God's Existence, Science and Faith, Suffering and Evil, Jesus' Resurrection, and Book Reviews

Book Review: God's Crime Scene for Kids

Introduction

Several years ago, cold-case homicide detective J. Warner Wallace wrote the book "God's Crime Scene" where he details his investigation, as an atheist, into the evidence for God's existence. In the book, he explains that investigating the universe for an outside cause is quite similar to the investigation of a death scene. If the evidence at the scene can be explained by "staying in the room," then an outside cause (murder) can be reasonably removed. Likewise, if all the evidence within the universe can be explained by "staying in the room" of the universe, then an outside cause (God) is not a reasonable conclusion. In both cases, though, when evidence requires an outside cause, then the conclusion cannot be avoided. You can read my chapter-by-chapter review of "God's Crime Scene" here.

"God's Crime Scene" is the second book in a trilogy that includes "Cold-Case Christianity" and "Forensic Faith." Because of the popularity of this series, Wallace and his wife adapted the content of the books to a younger audience: kids! Today's review is the second in the kids' series: "God's Crime Scene for Kids."


Book Review: Alive: A Cold-Case Approach to the Resurrection 🕵

Introduction

I am always on the lookout for succinct presentations of a defense of the truth of Christianity. Unlike many of the (excellent) books available, shorter ones have a better appeal to those who are curious but do not wish to invest too much time (yet) into their investigation. This is where the book I am reviewing today comes in. "Alive: A Cold-Case Approach to the Resurrection" by J. Warner Wallace condenses the case for the Resurrection into approximately fifty pages and presents in a way that both engaging and easy to follow. Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective who was an atheist when he first investigated the evidence for the reliability of the gospels as eye-witness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He originally detailed his investigation in the book "Cold-Case Christianity." and this book takes the reader through a condensed presentation of that investigation. Before I get to the review, here is a short video about the book:

 
Alive from J. Warner Wallace on Vimeo.

📖 Is Genesis History?: What God's Creation Reveals 🌌🔬

Introduction

A couple years ago the documentary "Is Genesis History?" was released. This documentary aims to defend the truth of the Christian worldview by defending the historicity of the early chapters of the Bible from a scientific perspective. The documentary attempts to accomplish this by demonstrating evidence in support of intelligent design and a young (~6000 years old) creation. As those who follow this blog know, I do not hold to the view that the universe is 6000 years old, as Del Tackett and the other contributors to "Is Genesis History?" do, yet I affirm the historicity and scientific accuracy of the Genesis accounts of origins.

Because many people (including those in this documentary) believe that the historicity of these early chapters and a young earth interpretation of them cannot be separated, a friend has asked me to offer some comments in the way of clarifying this common misunderstanding and some other concerns in the movie. There is much unnecessary confusion and heat in the Church concerning the debate over origins, so I am hoping to provide a charitable critique in the context of Christian unity and love.