Why Jesus Matters Today More Than Ever: A Conversation with Detective J. Warner Wallace
What does the historical record show about the significance of Jesus without relying on the New Testament? We discuss the latest book, PERSON OF INTEREST, in which Detective J. Warner Wallace reveals how Jesus has transformed art, music, history, science, and other disciplines. And we consider the biggest objections to the historical Jesus.
READ: Person of Interest, by J. Warner Wallace: https://amzn.to/37lRaG5
*Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf)
*USE Discount Code [SMDCERTDISC] for $100 off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM)
*See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK)
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sean_McDowell
TikTok: @sean_mcdowell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/
Website: https://seanmcdowell.org
source
(59:22) Using mythvision logic, it is possible that the creators of mythvision are freemasons or satanists. Which explains their deep obsession with disproving God, Jesus, and the Bible. Possible😉
Studies estimate that between 4-6% of people incarcerated in US prisons are actually innocent. If 5% of individuals are actually innocent, that means 1/20 criminal cases result in a wrongful conviction. And that's what we know about. Witch means the numbers are higher. So how many innocent people has he put in jail over his past convictions. You can't trust anything he is saying… Eyewitness testimony during a criminal trial, even when made in good faith, is widely considered to be unreliable because basic-science research has shown how malleable eyewitness memory can be and many real-world wrongful convictions involve eyewitness misidentifications of innocent defendants. It can be difficult to provide a proper description of a person, including exactly what they looked like and any definitive features. On top of all of this, people's biases can cause them to see characteristics that were not real, or actions that didn't actually occur. So how many cases in 3 generations have they put innocent people in prison. They have tried the bible in court and it doesn't hold up to be true… (you would be going to Jail) “If You Think You Know Everything, You’ll Never Learn Anything,”
Mythicists and Historians point to several reasons to claim that Jesus never existed: He is never mentioned by any Greek or Roman author of the first century; there is no archaeological evidence for his existence; the Apostle Paul knows nothing of his life and teachings; and the Gospels are untrustworthy reports written decades later… the Gospels come long after Jesus' death, written by people who never knew or saw the man…
“If you think you know everything, you’ll never learn anything,”
every information we have about Jesus, is relying to the new testament, so it's impossible to explain him without the NT. But dream your dream, it's your right to be completely wrong, i'll grant you that. Unfortunately a lot of americans mistake their right of free speech as a right to lie without consequences. Not saying your lying, you're just mislead and miseducated. God bless America, lol.
Jesus is and was and always will be more important than anyone or anything else!
I have proof in a number of ways, just like Joseph Smith had a personal witness. Millions never believed him and he had evidences to back up his teachings. However I don’t have such evidences, except I have read the Book of Mormon a number of times. Watched the account of the “ First Vision” and read the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants as well as the Bible. If that is not suffice, then listen to the current Prophets , Seers and Revelators. If that doesn’t provide enough evidence, then it’s time you got on your knees and talk to God and await the answers?
What we know about Jesus, is the life of Christ according to witnesses and words written from Prophets, Seers and Revelators. What many of us fail to realise is the oerspective from those writers and their evidences. However if we consider when Jesus stated when we dig a hole and fall into that hole we may never get out, is out of the question because Jesus never said that? Similarly when Jesus scolded the man from Samaria and stated that Samaritans are often heathens, Jesus never stated that either. So what I attempt to bring to people’s minds is simple and even children should understand it. Jesus never wrote stories about Himself nor did He make any claims of criticism to any faiths, people, or specific groups such as the Romans etc. No it is only the writers that defined Samaritans, Romans and Jews, Christ only chastised those that were sinners among the people, not once did He speak to a nation, kindred or tongue, He was not the writer, He was the minister. Hence any purported Christian, or true believer of Christ, would not chastise, criticise, rebuke or any other against a Church or any believers but merely direct to the truth. For that same reason, we too cannot state that Evangelicals, Apologists, Catholics, Protestant of LDS etc are wrong except they preach against God and His kingdom! For too long we have those among us, professing to be Christians but often go against what Christ ministered!
Evidences of God and Jesus Christ have been built upon from the beginning and exist to the end. To rule out scriptures, Prophets, Seers and Revelators, then truth would cease. However due to an Apostasy taking place after the death of Christ, it was necessary for God to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ through The Book of Mormon. Now we can witness how the True Church of Christ has been restored as in The Church zig Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. Know them by their fruits!
But nothing is impossible for Jesus
This is so interesting. I just ordered the book!
The "copy cat" just remember that the serpent was there in the beginning and knows all the details and all of history. The serpent can go get ahead of Christianity and created the false religions. The result is people can try to claim Christianity is copying the serpents false religions that the serpent seeded.
It matters to Sean because it means he never has to work for a living.
ThankYou
Sean it would be REALLY nice if you leveled out the audio. Your voice is WAY louder than your guests and it makes it hard to listen to 🙂
Sean, are you the son of Josh McDowell?
Thoroughly enjoyed this interview buying the book!! Hope it helps others!
Excellent, just excellent. I've been a Christian all my, but still love to hear these things, that just affirm even deeper what I already believe.
This was awesome my pastor's wife and I were discussing. Very important things and 2 videos came up that were yours that really pointed to our discussion. God bless you
Your book was so wonderful and very enlightening! I had no idea that His influence on humanity was so massive. Thank you so much. He truly is amazing.
