else believes is false. Pity poor children who are born into other faiths, believing just as strongly that they are right. Uh Uh. They are doomed, doomed, doomed!

Josh does state truthfully that "The Christian faith is faith in Jesus Christ." (p.4) Nothing more or less. Therefore, that faith is based entirely on what a person believes to be true. According to Josh, you must read his book with a "proper attitude" because it was designed to turn people back to a relationship with Christ. (p.vi) He even claims that the book is to be used to "glorify and magnify Christ not to win arguments or prove the Word of God" (p.v) Good thing too, because it definitely could not be used any other way. This book is only a testimonial, relying on other testimonials for evidence. His book is not intended for the skeptics who have read numerous scholarly documents. It is strictly for his followers - people who will, no doubt, be sending him money. Unfortunately, the book loses credibility because at the very end he asks people to subscribe to his ministry's newsletter in which you can find out what his ministry needs. This usually ends up being another plea for money from the gullible.

Josh ignores many evidences in his book. There is evidence that sixteen other nations have similar Christ-like myths. There is evidence that many influences can change a person's life, if that person believes in them. These things could be Christ, New Age religion, bio-feedback, divining, UFOs and so many others. He mentions that a good reason to believe is because there is so much biblical presence in earlier writings. He forgets that there is evidence that people would be condemned to torture and death if the didn't profess their belief.

Josh McDowell is obviously an intelligent and educated man. He is smart enough to fill his book with sufficient half-truths to get his readers excited. For example he quotes Flavius Josephus and describes his words as "hotly contested". (p.82) Unfortunately, he doesn't say why these words are so "hotly contested". He is probably aware that no serious student, or even theologian, sincerely believes that Josephus wrote this reference. It is attributed to early Christian forgers.

A further sin of omission on Josh's part is the translation of virgin birth and the fulfilling of prophecies. In Isaiah 7:14 "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Why didn't she call him Jesus? The new testament was written after the fact to make it appear like the prophesies were true. However, going back to original translations, Isaiah was speaking of a son being born in his own day. The original Hebrew was mistranslated into Greek. The original word being "almah" meaning "young woman" not "virgin". In light of modern biology, this makes much more sense. Josh's answer to logic is "The important point is that the church believed in the virgin birth". (p115)

Although he condemns such ancient books as Homer's Iliad as being false and unproven, he is ignoring the fact that Henry and Sophia Schliemann discovered the actual city of Troy in the late 1800's, using only Homer's exact words. Anyone can read the historic account of this discovery by Schliemann himself in "Troja: Results Of The Latest Research," 1884, or the biographical account by Irving Stone called "The Greek Treasure," 1975. To date, any discovery of Noah's Ark, using the Bible, has proven to be a hoax. This doesn't confirm one way or the other about the existence of Noah's Ark. It just confirms that some ancient manuscripts have proven to be far more accurate than the Bible.

Unfortunately, many religious teachers prey on the gullibility of their followers. A prime example was the television documentary on the discovery of Noah's Ark, which later was proven to be a hoax. In fact, Richard A. Fox won an award for his magazine article that analyzed the program and questioned the authenticity of the story. The article was entitled "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark': An Archaeological Quest?" It appeared in the Summer 1993 issue of Free Inquiry. Any librarian should be able to get a copy. His article was also given national attention in Time magazine. I bring this up only because so many people think that Noah's Ark has actually been discovered and therefore this proves that there really was a Noah who put a gazillion animals into a small boat and managed to survive, in spite of the logical impossibility of this myth.

There are so many inaccuracies in Josh McDowell's book that it would take another book to cover them all. I have neither the time nor inclination to refute his so-called proofs. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in his reasons why some books were eliminated from the bible and others were used for inclusion. His tests for inclusion in the canon are purely arbitrary, for the convenience of the church hierarchy. Another book that would have passed his tests has deliberately been omitted from the canon, Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, or The Jewish Life of Christ. This ancient document is available for viewing in the British museum and has been censored by the churches because it depicts a far different Christ than the one the Christian churches want people to believe in. If Josh McDowell read this book, he'd know why it was thrown out. Or, perhaps he has read it and just wants to make sure that no one else does.

He does not provide a reasonable elucidation for the discrepancies in the genealogy of Jesus, (p.112) ignoring the fact that the discrepancy is 400 years. This is glossed over with a brief explanation. He chooses also to ignore the major writings of Diodorus of Sicily, which was in praise of the Goddess worshipping nations and opposed to the patriarchal, war-like nations. (p.299) There is so much conflicting material to his proofs of prophecy fulfillment that I just don't have the resources to comment on all of them. Serious students can seek out the abundance of information available. After studying both sides of the issue then they will be able to make an informed choice and decide what is "truth".

It is my hope that earnest students can distinguish between objective, scientific research and subjective, personal experiences. Josh McDowell may be a nice man who sincerely believes in his work, or he may be a huckster who is trying to convince people to become part of his ministry. Either way, he is denying his readers the advantage of a complete education as to the origin of their religion.