The NEW EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS a VERDICT Other Josh Mcdowell Titles AVAILABLE from THOMAS NELSON
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The NEW EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT Other Josh McDowell titles AVAILABLE FROM THOMAS NELSON: Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Vol. I Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Vol. II Handbook of Today’s Religions with Don Stewart A Ready Defense Copyright © 1999 by Josh D. McDowell A substantial portion of this material was originally published by Here’s Life Publishers, Inc. © 1972,1975,1979,1981 Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Scripture quotations identified by nasb are from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971, 1973,1975 by the Lockman Foundation, and used by permission. Book design and composition by Mark McGarry; Texas Type & Book Works, Dallas, Texas Set in Minion and Franklin Gothic Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McDowell, Josh. The new evidence that demands a verdict / by Josh McDowell.—Rev., updated, and expanded, p. cm. “Evidence that demands a verdict, volumes 1 & 2, now together in one volume.” Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-7852-4219-8 1. Bible—Evidences, authority, etc. 2. Apologetics. I. McDowell, Josh. Evidence that demands a verdict. II. Title. 220.6'01BS480 .M384 1999 —dc21 99-047181 Printed in the United States of America 9 10 11 12 13 14 - 04 03 02 To Dottie: My sweetheart, my best friend, and my wife. Without her patience, love, encouragement, and constructive criticism this project could never have been completed. Contents Foreword xi book that has the historical qualifi¬ cations of the Bible. Unique qualifi¬ Preface xiii cations that set the Scriptures apart from every other book ever written. User’s Guide xvii 2 How We Got the Bible 17 Explanation of Materials used. Bible divisions. Why General Format xix just thirty-nine Old Testament books and twenty-seven New Testa¬ xxi Acknowledgments ment books? What about the Apoc¬ rypha? Why not other books? He Changed My Life xxiii How a relationship with Jesus Christ transformed the author's life. ^ IsHistorically the New Testament Reliable? 33 The tests applied to all ancient liter¬ Introduction xxix ature to determine reliability. How Faith built on facts. An intelligent does the New Testament compare? faith. Misconceptions about Chris¬ Archaeological finds confirming the tianity. Worldviews behind the mis¬ New Testament. conceptions. * Is the Old Testament PART ONE: THE CASE FOR THE BIBLE ^ Historically Reliable? 69 Bibliographical test. Internal evi¬ The Uniqueness of the Bible 3 dence test. Archaeological evidence An intelligent person seeking truth demonstrating the trustworthiness would certainly read and consider a of the Old Testament. The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict PART TWO: THE CASE FOR JESUS and non-Christians about the per¬ son, character, life, and death of Jesus, A Man of History 119 Jesus of Nazareth, and His impact on Documented sources of extrabibli the world for two thousand years. cal historical references to Jesus of Nazareth. PART THREE: THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST CHRISTIANITY DeservesIf Jesus Wasn’t anGod, Oscar He 137 The character of Christ and His Section I, Introduction 331 claims to deity, with emphasis on secular and Jewish sources. This section deals with inspiration Significance of Deity: The of the Bible, anti-supernaturalism, Trilemma—Lord, Liar, and archaeology. All three topics or Lunatic? 155 relate to the documentary If the New Testament records about hypothesis and form criticism. Therefore they are treated at the Jesus are historically accurate, there beginning rather than under each remain only three logical choices of the following two sections. concerning His identity. Support of Deity: Old Testament Is the Bible from God? 333 Prophecies Fulfilled in Part 1 presents the case that the Jesus Christ 164 Bible is historically accurate. Here Illustrations of the probabilities that the case is made that the Bible is all prophecies could be fulfilled in trustworthy in that it is inspired by one man, in response to the critic a perfect God. who says, “It is all just a coinci¬ dence.” Emphasis on Jewish sources The Presupposition of to answer the accusation, “Thats the Anti-supernaturalism 350 way you Christians look at them, A presentation of the presupposi¬ but what about the Jews?” tions of both documentarians and form critics. Often the alleged Support of Deity: The objective historical conclusions are orResurrection—Hoax History? 