Welcome to the podcast Think Biblically, Conversations on Faith and Culture.

I'm your host Scott Ray, Dean of Faculty and Professor of Christian Ethics in Talbot School of Theology

here at viola University.

I'm your co-host to Sean McDow, Professor of Apologetics at Talbot School Theology, viola University. We're here today, just the two of us, to talk about the recent book that Sean and

his father, Josh McDowell, you may recognize that name, have released update of their best-selling work,

evidence that demands a verdict, and more evidence that demands a verdict.

First published in 1972, I won't maybe I won't go down that

that was actually the year I graduated from high school. I was negative four just

give a little context.

But I think our listeners, who were not around in 1972,

might be really interested to know, sort of what

was it about your dad and his work on college campuses that motivated him to put these two massive volumes together?

If you've seen these volumes, just an enormous amount of data and information that is incredibly

valuable, this touched so many people's lives and given them a really nice plausibility structure

for their faith.

So what, I mean this was a ton of work, what motivated him to do this?

So he set out in the university actually at the challenge of a group of Christians to disprove Christianity. So he was actually

going to gather the evidence and ultimately maybe compiled it into a book showing

that Christianity is false. And the reason for this is he grew up in a small town in Michigan, deeply

troubled background. His father was a town alcoholic, older sister committed

suicide, my dad was sexually abused for seven years by someone who worked on the farm till he was old enough to slam him against the wall and say you touch me again. I'll kill you.

Scott, we were sitting around recently as a family and my sister says my dad, hey share a funny story good memory you have. a wept. Well he met a group of Christians in college who had a joy, a love, just a peace about life and he wanted that and they told him that it was Jesus Christ so he thought it was a joke.

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