Answers to Tough Questions by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart

The source I used for my book-length work was Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask about the Christian Faith by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart. The format of the book was a question and answer basis articulating sixty-five of the toughest questions inquired about the Christian faith. It is difficult to provide one synopsis that complements the entire book, because it has such a wide spectrum of topics. The authors compiled the book into sections dissecting conundrums from the most prominent topics of the Christian faith i.e. the Bible, Jesus, God, etc. It uses scripture from the Bible and a few outside sources to affirm its contentions about the validity of Jesus, the Bible, and God. It delved into some rather intriguing questions, one being where did God come from? And what was He doing before He created the universe? The answer the reader was given is that God is not relative or subject to the limitations of time and space. It is a very shady answer, but this divine entity and his attributes cannot be comprehended by mortals. The example it gave to validate its reasoning was Einstein’s theory of relativity. McDowell adduced in his text that “Einstein deducted that time can actually be slowed down, altered, and sped up when objects begin to travel at very high speeds. This would then suggest that the concept that all things emanate and operate within the context of fixed time and space, that nothing originates outside of time and space, could be incorrect”(56).
First of all, I’d like to note that not all scholars agree with everything inculcated in this book, and it is an opinionated text with evidence to support its claims. It is a rather odd layout for a book, but it is somewhat helpful. It is prescribed to be a guide to aid the reader in a spiritual reassessment. Even with this taking in account, I despised the format. It was very awkward and arduous to read, and really never captured my full attention. I was somewhat disappointed about the sources it used, primarily the Bible. This, to me, was not enough to satisfy my question. It was circulatory in nature, referring to the Bible to validate its assertions. It used some outside sources, namely Josephus the Jew historian living in the time of Jesus. It provided evidence that Jesus, in fact, did exist but not that he was the son of the living God. This is, of course, understandable because Josephus was a Jew and would never assert that he was the messiah. Josephus was shown, by other scholars, to be rather trustworthy in his writings, except when it came to the Romans. Tacitus was another historian cited, him being Roman. But he, like Josephus, did not depict the Jesus that is incorporated with Christianity today. It is intriguing; however, that so many copies of the New Testament are still in existence today. There are more copies of the New Testament than any other ancient document, which is a substantial affirmation to the credibility of the scriptures.
Looking inside the text, it has very convincing arguments. It’s certainly well-researched and cited. The authors looked at almost every aspect, every fiber of the Christian faith and tried to authenticate it. They were coherent contentions, arguing valid points for consideration. As I’ve iterated, I didn’t much care for the read, but it still was informative and essential to my investigation. It did raise interesting points, and probed my thoughts even further to the inescapable question of God’s existence.
McDowell, Josh. Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask about the Christian Faith. United States of America: Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc., 1980. 245. Print.