203 molded by a subjective worldview. This heavily documented section of Archaeology and Biblical evidence for Christ s resurrection ^ Criticism 369 refutes theories set forth to disclaim A discussion of the contributions and this miracle. influence of archaeology to criticism. SupportProposition of Deity: The Great 285 SectionHypothesis II. Documentary 389 The “if... then” argument applied The discipline of literary criticism to Christ: “//God became man, then applied to the Pentateuch is exam¬ what would He be like?” Quotations ined along with evidence for Mosaic and observations of great Christians authorship. Contents lx Introduction to the Evidence for Mosaic Documentary Hypothesis 391 21 Authorship 455 What is the documentary hypothe¬ The internal and external testimony sis? What are the JEDP documents? for Moses’ authorship of the Penta¬ teuch. Introduction to Biblical Criticism 396 The Phenomenon of Divine Biblical criticism defined and the 22 Names 478 different critical schools explained. The various uses of the divine names (Elohim, Yahweh, and oth¬ theIntroduction Pentateuch to 400 ers) are put in perspective. The purpose and importance of the aa The Repetition of Accounts first five biblical books. ^ and Alleged Contradictions 494 Certain stories in the Pentateuch are Development of the said to be repeated, and others to Documentary Hypothesis 403 have contradictory details. A description of the various docu¬ mentary theories and their modern 24 Incongruities 516 revisions. The writing in the third person and the record of Moses’ death are fac¬ Ground Rules 408 tors said to be incongruous with The ancient oriental environment Mosaic authorship. provides various principles to apply to the Old Testament. 2g Internal Diversity 518 A discussion of the assumed differ¬ ence of subject matter, style, and Documentary Presuppositions 412 diction. An investigation of the four basic documentary assumptions: (1) The jr* Conclusion to the priority of source analysis over Documentary Hypothesis 526 archaeology; (2) a natural view of Israel’s religion and history; (3) the Section III. Biblical Criticism theory that there was no writing in and the New Testament 535 Israel at Moses’ time; and (4) the Basic tenets of form criticism legendary view of the patriarchal examined. Practical answers to basic narratives. assumptions and conclusions. The modern quest for the historical Jesus. Consequences of Radical Higher Criticism 450 m Introduction to New A discussion of the results of Israel’s ^ Testament Form Criticism 537 history being viewed as unhistorical, Form criticism is defined and its fraudulent, and naturalistic. purpose and proponents discussed. The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict Historical Skepticism 551 Answering Skepticism 627 The reliability of the record of the historical Jesus is examined. jg Answering Agnosticism 634 Jesus under Fire 559 An examination of the historical Answering Mysticism 643 quests for Jesus and their culmina¬ tion in the Jesus Seminar. Certainty vs. Certitude 659 Conclusion to Form Criticism 570 A look at the contribution and 20 Defending Miracles 661 limitations of the form critical approach. HQ Is History Knowable? 672 Modern Theology and Bibliography 689 Biblical Criticism 574 by C. S. Lewis Biographical Sketches of PART FOUR: Selected Authors 731 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES Author Index 743 Personal Note from the Author 583 Subject Index 751 The Nature of Truth 585 The Four Spiritual Laws 757 The Knowability of Truth 597 You can know God personally and experience the abundant Christian Answering Postmodernism 611 life. Foreword Is Christianity credible? magna cum laude degree from Talbot Theo¬ Is there an intellectual basis for faith in logical Seminary and his extensive research Jesus Christ as the Son of God? on the historical evidences of the Christian Scholars throughout the centuries, as well faith, qualify Josh to speak and write with as millions of students and older adults, will authority on the credibility of Christianity. answer such questions with a resounding, A lawyer once asked Jesus: “Sir, which is “Yes!” This is what The NEW Evidence That the most important commandment in the Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell, is all law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord about. your God with all your heart, soul, and Since 1964, Josh has served as a traveling mind. This is the first and greatest com¬ representative with Campus Crusade for mandment” (Matt. 22:37, 38). God created Christ International. More than seven mil¬ us with the ability to think, to acquire lion students and professors on more than knowledge, and to discern truth. God wants seven hundred campuses in eighty-four us to use our minds. countries have been enlightened, encour¬ The apostle Peter admonishes, “Sanctify aged, helped, and challenged by his inspired Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being teaching and witness. His experience speak¬ ready to make a defense to every one who ing to student gatherings—large and small asks you to give an account for the hope that rallies, classroom lectures, and hundreds of is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). counseling sessions and debates—plus a For this reason, the ministry of Campus xil The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict Crusade for Christ emphasizes the training evidence so convincing that they have of Christians to experience and share the accepted the verdict that Jesus Christ truly is abundant, exciting life available to all who who He claimed to be—the Son of God and place their trust in Jesus Christ.