Rating: 
Summary: SKEPTICS MAY TURN UP THEIR NOSE, BUT THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT
Review: As a pastor and a Christian, I have debated skeptics for years and have always found that they rarely take a fair few of ANYTHING relating to Jesus Christ, faith, or Christianity; the vast majority of them have a "hidden agenda" that wants above all else to dodge the MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY issue in the truths of Christianity. By all means get this fine and well thought-thru compendium of apologetic thought. Mr.McDowell makes many valid points and arguments for the veracity of the gospels and the awesome claims of Jesus Christ, easily the most important and controversial person who walked this sad and sin-sick planet. I highly recommend it for your library and family use. Students also find it tremendously helpful.
Rating: 
Summary: Not convincing!
Review: I have been listening to Christians throw this book in my face for years as proof of the divinity of Jesus (although, most Christians who use this book as their "weapon" have never personally read the book, nor would they know if it was accurate if they did read it). Josh McDowell makes the statement that Jesus was either who he says he was (God) or he was a liar or a lunatic. (Christians also love this quote). There are many religious traditions (particularly eastern beliefs) that maintain that we are "all" God--that we were actually created from parts of God. This interpretation would not only make the claims of Jesus true, (if they were actually made) but would excuse him from being a liar or a lunatic. McDowell is ignoring other possible "interpretations" of what Jesus meant and assuming that his is the only valid one. I find it interesting that in all the "supposed" sayings of Jesus, he never once validated his miraculous "virgin" birth. He never once said to the people (who obviously had a great deal of trouble understanding him), "My birth was miraculous--no father--I was conceived by God!" That obviously would be something concrete that anybody could understand. He never said it. He simply claimed to be God, which could be interpreted any number of ways. (I once met a drunk in a bar who told me he was born of a virgin and was the Messiah sent from God to save the world. At least, his statement was definite, and left no doubt in my mind as to what he was claiming concerning his birth). I'm tired of unknowledgeable Christians throwing this book around as if it were handed to them straight from God. If you're going to not only believe something, but try to convince others--at least know why you believe it!
Rating:
Summary: There's STILL not enough "Evidence."
Review: McDowell's updated review is an updated heaping of apologetic mind-candy; a piece of woolly headed fluff that on close inspection shows little new. Anyone can read the Internet Infidel's skewering of McDowell's earlier version of ETDAV. The arguments presented there still stand. It's telling that McDowell has remained silent in the wake of their devastating critique of his earlier version. For this new tome, McDowell pulls out some tired old arguments that "answer," amongst other things, skepticism, postmodernism, and "mysticism." Of the last 2, I can make a brief comment- McDowell completely misreads postmodernists such as Derrida. His take on postmodernism can be refuted by someone who has spent time in their bathroom reading "Derrida for Beginners." I'm not kidding. In short, McDowell complains that "decentering" merely creates a new center- this is completely wrong, in terms of what postmodernists wrote. Instead they state that centers are *always* "in play." McDowell is so obsessed with proof texts that he can not imagine a world in which proof texts are absent. Which brings me to my next point: his critique on mysticism is nothing but an attempt to try to find fault with D.T. Suzuki's writings. However: 1) It is never established that Zen should be exemplary of the mystical exerperience. Moreover, he relies entirely on out of print works by D.T. Suzuki, whose writing is perhaps way to academic for what Zen actually is. As the Catholic Monk Thomas Merton noted, Theology is to zen as mathematics is to tennis. Basically then, McDowell is trying to "prove" that tennis can't be played, by making flawed arguments. 2) The whole chapter has the patina of a veiled anti-Catholicism, and anti-Orthodox Christianity, since there is a long and deep mystical tradition in these faiths, and finally, 3) By attempting to use Suzuki's writings as an "anti-proof text," McDowell completely misses the point of Zen. If you turn any page in this book, I think you'll find misstatements of fact, arguments by authority, and other logical fallacies. In fact, the entire book reads like one big cut and paste. Some whole sections in the book are "X says...Y remarks...Z concludes that..." as if by name dropping somebody's opinion, he's scored a point. One final point: his attempted dismisal of those who decline to worship the biblical god on moral grounds (after all, he does command genocide, theft, and a whole host of nasty things) boils down to: don't question god! Now that is about the worst argument I've ever heard, but McDowell is so wedded to the notion of biblical infallibility that he has to say silly things like this. Sorry, but I'd rather be in hell than to spend eternity with a genocidal deity. At least I could help the other suffering people in hell.
