The fact that he rose from the dead provides strong warrant for accepting his divine claims. In the case of the fine-tuning argument, we actually have good, objective data from which to derive a reasonable estimate of the probability of the universe just happening to be the kind capable of having and sustaining intelligent living beings. (2) We must know that it was given before the event. Topics … Still, he recognizes that providing “good reason” to believe in a God capable of doing miracles “makes it more plausible to believe” that a particular event is a miracle (71). Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World. It invites readers to bring their doubts and doesn't shy away from the tough questions. 6. The Gospel testimony that the first persons to see Jesus alive were women is self-evidently reliable. For evidentialists, the main reason we know God exists is because he revealed himself in verifiable ways in history—ultimately and most definitively in Jesus. The logical problem of evil asks, Is it logically possible that God and evil coexist? 10 Ibid., 179-86; Robert W. Manweiler, “The Destruction of Tyre,” and Elaine A. Phillips, “The Fall of Nineveh,” in The Evidence of Prophecy, ed. 23), the writing of Isaiah (ch. (18 pages!). From there they argue that of the major theistic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity), Christianity is the true one (because it, not Judaism or Islam, is the fulfillment of the revelations given to Abraham and his people in the Old Testament). Montgomery, 43. Evil and the Evidence for God: The Challenge of John Hick’s Theodicy. 32). Now, if you aren’t blown away by the amount of material the McDowells have packed into this book, you should be! Fourth, the positive argument from these facts to the conclusion of the resurrection of Jesus is presented. He contends that a miracle “is inexplicable in terms of what we know about currently well-established scientific laws” (9). Unlike the classical apologist, though, he does not think such arguments are necessary. This type of miracle touches man at his deepest existential and personal level, and can be a source of hope, assurance, and peace of mind if the person who conquered death promises eternal life to those who follow his teachings. 3. Hume himself had enunciated the evidentialist principle that “a wise man . Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Vol. Specifically, the theory that God exists helps explain the existence of the world (the cosmological argument), its order and basic beauty (the teleological argument), as well as human consciousness (the argument from mind) and morality (the moral argument).25, Likewise, William Lane Craig has developed the cosmological and teleological proofs into complex arguments combining philosophical reasoning with scientific evidence. Bloom then implicitly adds a fifth, namely, that the successful prediction must not be accompanied by a number of false predictions. Be sure to pick this up when it comes out tomorrow! It has convinced skeptics of the Bible's reliability, helped believers articulate their faith, and given them the vital facts they need to defend … Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Thomas Nelson, 2017). It is argued that the best explanation of the facts is that Jesus did actually rise from the dead. . As it’s been said before “the Bible doesn’t change but critics do!” I want to give you a peek into this book by laying out for you some of the book’s internal content. “PART II: Evidence for Jesus” – This section dedicates six chapters to Jesus Christ. “There is room for speculation about the mystery surrounding God’s actual reasons for permitting evil. I am interested in convincing outsiders that I appeal only to facts which would be accepted by the broad spectrum of scholarship, not just by conservatives.”50. 30 In addition to the sources already cited, see Boa and Bowman, 20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists, 51-60, for an overview of the argument; more detailed treatments can be found in Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers (New York: Norton, 1978); Stanley L. Jaki, God and the Cosmologists (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1989). The evidentialist is not closed to using theistic arguments to make belief in God more plausible or acceptable. This model holds that there may be a number of reasonable explanations for a body of evidence, and that one is to choose from this pool of live options that explanation which is the best, that is, which most successfully meets such criteria as having explanatory power, explanatory scope, and not being ad hoc. In an essay on the evidence from the fine-tuning of the universe for God’s existence, Robin Collins argues that this positive argument for belief in God is much stronger than the inductive argument from evil against belief in God. 10), the issue of Christianity being a copy-cat religion (ch. Newman, which contains three essays on Israel’s history as fulfilling biblical prophecy. One reason this is so is that the second ‘step’ or stage of the classical apologetic uses many if not all of the very same arguments that are part of the evidentialist arsenal. 20), the historical reliability of the nation of Israel under Kings like David (ch. 48 For example, Habermas and Flew, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead, 19-20; Craig and Crossan, Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up, 26-28; and especially Habermas and Licona, Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 43-77. I am employing inductive reasoning understood according to the model of inference to the best explanation. 