Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World

This book has been a classic for many decades in the field of Christian apologetics. It is categorized into four parts. Part 1 explores the evidence for the Bible. Specifically, chapter 1 dives into what makes the Bible unique. For example, the qualifications that set the Bible apart from all other works ever penned. Chapter 2 discusses how the Bible came into being and the qualifications for canonization. Chapter 3 asked the question are the New Testament documents historically accurate? Additionally, explains the methodology used by scholars and historians to determine whether a text is historically accurate and authentic. Chapter 4 answers the question have the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) been faithfully transmitted over time? Moreover, the authors explain the methods and principles used by ancient scribes to accurately transmit their texts. They also provide adequate manuscript evidence to support their case of accurate transmission. Chapter 5 looks at the supposed lost books of the Bible such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, and the gospel of Mary, and explains why these books do not meet the criteria for inclusion within the New Testament canon. Part 2 covers the evidence for Jesus. Chapter 6 provides the biblical, extra-biblical, and archaeological evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is a historical person. Chapter 7 dives into the claims Jesus made regarding his divinity (meaning that Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh). Chapter 8 takes the classic C. S Lewis trilemma of liar, lunatic, or Lord and challenges the reader to decide the identity of Jesus. Chapter 9 dives into how Jesus is the Messiah of Israel by fulfilling key Old Testament prophecies. Chapter 10 explores whether the resurrection of Jesus was a historical event or whether it was a grand hoax concocted by the disciples. Additionally, counter-arguments to the bodily resurrection are refuted such as the Swoon theory and mass hallucination theory. Chapter 11 explains how Christianity is unique among other religions. Chapter 12 is a more in-depth study of the divinity of Jesus. Chapter 13 looks at the martyrdom of the 12 apostles and how their willingness to die for their faith points towards the sincerity of their belief that they truly saw Jesus Christ bodily risen from the dead. Part 3 covers the evidence for the Old Testament. Chapter 14 compares the Old Testament text with other surrounding Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Chapter 15 surveys different ways the book of Genesis (beginning) has been faithfully interpreted. Chapter 16 provides the archaeological evidence for the historicity of the Old Testament. Chapter 17 explores the importance of the historical existence of Adam and Eve. Chapter 18 looks at the historicity of the Jewish patriarchs and whether the biblical accounts found in Genesis are historically accurate concerning the customs of the cultures they find themselves in. Chapter 19 takes a fresh look at the historicity of the Exodus. Specifically, the life of Moses and to see if Israelites were truly in the land of Egypt. Chapter 20 discusses Joshua’s conquests of Canaan by surveying several interpretations and by consulting the cultural and archaeological evidence for the biblical narrative. Chapter 21 dives into the historicity of the United Monarch focusing primarily on King David and his successor his son, King Solomon. Chapter 22 provides the historical evidence for the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah and refutations to key objections like low chronology. Chapter 23 covers the composition of the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible) and it discusses who wrote this foundational body of work. Chapter 24 covers the book of Isaiah regarding authorship and unity. Chapter 25 builds a case for the historicity of the book of Daniel. Chapter 26 deals with supposed contradictions in the Old Testament. Part 4 provides evidence for truth. Chapter 27 explains why truth matters and how it corresponds to reality. Chapter 28 explains how one can know truth. Chapter 29 responds to postmodernism. Chapter 30 provides a well-reasoned answer to skepticism. Chapter 31 explores the nature of miracles, their characteristics, and why they happen. Chapter 32 asked the question can we know history and what history means for Christianity? As one can tell from the large volume of topics, this is a compendium of the best evidence for the authenticity and historicity of the Christian faith. You will find well-reasoned arguments from some of the best Christian scholars and apologists today like Michael Byrd, Gary Habermas, J.P. Moreland, Mike Licona, and a host of others that can help you see that Christianity is built upon a rock-solid foundation of evidence.

