When I first began examining the claims of the Book of Mormon, I was an atheist who had just become interested in the person of Jesus. As a skeptic, I understood the importance of corroborative evidence when trying to determine if a witness statement is reliable. I began looking for …
Read More »The First Question to Ask of an Ancient, Holy Book: Is It Ancient?
Many of the world’s best known religious texts are silent when it comes to claims about history. Many Eastern religious scriptures, for example, describe spiritual principles devoid of historical location or setting. Texts such as these are proverbial in nature, proclaiming ancient wisdom without any connection to historical context. The …
Read More »Answering Listener Email – Part 2 (Cold Case Christianity Broadcast #64)
In this episode of the Cold-Case Christianity Broadcast, J. Warner Wallace responds to emails from viewers of the show. (1) Are moral standards simply a matter of personal or cultural preference? (2) Why do Christians view the apostolic martyrdoms as valuable evidence of the veracity of their claims, yet reject …
Read More »How the Book of Abraham Exposes the False Nature of Mormonism
I’ve repeatedly described my simultaneous investigation of Christianity and Mormonism. The four-part investigative template I used to examine the reliability of the Christian Gospels and the Book of Mormon caused me to embrace the former while rejecting the latter. Perhaps the most powerful evidence I discovered related to the untrustworthy …
Read More »Is God True? God’s Existence Make Sense of Our Universe
Detectives assess evidence at death scenes to answer the most critical questions: Is this a natural death or a homicide? If it’s a homicide, which suspect best explains the evidence at the scene? While there may be a number of potential suspects accounting for some (or most) of the evidence, …
Read More »Is the Account of Joseph Smith’s First Vision Reliable?
When I first began to examine the case for Christianity, my Mormon family encouraged me to examine Mormonism as well. Both systems make claims about history and are dependent on the reliability of witnesses. As a result, the veracity of either worldview depends entirely on the authority of its sources. …
Read More »What Do the Kinderhook Plates Reveal About Joseph Smith?
While Christians continue to find archeological and textural evidence supporting the historicity and authenticity of the Biblical Gospel accounts, Mormonism has been plagued with historical and archeological evidence demonstrating Joseph Smith was less than truthful. Archeology continues to refute the history of the Book of Mormon, failing to reveal a …
Read More »Investigating the Evidence for Mormonism In Six Steps
I became a Christian at the same time I became a “Not Mormon”. By taking an investigative approach to the Christian and Mormon scripture (as I’ve described in Cold-Case Christianity), I was able to verify the truth claims of Christianity, even as I falsified the truth claims of Mormonism. This …
Read More »What Does Mormonism Teach About Salvation? (Podcast)
J. Warner is in Utah this week with Sean McDowell and two dozen high school students. It’s the perfect time to replay a classic blast from the past! In this podcast, Bill McKeever, from the Mormon Research Ministry, teaches one of J. Warner’s mission teams about the nature of salvation …
Read More »