Rating: 
Summary: A good basic defense of Christianity
Review: If you are sincerely looking for truth and you are investigating the Bible, then this book is a good place to start. Like his previous book, "Evidence That Demands a Verdict," McDowell provides a good sampling of the many evidences for the Christian faith. If your interest is in vain philosophizing, then don't waste your time here--philosophy, more often than not, is an exercise in AVOIDING truth. The best thing about McDowell's book is that it avoids the philosophical fog bank and demonstrates the reliability of the Bible using classical (i.e. scholarly) historical investigation techniques.
Rating: 
Summary: Evidence that is Essential
Review: As a priest and academic I am always interested in apologetics books as these are often far and few between nowadays. McDowell's first book was decades ago and while I agree with one of the other reviewers that it is somewhat simplistic in tone in spots nevertheless this does not negate all that might be said about its contents. Like any book it has its bias and its weakness. My main suggestion for the next edition would be to include more of the Pre-Nicene Fathers work esp. since few people read these vital texts nowadays. When you understand that milieu in which McDowell and those of like mind write then you can appreciate his work in another, more positive way. Its important to read the footnotes and to remain critical throughout. The book does 'make easy reading 'and that as I say can be to the good. I hope someday that McDowell will enlarge his purview and address some other subjects like Church authority, Sacraments, Oecumenism and the like. This in the Oecumenical Millenium will make a wider readership interested in his writing.
Rating:
Summary: A Student's Best Defense
Review: Although there are many books on Christian apologetics, The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict is ideal for students (college students in particular). New Evidence is a defense of Christianity that covers topics from the accuracy of the Bible (i.e., Is the Bible the inherent Word of God?) to Jesus Christ (i.e., Ia Jesus the Son of God as described in the Bible?) to Skepticism and Postmodernism. Josh McDowell quotes material from authorities in a vast array of fields (philosophy, history, archeology, law, theology, etc.). McDowell provides complete citations for all of his quotes, enabling students to conduct further research and use the original sources. I recently wrote a philosophy paper and this book was an invaluable aid. With the insights New Evidence gave me, I was able to write an A+ paper that actually convinced my philosophy professor of some things that he previously disagreed with! I recommend this book in the strongest possible terms! Every student--every Christian--should have a copy of this powerful defense of the Christian faith. As McDowell says, "the Christian faith is an intelligent faith."
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment...
Review: I whole-heartedly understand the need for Christians to defendtheir faith in this day and age of confusion and materialism. However,if Josh McDowell is the leading defender of the Christian faith, thenChristianity is right on the long and depressing road of intellectual suicide. I had previously heard about McDowell, during a debate with a Christian, however I never bothered to read any of his books. Rigorous scholarship is always a strong plus to establish the credibility of one's arguments, especially during debates. As I enjoy debating various aspects of the Christian tradition, I noticed my friends repeating a theme. When forced into a corner, the Christian consistently hid behind the remark, "read McDowell". It doesn't really help to engage oneself in a debate when one is not familiar with the references of the opponent. And so, I finally made the intention of reading some of McDowell's work. The pretentious language in the introduction was indeed intimidating. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing in the almost 800 pages of this monstrous book that I could take seriously. Josh McDowell is clearly not a scholar of anything - not of history, classical Greek, classical Hebrew, Aramaic, manuscript archives, logic, reasoning, theology, and definitely not philosophy. His command of English was disappointing in itself, writing like a child to other children. The simpleton's nature of this book makes it clear that Josh McDowell is not entering into a scholarly debate, but rather providing something comforting and soothing for simple Christian minds. It almost reeks of a superstitious quality, like a placebo does for the gullible and naïve. His deliberately manipulative treatment of the ancient manuscripts, Flavius Josephus, ancient Roman customs, ancient Jewish customs, Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, modern scholarship, and on and on, have completely shattered his credibility as a Christian writer. The absolutely ridiculous idea that Josephus was a "contemporary" of Jesus, a "hostile witness", is something of a comical insult to