A Cold-Case Detective Uncovers the Truth About Jesus with J. Warner Wallace

Hank Unplugged: Essential Christian Conversations

The Christian Research Institute

Education, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 809 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2021

⏱️ 98 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hank Hanegraaff is joined by J. Warner Wallace to discuss his new book Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible. As a former atheist, Wallace understands why people would be skeptical about the significance of Jesus in our world today. When a pastor claimed that Jesus was the most significant figure in history, Wallace’s experience as a Cold Case Detective wouldn’t let him simply dismiss the claims of Christianity without a thorough examination of the facts. Employing his investigative background, Wallace was able to confirm the historicity and deity of Jesus—without relying on the New Testament manuscripts. Wallace no longer doubts the importance of Jesus and has dedicated his life to teaching others how to investigate the claims of Christianity and make a convincing case for the truth of the Christian worldview and the eternal importance of Jesus Christ—the quintessential person of history. For more information on receiving Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-cri2110hup/

Topics discussed include: What made Jesus so smart? (8:20); what is a cold-case detective? (10:30); the value of illustrations while making investigations and arguments (12:45); what made J. Warner Wallace believe that he could uncover the truth about Jesus using the same approach used to solve real murder cases (16:35); what is a person of interest? (18:25); the testimony of J. Warner Wallace (19:10); can you prove the historicity and deity of Jesus Christ without using evidence from the Bible? (22:45); did mythology impact Christianity or did Christianity actually have a bigger influence on mythology? (29:35); why did Jesus arrive at the precisely perfect moment in history? (34:55); examining extrabiblical accounts of Jesus Christ (37:40); there have been more books written about Jesus than anyone else and it is not even close (42:00); why were so many artists—Christians and non-Christians alike—inspired by Jesus Christ? (44:00); the impact of Jesus and his followers—Christians—on the history of education globally (56:00); the importance of parenting on raising Christian children that will remain Christians as adults (59:50); the myth that Christianity is anti-science (1:04:30); the impact of the Judeo-Christian worldview on scientific discovery (1:10:20); how did Jesus ignite a scientific revolution? (1:17:30); why does it make sense to believe in miracles? (1:20:45); the impact of Jesus Christ on world religions other than Christianity (1:27:30); the overwhelming historical impact of Jesus Christ (1:30:50); why Hank Hanegraaff believes that Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible is apologetics at its best (1:35:20).

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to another edition of the Hank Unplug podcast,
0:26.7	a podcast that is committed to bringing the most interesting, informative,
0:31.6	inspirational people on the planet directly to your earbuds.
0:35.9	And today is no exception. In fact, I think today is one of those
0:41.3	podcasts that really exemplifies our mission statement. Because we say we want to bring people
0:48.7	that are interesting, first and foremost. And Jay Warner Wallace, my guest today, is definitely interesting. In fact,
0:57.7	he wrote a book that I'll talk about in just a moment with the word interest in it. But Jay Warner Wallace
1:05.0	is a cold case homicide detective. He is a senior fellow at the Colson Center for Christian World View.
1:18.7	He's an adjunct professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology. And before I go any
1:25.3	further with that, let me just say that this is a podcast that is
1:30.0	devoted to apologetics. And apologetics is as significant today, perhaps more significant today than
1:38.6	ever before. This is basic training for every Christian. It is necessary for the preservation of the faith once
1:50.7	for all delivered to the saints. It is necessary for the cultural relevance of the church.
1:58.8	Instead of merely pontificating dogmatic assertions, Christians are commanded in
2:04.9	scripture to provide defensible arguments, and then to do it with gentleness, and with respect,
2:14.8	and as Jay Warner Wallace does in a compelling fashion. One of the interesting
2:21.4	things about my guest today is that his cases have been featured perhaps more than any other
2:27.9	detective as a person and as a corpus of work on NBC's Dateline.
2:37.3	His work has also appeared on court TV, Fox News, and I Could Go On.
2:44.4	He was awarded the police and Fire Medal of Valor, and he is the author of many significant books, including Cold Case Christianity,
2:56.8	God's crime scene, forensic faith, and the book that we want to talk about today,
3:04.7	Person of Interest, Why Jesus why Jesus still matters in a world that
	...

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