Faithful Thinkers

Book Review: Cold-Case Christianity For Kids

Introduction

Several years ago cold-case homicide detective J. Warner Wallace wrote the book Cold-Case Christianity. When Wallace first read the gospels, as an atheist, he noticed that they read like eye-witness accounts that he was used to analyzing everyday. He decided to conduct an investigation of Jesus' resurrection just like a cold-case. Cold-Case Christianity takes the reader through his investigation and encourages the reader to be the "jury" to evaluate the evidence. You can read my full review of it here: Book Review: Cold-Case Christianity.

That book has been quite popular and has helped numerous people to see the evidence for the truth of Christianity. Because of that, Wallace and his wife decided to take the content and adapt it for a younger audience. The result is the book Cold-Case Christianity for Kids.

Introduction

I recently had a conversation on Twitter with an atheist. He held a particular view of atheism that made it quite difficult to have a productive conversation. This view has become more popular among internet atheists in the last few years, so I thought it would be worth addressing.

What is Atheism?

This atheist immediately began our interaction by questioning my understanding of atheism. He claimed that atheism did not make the claim that God does not exist (as is the traditional understanding), rather it is neutral on God's existence; it does not make an ontological claim (if God exists) but rather an epistemological claim (if someone believes that God exists). He rationalized this untraditional understanding by saying that since theism is the belief in God, then atheism is the denial of the belief in God, but it is not necessarily the denial of God's existence. After I asked him a few clarifying questions, he claimed that no one could really "know" that God exists and we are all actually agnostics. He ultimately claimed that atheism is indistinguishable from agnosticism.

Introduction

As a defender of the Christian worldview and a big fan of science, it is difficult to avoid the question of origins (not that I really try to on Faithful Thinkers). The Bible makes specific claims about how the universe, life, and humans came to be. However, Christians differ on how to interpret these claims. Many (if not all) of the interpretations are met with great hostility from skeptics and the scientific community. In his book, Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off, biochemist Fazale Rana explains that:

"Most investigators would rather confront the problems and frustrations of naturalistic models than consider any explanation for life's start that lacks scientific credibility, especially when it involves a divine Creator."

"Most investigators would rather confront the problems and frustrations of naturalistic models than consider any explanation for life's start that lacks scientific credibility, especially when it involves a divine Creator."- Quote from "Origins of Life: biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off" by Dr. Hugh Ross and Dr. Fazale Rana

Why Bother With Scientific Credibility?

If Christianity is the true worldview, then its claims about origins must be correct. There is an interpretation that accurately reflects both the claims of the Bible and the findings in nature. Some models presented by Christians are so far off from the data from nature that they do not have any scientific credibility. When a skeptic sees models like these as the only alternatives, they will prefer to deal with the challenges of a model that possesses more scientific credibility. And unfortunately, they will toss the Christianity "baby" with the origins model "bathwater."

It is important to our defense of the Christian worldview that we are responsible in our presentation of a model for origins. If a scientifically-minded skeptic is to believe that Christianity is even possibly true and that the Bible is a trustworthy and authoritative source of truth, the claims of origins must match the data found in nature.

Conclusion

As we present Christianity as accurately reflecting reality (the true worldview), we must be prepared to deal with the issue of the origins of the universe, life, and humanity. If we present a model that is not in agreement with the data from nature, we cannot expect a scientifically-minded skeptic to take our worldview seriously. If we truly believe that Christianity is true, then perhaps it is time for us to change our model and present one that is both bibically and scientifically credible.

Recommended Reading for Further Investigation