In Jewish tradition there are 4 ways of interpreting the text of Tanakh. The literal meaning and the allegorical meaning and the hinted at meaning and the hidden meaning. The NT writers didn’t always use the literal interpretation face value contextual meaning of the verses they quoted from Tanakh. Often they interpreted them using the allegorical meaning or the hidden meaning or the hinted at meaning of the verses they quoted in light of the events of the life of Jesus and what he said and did as the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Mashiach Ben Yosef in his first advent and the yet to be fulfilled prophecies he will fulfill concerning Mashiach Ben David in his second advent. Often they quoted from the Greek LXX Septuagint translation instead of the literal Hebrew original like when Matthew’s gospel quotes Isaiah 7:14 from the LXX where the literal Hebrew HaAlmah meaning the young maiden that may or may not be a virgin is translated in Greek as He Parthena meaning the virgin so perhaps that just makes the hinted at meaning more clear. Matthew also quotes Hosea 11:1 where it’s talking about HaShem loving Israel when he was a lad and calling his son from Egypt. The literal context speaks of the Exodus but the hidden meaning is a prophecy about Jesus leaving Egypt as a lad. Jesus as Mashiach represents Israel as the king of Israel and is the servant of HaShem in Isaiah 53 even though Isaiah quotes HaShem calling Israel his servant earlier in the servant songs because as Mashiach and King of Israel Jesus represents Israel and is the ultimate Jew because he alone was perfectly Torah observant
The interview was amazing and I enjoyed Warner Wallace’s insights and how he connects the knowledge that he has acquired in his career with his faith. However, I felt troubled when he answered the last question at 59:50 (by the way, an AMAZING question). He says that there is a chance that he could be wrong about the Gospel and and that it could be possible that Jesus did not raise from the dead. The Gospel is the one thing that we as Christians don’t (shouldn’t) have even a hint of doubt about! Jesus Christ is not just true, He is the prerequisite of reality itself to exist! John 1 verse 3 tells us that: “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made”. There it is right there. We can have doubts about anything BUT the Gospel. If reality is objective, there must be one immovable and undeniable Truth that was and is and will be true no matter what. And then Wallace proceeds to say “is it possible I’m wrong (about Jesus, as I understood it)? Of course, give me a break”. Well, as Christians, we may have no breaks when it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus warned us to be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm. Rev 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth”. I acknowledge that believers go through seasons of weakened faith. We do live in a fallen world and must endure through spiritual warfare. But it seems to me that a believer’s default belief, being filled with the Holy Spirit, is that the Gospel is true and there may be no doubt about it.
I’m a LEOW and a Christian as is my husband. As important as this information is on the spiritual level, I love hearing the LE terms that Jim is using as he is explaining pure, Godly truth with factual history! 🖤💙🖤
When I got to the part about the 6 areas of culture, I was blown away.
I was a missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) for 25 years, which is one of the top 2 largest missionary organizations in the world, the other being Campus Crusades for Christ. I worked with hospital ships in Africa and the South Pacific. Both organizations believe the best way to Disciple the Nations is to bring Christ into every aspect of a nations culture, by transforming or discipling all of the main areas that influence a culture the most. They identified 7 specific areas of focus and they are often referred to as the 7 Mind Molders or the 7 Spheres of Influence. They include the 6 in J’s list. They are:
1-Family
2-Economics (including Science, Technology & Business)
3-Government
4-Religion
5-Education
6-Communications/Media
7-Celebration (including Arts, Entertainment & Sports)
Everything YWAM does around the world is designed around bring Jesus into these 7 Spheres of each culture we go to.
I’ve read “cold case Christianity “…great book, easy to follow , evidence abound.. now with “ person of interest “ caps the evidence of Jesus and his divinity without using the Bible because not everyone believes in its truth. Classic evidence either with or without Bible… great idea
Tremendous stuff, the detective's approach to the subject and his conclusions. I only wish one of them flashed some close-ups of the way the inside pages of the book are looking, how "picture-book-like" it actually is and how the font is really easy to read.
It is so interesting that Jesus had such a huge impact on culture and the creation of various aspects , and now it seems that Satan is working so hard to bring everything down to his level, bringing sin into everything.
Please! Please! Please! make a movie about this!
After retiring, I got my dream job teaching in a Christian Academy in San Salvador and was even able to teach history. On p 411 of Abeka's History of the World in Christian Perspective, 1995, Pensacola Christian College, we find this quote: "(Queen) Victoria spoke for the nation in her reply to a visiting African chief who asked her the secret of England's greatness. The queen did not take him to the Tower of London to see the glittering crown jewels or to hear the brilliant orators who debated in Parliament. Instead, she presented the chief with a Bible, and said, 'Here is the secret of England's greatness.'"
I am Jewish, with interest in the historical Jesus. My basic conclusion is that he probably didn't exist. I tuned out from this discussion when the guest mentioned that Christianity spread in the 1st century. There is no proof of that. Just a myth of Christian traditionalists. Christianity probably began spreading from the 3rd century CE on, and if it wasn't for Constantine making it an obligation to be Christian on its empire, maybe it would not have survived.
It is possible to make a case for Jesus's existence but not for his actions and words, that is impossible.
Jesus is the only one amongst ancient mythologies who possesses all 15 of the "broad similarities are possessed by all ancient mythologies." How does that improve the chance that Jesus claims are any more real than any of the other claims? That sounded like nothing more than a popularity survey of the coolest features people want to see in a god. "Jesus has all 15 so he meets all our expectations so he must be real." That argument was one of the weirdest here.
Thought experiment. What if we replace the concept of Christianity with the idea of colonialism? What if Christianity's influence didn't spread due to the dominance of Christianity, but instead because it was the dominant religion within the largest empires known to man. Christian culture is part of the larger British monoculture for example. That culture and was encouraged or enforced on their subjects.