intellectual integrity. According to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D. Josephus was not even born until 37 A.D. Thus, to assert that Josephus was a "contemporary" is simply dishonest. Furthermore, Josephus only briefly mentioned Christian beliefs in a footnote, which the vast majority of scholars regard as a fabrication. Another case study of deliberate deception is McDowell's analysis of Mithraism. It has become a common apologetic trend to dismiss the connection between Christianity and Mithraism as "outdated". Ironically, these very same apologists are almost entirely ignorant of Mithraic scholarship. It is a well-established fact that the Tauroctony, or the slaying of the bull, symbolized the death of the "old law" and cosmic order, and the signaled the freedom of those that accepted the sacrifice. The feast of Mithra and his 12 disciples is also another undeniable tradition of Mithraism. The eating and drinking of the savior's flesh and blood, so that the lord would reside within the body of the believer, was characteristic not only of Mithraism but through the ancient Mediterranean cultic traditions. McDowell's argument that it was impossible for Mithraism to have influenced the Gospels because of the late arrival of Mithraism is simply another case of dishonest scholarship. Mithraism can be traced to Tarsus long before Jesus ever walked this earth. And guess who wrote the oldest books of the New Testament and the most... For those Christians whom reasoning and genuine scholarship prove intimidating, "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" will serve as a source of comfort like warm milk does to a frightened child. However, I give this book 2 stars and for a very good reason. McDowell has done us all a great favor by providing the gauntlet of Christian apologetic arguments in a single volume. Most of the challenging questions that apologists have ever dared to acknowledge can be found in this book (obviously, philosophy and theology are definitely not Josh McDowell's field). Regardless, I won't have to be stunned the next time I hear, "read McDowell".
Rating:
Summary: Packed Full of Solid Evidences for the Christian Faith
Review: I was fortunate and blessed to be one of the researchers and writers for this edition of Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict." While the final editors made some significant changes in certain areas of the book (i.e. approach, format, and some content), overall the content is still quite thorough and the structure still fairly easy to use. This book is a battery of evidences for the claims of the Christian Faith. If evidence for Christianity is what you are wanting, then this is the book for you. The contents of this book range from the authenticity of biblical texts, the deity of Jesus, higher biblical criticism (i.e. the Jesus Seminar, documentary hypothesis, etc.), and historical skepticism, to the nature of truth, the knowability of truth, and the knowability of history. Other areas of special interest for the Christian apologists are postmodernism, skepticism, agnosticism, and mysticism and how to answer each of these worldviews in light of the truths of Christianity. Furthermore, there is a chapter on defending miracles and the historical reliability of the Bible. If you have been wanting a book that contains a storehouse of evidences and references to others in history who have defended the Christian faith, then this is one of the best single volume books available.
Rating:
Summary: Evidence that demands a veredict
Review: Evidence that demands a veredict is the best book that I have read. I have not read the New evidence and I hope do it.
Rating:
Summary: Packed Full of Solid Evidences for the Christian Faith
Review: I was fortunate and blessed to be one of the researchers and writers for this edition of Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict." While the final editors made some significant changes in certain areas of the book (i.e. approach, format, and some content), overall the content is still quite thorough and the structure still fairly easy to use. This book is a battery of evidences for the claims of the Christian Faith. If evidence for Christianity is what you are wanting, then this is the book for you. The contents of this book range from the authenticity of biblical texts, the deity of Jesus, higher biblical criticism (i.e. the Jesus Seminar, documentary hypothesis, etc.), and historical skepticism, to the nature of truth, the knowability of truth, and the knowability of history. Other areas of special interest for the Christian apologists are postmodernism, skepticism, agnosticism, and mysticism and how to answer each of these worldviews in light of the truths of Christianity. Furthermore, there is a chapter on defending miracles and the historical reliability of the Bible. If you have been wanting a book that contains a storehouse of evidences and references to others in history who have defended the Christian faith, then this is one of the best single volume books available.
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