A 30-Minute Overview of Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

By J. Warner Wallace

You’re busy with work, family, and life; but with the new Faith Blueprints series from David C Cook, there is still time to learn from some of the world’s best thinkers on the subjects of faith and culture. Faith Blueprints are executive summaries, designed to quickly and efficiently provide you with the main concepts and highlights from some of David C Cook’s best books. These blueprints are most effective when used alongside the original book as a quick reference or outline, but they can also be used by themselves.

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator.
 
Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity.
 
A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David C Cook
• Release date: Dec 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780830778317

J. Warner Wallace

J. Warner Wallace is a Dateline-featured homicide detective, popular national speaker, and best-selling author. Relying on over two decades of investigative experience, Wallace provides the tools needed to investigate the claims of Christianity and make a convincing case for the truth of the Christian worldview.

Book preview

A 30-MINUTE OVERVIEW OF COLD-CASE CHRISTIANITY

Published by David C Cook

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Integrity Music Limited, a Division of David C Cook

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Details in some stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The content included in this overview has been adapted from J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels (Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2013).

eISBN 978-0-8307-7831-7

© 2013 J. Warner Wallace

Published in association with the literary agency of Mark Sweeney and Associates,

28540 Altessa Way, Apt. 201, Bonita Springs, FL 34135.

Artwork by J. Warner Wallace.

First Edition 2018

A 30-Minute Overview of Cold-Case Christianity

A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

Contents

Main Idea

Section 1: Learn to Be a Detective

Chapter 1: Don’t Be A Know-It-All

Chapter 2: Learn How to Infer

Problem 1: The Theory That the Disciples Were Wrong about Jesus’ Death

Problem 2: The Theory That the Disciples Lied about the Resurrection

Problem 3: The Theory That the Disciples Were Delusional

Problem 4: The Theory That the Disciples Were Fooled by an Imposter

Problem 5: The Theory That the Disciples Were Influenced by Limited Spiritual Sightings

Problem 6: The Theory That the Disciples’ Observations Were Later Distorted

Problem 7: The Theory That the Disciples Accurately Reported the Resurrection of Jesus

Chapter 3: Think Circumstantially

Chapter 4: Test Your Witnesses

Chapter 5: Hang on Every Word

Chapter 6: Separate Artifacts from Evidence

Chapter 7: Resist Conspiracy Theories

Chapter 8: Respect the Chain of Custody

Chapter 9: Know When Enough Is Enough

Chapter 10: Prepare for an Attack

Defense Attorneys Challenge the Nature of Truth

Defense Attorneys Focus on the Best the Prosecution Has to Offer

Defense Attorneys Target the Micro and Distract from the Macro

Defense Attorneys Attack the Messenger

Defense Attorneys Want Perfection

Defense Attorneys Provide Alternative Possibilities

Defense Attorneys Employ a Culturally Winsome Attitude

Section 2: Examine the Evidence

Chapter 11: Were They Present?

Chapter 12: Were They Corroborated?

Chapter 13: Were They Accurate?

Chapter 14: Were They Biased?

Postscript: Becoming a Two Decision Christian

Main Idea

The author, veteran cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace, was a self-proclaimed angry atheist who heard a sermon and was struck by how the gospel of Mark sounded eerily like the eyewitness accounts he knew so well from his day job. He set out to disprove Christianity by applying the tools of his trade to the Gospels. He evaluated the gospel-writers to determine their reliability as eyewitnesses. He inspected the chain of custody of the New Testament documents to see whether there had been