The evidence for Christianity is like a tsunami

by Josh McDowell

My life growing up was a struggle. When I walked into college, I carried a heavy burden of years of hurt and bitterness.

I was mad at my father for beating my mother. I was angry at a man who worked on our farm and sexually abused me from ages 6 to 13. All of this led to me to really despise God, religion and anything to do with the church. I was the last person in the world who you would expect to become a Christian.

When some young believing students at school challenged me to investigate the evidence for Christianity intellectually, I was shocked. Specifically, they challenged me to investigate the evidence for the resurrection. I thought it was joke. In fact, I thought it would be easy to marshal the evidence disproving the claims of Christ. Since I like a good challenge, I accepted their offer.

I left the university and traveled across the United States, Europe and the Middle East to study ancient manuscripts and gather the evidence against Christianity. After months of study, I returned to a small library in England. I leaned back in my chair, cupped my hands on the back of my head and said “It’s true. It really is true.”

I returned to the university and couldn’t sleep. The evidence for Christianity was stronger than all the years of my pain and skepticism that kept me from believing it. I knew that if I was going to be honest, I could not remain a skeptic. The historical evidence really indicated that Jesus died, was buried, and rose on the third day.

Needless to say, my research had taken quite an unexpected turn…