Claiming God

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.

Marilyn McCord Adams (1943–2017) was a world-renowned philosopher, a theologian who forever changed conversations about God and evil, a compelling preacher, and a fierce advocate for the full belonging of LGBTQ+ people, especially in churches. Over the course of her career, she mentored philosophers, theologians, pastors, and activists. In this book, authors from each of these fields engage and expand upon McCord Adams’s work. Chapters address theodicy and the Holocaust, the nature and limits of human free will, sexual violence, Trinitarian relations, beatific vision, friendship, climate change, and how to protest heterosexism with truth, humor, and cookies. Examples of McCord Adams’s revised Episcopal liturgies—previously unpublished—are used to affirm the expansive love of God. Accessible and varied, these essays attest to McCord Adams’s vocational integration, as she claimed and proclaimed God’s goodness in her different professional roles.

New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first. A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today. Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.

Claiming Society for God focuses on common strategies employed by religiously orthodox, fundamentalist movements around the world. Rather than employing terrorism, as much of post-9/11 thinking suggests, these movements use a patient, under-the-radar strategy of infiltrating and subtly transforming civil society. Nancy J. Davis and Robert V. Robinson tell the story of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Shas in Israel, Comunione e Liberazione in Italy, and the Salvation Army in the United States. They show how these movements build massive grassroots networks of religiously based social service agencies, hospitals, schools, and businesses to bring their own brand of faith to popular and political fronts.

As a Christian social activist, George McClain found himself yearning for a sense of integration between his active life and his spiritual life. At one point, not knowing what spiritual direction really was, he enrolled in a training program for spiritual directors. In the inner dialogue between that course and his social activism, he recognized the importance of a focused spiritual life in augmenting one's social witness. McClain surveyed other social activists and found that they too responded as he once had - making decisions in the arena of social witness in terms of what they should do, making personal decisions on the basis of what they discerned that God wanted them to do. This book is McClain's attempt to name this disjuncture in the lives of people of faith, to build on the growing intersection in people's lives of action for justice and the inner journey in the Spirit, and to offer rituals groups can use to begin to be religious together.

Examining important assertions that can transform your life into an adventure of faith, growth, and lasting fulfilment, this work shows how to relate to others with authenticity, and make a real difference in the midst of a culture that's unravelling at the seams.

*Foreword written by Nancy Pearcey* "Parents are the most important apologists our kids will ever know. Mama Bear Apologetics will help you navigate your kids’ questions and prepare them to become committed Christ followers.” —J. Warner Wallace "If every Christian mom would apply this book in her parenting, it would profoundly transform the next generation." —Natasha Crain #RoarLikeAMother The problem with lies is they don’t often sound like lies. They seem harmless, and even sound right. So what’s a Mama Bear to do when her kids seem to be absorbing the culture’s lies uncritically? Mama Bear Apologetics® is the book you’ve been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own biblical beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through transparent life stories and clear, practical applications—including prayer strategies—this band of Mama Bears offers you tools to train yourself, so you can turn around and train your kids. Are you ready to answer the rallying cry, “Mess with our kids and we will demolish your arguments”? Join the Mama Bears and raise your voice to protect your kids—by teaching them how to think through and address the issues head-on, yet with gentleness and respect.

God's astounding claims about himself and his work on our behalf are embedded throughout the pages of Scripture. He sees potential in us that we don't see in our wildest dreams. He sees qualities that we don't think we can ever achieve. He has faith in us that we lack in ourselves. But when we know and fully understand what He has promised, we are liberated to grow in virtue, live out our faith as an adventure, relate to others with authenticity, earn a living with integrity, and make a difference in our culture--all through his power. Lee Strobel's insights into the benefits of living as a fully devoted follower of Christ are refreshing and powerfully relevant. Using true stories, including his own, he shows that Christianity really works, that we really can live transformed, authentic, and effective lives--and that God's promises and power are very real and very true.