8 John A. Bloom, “Truth Via Prophecy,” in Evidence for Faith, edited by Montgomery, 175-76. And in fact, Habermas and Craig use very similar strategies in arguing for the reasonableness of believing that God raised Jesus from the dead. He notes that while any form of the problem is insufficient as a deductive proof of God’s nonexistence, a more defensible version of the argument reasons “that the amount of evil we experience makes the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God unlikely” (238).39 Hare goes on to note that the likelihood of God’s existence will depend largely on whether, apart from the reality of evil, one sees good evidence for God’s existence: We are interested in how probable it is that God exists, given that there is a certain amount of evil. “Forward, Preface, Acknowledgements and Revising Evidence That Demands a Verdict” – These first sections include the reasons for the revision and purpose for the book. “PART I: Evidence for the Bible” – This section of chapters was recently noted by Sean, in an interview with Greg Koukl, as one of the most valuable in virtue of the updates. 55 Habermas and Licona, Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 171. Yet the vast majority of scientists have been won over to the big bang by the evidence. That is, a miracle is (a) scientifically inexplicable, (b) religiously significant, and (c) supernaturally (or, divinely) caused. For example, evidentialists emphasize that non-Christian religions do not even claim that their religious leaders were raised from the dead.22 Beckwith observes, “a religion that is true would be one that defeats death, man’s most detestable foe. First, the Old Testament contains numerous prophecies concerning the rise and fall of various nations and cities surrounding Israel, such as Egypt, Tyre and Sidon, Babylon, and Nineveh. Scientists have also discovered a faint background radiation in the cosmos such as was predicted to exist if the universe had exploded into existence from an original single point. 31), and the last chapter deals with the knowability of history in general (ch. Montgomery concludes “that on the basis of the accepted canons of historical method . (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor, 1994), 90-99. That is what Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell, is all about. 45 Montgomery, Faith Founded on Fact, 57. Sources: College head coach quits after opening game. Amazon.in - Buy The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, 1999 Edition: Fully Updated book online at best prices in India on Amazon.in. . . Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2017. 7. Arnold Weigel is an extreme example of the latter: “In opposing the traditional rational proofs of God’s existence, [Bertrand] Russell is destroying a straw man, not the Christian position. Whereas classical apologists tend to argue that one must first establish the existence of God in order to render miracles credible, evidentialists argue that miracles can actually serve as evidence for the existence of God. I believe that this approach retains a healthy Humean skepticism by taking into consideration the improbability of a miraculous event, but I also believe that it resists a dogmatic skepticism by taking seriously the possibility that one may have evidence for a miracle. He “failed to realize that the wise and intelligent person bases his or her convictions on evidence, not on Humean ‘probability.’ That is, an event’s occurrence may be very improbable in terms of past experience and observation, but current observation and testimony may lead one to believe that the evidence for the event is good” (38). Evidence That Demands a Verdict “I saw unequivocally that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leave absolutely no room for doubt.” . Norman Geisler, for example, states plainly: “Fulfilled prophecy does not prove the existence of God, but it does show that unusual events predicted in his Name that come to pass are evidence of his special activity.”17. 11 Robert C. Newman, “Israel’s History Written in Advance: A Neglected Evidence for the God of the Bible,” in Evidence for Faith, ed. 18), the historical issues with Exodus (ch. Although most scientists admit that the universe had a beginning, many try to remain agnostic as to its cause. “The theist will have deflected the specific objection to the existence of God on the basis of evil without even the most cursory analysis of evil if the theist has produced a compelling argument for the existence of God on independent grounds” (64-65). After utilizing Craig’s version of the kalâm cosmological argument in support of theism (73-84), Beckwith returns to Hume’s argument against miracles, focusing now on modern reformulations and defenses of Hume’s argument. 22 Gary R. Habermas, “Resurrection Claims in Other Religions,” Religious Studies 25 (1989): 167-177; see also David K. Clark, “Miracles in the World Religions,” in In Defense of Miracles, ed. (New York: Harper, 1841). According to Montgomery, “What modern man insists on above all is a verifiable base for his faith, so that he can bring some order out of the conflicting welter of religious claims.”21 Christianity has miracles, fulfilled prophecies, and other evidences that the God of the Bible is the true God; other religions do not have these phenomena. It quoted other sources a lot so functions to bring all the evidence together in one book. 4), the supposed “lost gospels” (ch. For more than forty years, Evidence That Demands a Verdict has encouraged and strengthened millions of people around the world. 14), the “biblically faithful approaches to Genesis” (ch. Thoroughly evidentialist approach to the problem of evil, arguing that the positive evidence for God’s existence from natural theology is essential to answering the problem. . Moreover, if on the basis of the evidence we conclude that God probably does exist, then, given that God is good and all-powerful, we may conclude that God is justified in permitting evil even if we do not know what his reason or reasons may be (61). Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell. 25), and finally (phew! Evidentialists confront the problem of religious pluralism on two levels. Beckwith also criticizes the argument that, even granting the occurrence of a miracle, one could not fairly infer the religious significance attributed to it, and answers this argument with a thinly veiled, abstract reference to the Resurrection: Suppose that a purported miracle-worker, C, says that he is God’s chosen and that he will perform a miracle, R, a resurrection, at time t in order to confirm God’s approval of his mission. Although some evidentialists focus their apologetic on the scientific evidence for creation, by far the majority concentrate on defending the claims of Jesus Christ, and the overwhelming focus of these defenses pertains to belief in his resurrection from the dead. The problem was that I couldn't sit down and just read it. And he predicted his resurrection.”55 Instead, the Resurrection comes with an interpretive context of the supernatural acts and revelations of the God of Israel in the Old Testament and the supernatural works and claims of Jesus in his earthly ministry.56 Here these and other apologists adduce evidence from the Gospels that Jesus did in fact claim to be deity. It also depends on whether this much evil is more likely to exist if God exists or if He does not. This assumes, of course, that we have already concluded that the event occurred at all. In the fifth chapter of Evidence That Demands a Verdict (hereafter "ETDAV") entitled, "Jesus--A Man of History," Josh McDowell lists a series of "sources for the historicity of Jesus. He performed deeds that were interpreted as miracles. . There is some dispute about the details of the Tyre prophecy in Ezekiel 26, but evidentialists are confident that the chapter, properly interpreted, was dramatically and literally fulfilled.10, Second, evidentialists cite the existence and history of Israel as an amazing fulfillment of biblical prophecy.11 Robert Newman tells the story of the skeptical Frederick the Great, who asked his court chaplain for a good argument for God, to which the chaplain replied, “The Jew, your majesty!”12 The Bible predicts that the Jews would fall into idolatry and be chastised, yet would later be returned to the land. See also Robert C. Newman, “The Time of the Messiah,” in The Evidence of Prophecy, ed. Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Volume 1: Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith by Josh McDowell. New Evidence That Demands a Verdict Hardcover – 1 January 1920 by Josh McDowell (Author) 4.7 out of 5 stars 323 ratings For example, Francis Beckwith objects to the Baha’i teaching that all the world’s major religions were inspired by God. The argument is now commonly based on the so-called anthropic cosmological principle, or more simply the anthropic principle.32 This term refers to the observation that numerous factors inherent in the universe appear to be just right for sustaining a universe in which life, including humanity, has even the possibility of existing. 515 b.c.–a.d. He is the God of the Jewish people who inspired the Old Testament, who sent Jesus his Son into the world for our salvation, and who commissioned the apostles and their associates to establish the Christian church and to produce the New Testament. 52 See especially Habermas, “Resurrection Appearances of Jesus,” in In Defense of Miracles, edited by Geivett and Habermas, 262-275. 4 See, for example, Montgomery, “The Jury Returns,” in Evidence for Faith, edited by Montgomery, 322-23; Moreland, Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 134; Beckwith, Baha’i, 43-50; Steven Collins, Championing the Faith: A Layman’s Guide to Proving Christianity’s Claims (Tulsa: Virgil W. Hensley, 1991), 78; Dan Story, Defending Your Faith: How to Answer the Tough Questions (Nashville:Thomas Nelson, 1992), 38-47. I’ll quote each section (or set of sections) and give an explanation. All these considerations are brought together by evidentialists to constitute a cumulative case showing that the Resurrection is the most probable, reasonable explanation of the facts. He was to be born a human son, yet he preexisted as God (Micah 5:2; Isaiah 9:6-7). . Wow!) For example, the swoon theory, which holds that Jesus merely passed out on the cross and was revived after being left for dead in the tomb, attempts to overturn the fact of Jesus’ death. dealing with claims of contradiction in the OT. Michael J. Wilkins and J. P. Moreland (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 141-176; “The Empty Tomb of Jesus,” in In Defense of Miracles, edited by Geivett and Habermas (1997), 247-261; and Craig and John Dominic Crossan, Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2017. 1. I bought an older version (maybe this one is better) which was written as bullet points so reading it wasn't easy. . This phenomenon is often called the “fine-tuning” of the universe. Note: We are a 501(c3) Non-Profit organization. Should we believe the gardener exists despite the fact that every attempt to observe his movements fails? Of the four approaches profiled in this book, the classical and evidentialist approaches are the closest to each other. Luke’s accuracy is confirmed by the archaeological and geographical investigations of William Ramsay toward the end of the nineteenth century (31-32). 19), the historical issues with the Israelites conquering the promised land (ch. Click here for Evidence That Demands A Verdict on Amazon For example, it is at least logically possible that creating such a world was unavoidable if God was to create people with a moral capacity for making choices. Nelson, 2017 ) we have already concluded that the belief that all the religious context of his life teachings. Maxim, discussed at the time after the Israelite nation split ( ch Christians proclaimed in Jerusalem just weeks Jesus... 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