I became a Christian in high school and I remember the first time I was confronted with an objection to the Christian faith. I quickly realized that even though I knew what I believed, I did not know why I believed it. All these objections were being thrown at me and I had no idea how to respond!

Soon after becoming a Christian, my youth pastor at the time gave me a copy of The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (1999). I would read it in my car every day during my work break and it was the first apologetics book that I read from cover to cover. This book was one of the primary reasons that I became interested in apologetics.

Needless to say, I love this book and was thrilled to find out that it was thoroughly updated!

Overview

For this new edition, Josh and his son Sean join forces to showcase the evidence for the Christian faith in Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World. The first thing that struck me about the book is its presentation. I was blown away by how sleek the new edition looked along with its beautifully designed box.

But in my opinion, the best thing about the book are the updates. The McDowells didn’t just update a few sections here and there and call it a day. This effort was a complete overhaul of the previous edition including:

The changes are quite significant and include many important updates. Since the first edition of this book was published, the apologetic landscape has grown tremendously. You will find much of this newer evidence throughout the book. Additionally, new objections have also been raised since the first edition, and the new content addresses these objections in a fair and enlightening manner.

Another strong feature of the book is that it covers a wide range of apologetics issues. Even though I primarily focus on the New Testament in my apologetic writings, my favorite chapters were the ones that discussed issues in the Old Testament. I had recently ran into some objections to the historicity of the Old Testament, so the chapters on the historicity of the Exodus/Conquest were extremely beneficial to me. 

My Recommendation

I still remember the joy I experienced when I first read The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict and was overwhelmed by the evidence for the faith. I can honestly say that I experienced that same joy again while reading this new edition!

In the end, this book leaves no stone unturned. It’s not only great for beginners, but seasoned apologists will also greatly benefit from reading it. I believe that every apologist needs to have this new edition in his or her library! It’s that good.

You can purchase the book on Amazon here!

If you have your own copy already, what are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below!

**I received this book for free in exchange for a review on this site.**