I was sifting through my e-mails on a recent morning and the name Josh McDowell caught my eye and quickly gained my attention.
KirklandIt was a news release announcing his latest book, “The Unshakable Truth,” which was co-authored with his son Sean, who is head of the Bible department at Capistrano Valley Christian Schools in Southern California.
The new book is a big one — more than 500 pages with 51 chapters and three appendices.
The writings of Josh McDowell tend toward presenting positive arguments for believing in Jesus by underscoring historical and legal “proofs” in his efforts to show the authenticity of the available biblical texts and of the divinity of Jesus.
This “evidential” approach to Christian apologetics is not without both support and criticism.
But that is a topic for another day, perhaps.
“The Unshakable Truth” will get its share of public attention in the days to come. This month, the McDowells were scheduled to launch the book campaign in Dallas — not far from Josh McDowell’s Plano, Texas, home — and in Chicago.
The book may get a boost from a new survey released in September by the Pew Forum and Public Life group. The study revealed that “atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.”
For example, the Pew survey found that only 19 percent of Protestants knew that salvation, an essential doctrine of the Christian faith, was by grace through faith alone and not of works.
Fewer than half — 45 percent — of the respondents could name the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
“The Unshakable Truth,” according to the press release, is aimed at helping a wide assortment of Christians — students, parents, youth leaders, even pastors — know why they believe what they believe.
In short, the new book is a discipleship tool, directing readers to the foundations of Christianity as it was established by some 300 church fathers at Nicaea in the year 325.
Josh McDowell is best known for his book, “Evidence That Demands a Verdict,” published in 1972. Christianity Today magazine ranked that book 13th on its list of the most influential evangelical books printed since 1945.
McDowell began to gain attention in the believing community in 1964, when I was in college, as he started a long and close affiliation with the parachurch organization Campus Crusade for Christ International. That relationship with Campus Crusade continues to this day.
The author or co-author of 77 books, McDowell is a former agnostic. First interested in a legal profession, he enrolled at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Mich. He decided to prepare a paper that would examine the historical evidence of the Christian faith — in order to disprove it. Instead, he converted to Christianity after, he says, he found evidence for it, not against it.
Despite the dispiriting discoveries of the Pew and Public Forum group, the book by the McDowells is said to arrive at a conclusion that should comfort as well as challenge Christians. For all of the imperfections of the earthly manifestation of the church of Jesus Christ, it is alive and well.
“It’s true,” the book points out, “that church organizations disappoint, and many have lost their way as God’s visible expression of himself. But if you look, you can find a group of people in your area who are truly Jesus’ church.”
The press release from the publishers of “The Unshakable Truth” says up front that “Pews and four walls do not make a church.”
What, then, is the true active expression of Christ’s church, as defined by Scripture?
The McDowells provide this checklist:
— The church embodies what a community of redeemed people looks like (John 13:35).
— The church is a compassionate and healing presence to those in need (Acts 2:45).
— The church is God’s reconciling agent and ambassador for spreading the gospel, the kingdom message (Acts 1:8).
— The church is an equipping agent to make disciples who make disciples (Matthew 28:19).
“Jesus’ church exists today as it did in the first century,” they write. “Lives are transformed by Christ’s saving power. Those lives form a community of hope, love and care. By nature, they become Jesus’ ambassadors to proclaim his kingdom message of love and redemption to the world around them.”
I am in the minority among Protestants. I know that my salvation is by grace through faith, not of works. And I know the names of the four gospels. I am not suggesting that the majority should all go out and buy “The Unshakable Truth,” though that certainly would please the McDowells.
I am suggesting this, however: Read your Bible, go to Sunday school, listen to your pastor on Sunday and Wednesday. Learn what you believe and why. Tell others. Jesus expects it of you and will bless you for it.