In the new Evidence, one will need to spend a good deal of time in the Introduction and Prologue. The introduction of the book discusses intellectual faith and counters misconceptions about Christianity. The introduction is greatly revised from earlier editions. The prologue is a major chapter of the book. It is entitled “Prologue: A Theistic Universe.” This chapter features all new scientific and philosophical information to Evidence that was not covered in earlier editions. Evidence has four major parts: Part I: Evidence for the Bible, Part II: Evidence for Jesus, Part III: Evidence for the Old Testament, and Part IV: Evidence for Truth. Part I consists of a chapter on the formation and canonization of Scripture, substantially revised chapters on the uniqueness of the Bible, on the reliability of the New Testament and the transmission of the Old Testament, as well as an all new chapter on Gnostic Gospels and non-biblical texts. The second part focuses on evidence for Jesus of Nazareth. This section consists of lightly revised chapters on Jesus’ historicity, Jesus’ claims to deity, the classic trilemma, Jesus’ fulfillment of OT prophecies, as well as an investigation on the deity of Jesus. The chapter on Jesus’ resurrection has been majorly revised. The section also includes new content including a chapter responding to the claim that Christianity is a copy-cat religion and Sean McDowell’s research on the martyrdom of the apostles. The third section investigates the evidence for the Old Testament. Almost all of this section is new. A new chapter investigates the influences of Near Eastern texts on the Old Testament and to what degree it occurred. Other new chapters include one that investigates the historical Adam, the historicity of the Patriarchs, the historicity of the Exodus, the historicity of the Conquest, the historicity of the United Monarchy, the historicity of the Divided Monarchy and Exilic Period, the composition of the Pentateuch, an argument for the unity of Isaiah, the historicity of Daniel, and a response to the so-called contradictions in the Old Testament. Only the chapter on Old Testament archaeology is found in earlier editions of Evidence and it has been substantially updated. The fourth section is devoted to the evidence for truth. Chapter 28: The Knowability of Truth has been lightly revised. The remainder of the chapters in this section have been substantially updated, including a chapter on the nature of truth, a response to postmodernism, a response to skepticism, the possibility of miracles, and the knowability of history. While the epilogue is much the same as previous editions, the appendix includes an all-new response to the challenges given by Dr. Bart Ehrman. This is not the same Evidence as in previous editions. It is even better!

Highly Recommended. Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict is an awesome book that teaches in detail all the available evidence currently regarding our belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. He divides the book into 4 main parts, 1-Evidence for the Bible, 2- Evidence for Jesus, 3-Evidnece for the Old Testament, 4-Evidence for Truth. Each section is divided further into smaller chapters, all packed with a wealth of information and data, all with appropriate references. I love this book as I know that as Christians we are not to have blind faith, but have reasonable faith. Reading books like this only strengthens our faith. Other books that are very helpful, if you did not read them yet are A Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, and Cold Case Christianity. Parts of these books may present the same type of information, but they do really complement each other. As we are to love the Lord our God with our whole hearts, minds, and strength! This book is wonderful in hardback and also in Kindle, which is the format that I chose. The Kindle Version has all the awesome content. Plus, it also has a very extensive interactive table of contents, which makes navigating through this huge book so easy and quick. It has hyperlinks of each section, chapter, and even sections of each chapter to direct you where you need to go, especially if this is to be used as a reference. This is a huge tome, numbering 868 pages in total. I am reading it from the beginning to the end and enjoying every word of it ! After reading it, I know I will return to it again and again and using it as a useful reference. This edition is updated from the book of the same title almost 20 years ago. This new addition has brought with it may new data, research, archeological evidence etc. since that time. That is why I have waited to buy this book and bought it on the first day available. This is a amazing reference. It strengthens faith, and it has great information for believers and unbelievers as well! It gives us preparation for when people ask us to give an answer and to give a reason of our hope that you have. "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," 1 Peter 3:15, and "to always be ready to preach in and out of season, to rebuke, correct, and encourage with patience and careful instruction." 2 Timothy 4:2 I highly recommend this book ! I pray that this book will help you. May God open our spiritual eyes and enlighten our hearts to the hope of our calling ! In Jesus name, Amen.

Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down ARGUMENTS and every high thing that exalts itself against the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, bringing EVERY THOUGHT into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2nd Corinthians 10:3-5). Who needs this book? The atheist, agnostic, or Non-Christian who is intellectually honest and open. Anyone who is of another faith, but may be curious about Christianity. Every follower of Jesus who take serious the instruction to love God with all our heart, strength…and mind; as well as the mandate given in 2 Peter 3:15. Daniel 12:4 tells us in the last days, there will be an increase in knowledge. The Internet has become the single largest repository of lies, revisionism, deceit, and half or twisted truths, all presented by groups or individuals representing themselves as authorities on virtually every subject imaginable. The only thing required to be an expert on anything is a video-capable smart phone and a YouTube channel. There has never been such an assault on truth as there is today. Feelings, not facts, win allegiance, and sway public opinion. Check the Oxford Dictionaries 2016 International Word of the Year for more on that. To say that this updated version of Evidence That Demands a Verdict is timely is an understatement. Josh and Sean McDowell and their team of scholars have unveiled so much solid evidence…it is staggering. I honestly could write for hours regarding my favorite areas (which appear in every part). The section on Truth is worth double the price of the book. In fact, I’ll hazard that every chapter in every section is worth the price of the entire volume. I have skimmed over some chapters only because my focus went to areas of personal interest, and others where I have been challenged by unbelievers, have already researched, and ever on the lookout for more data. There’s so much here. It really is a gold mine. More information on manuscript evidence. More information on the historicity and archaeology of the Old Testament. And there’s the most pivotal moment in history…the one that we measure time against…The Resurrection. There is even more information for dealing with the Jesus-mythers. These false teachers are destroying and even serving to inoculate many young people against faith in Jesus. Each chapter in “Part 2: The Evidence for Jesus” is so important. This includes separate Chapters for historical evidence for the existence of Jesus, Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, dealing with the idea that the resurrection is a hoax, and the belief that Christianity is a copycat religion (I find this one especially diabolical), just to name a few. Others have written great reviews already, and every positive review you read is right on. I can’t speak for those who didn’t get from it what I did. This new edition of Evidence is exactly what those of us are looking for who hunger for more education and solid research, but lack the time and resources to pull it off. If we are to bring unbelievers into a deeper SPIRITUAL understanding of God, and disciple those who are new or young Christians, we MUST be able to effectively answer difficult questions. I will be purchasing this resource in every available format as I am able. This is one that I will carry with me everywhere, study alongside my Bible, listen to, and read repeatedly so that I am doing everything in my power to always be ready to lovingly and humbly provide an answer for the hope that is within me to whomever might ask. I want to buy a copy for everyone I know.

I read his first copy years ago and loved it. This one is updated and addresses disputes that people are putting forth today. It's a really good book.

A helpful (but not perfect) follow up to the celebrated classic. The reason I couldn’t give it 5 stars is because there are some glaring mistakes in this book. Some of the mistakes are minor; others are not so minor; all should be corrected. ● “The oldest papyrus fragment known dates back to 2400 B.C.” (p. 22) – This statement is somewhat obsolete, inasmuch as texts on papyrus from 2550 B.C. were discovered in 2013. ● In a section titled The Canon Classified, the writer states, “Early manuscripts organized the books differently as well as having a different number of books. For example, Codex Sinaiticus’ organization first listed the Gospels, then Paul’s epistles, including Hebrews, Acts, and the General Epistles, and finally Revelation.” (p. 32) This should be reworded to account for the fact that the book of Revelation is not the final book in Codex Sinaiticus. In Codex Sinaiticus, Revelation is followed by the non-canonical books Epistle of Barnabas and Shepherd of Hermas. ● In a section titled Examples of Catechetical Writings, the author lists “Epistle of Pseudo-Barnabas (AD 70-79).” (p. 33) Those parameters for this text’s composition-date are too narrow; it should extend from AD 70 to about 120. ● In a section titled Number of MSS: c. 5,856, the author lists how many Greek manuscripts we possess: using data from January 2017 which, according to a footnote, reflects statistics in Dan Wallace’s forthcoming book Laying a Foundation: A Handbook on New Testament Textual Criticism, these totals are as follows: 131 papyri, 323 majuscules (uncials), 2,937 minuscules, and 2,465 lectionaries, for a total of 5,856. The consistent problem with the presentation of these figures is not that they are somewhat fluid; the author makes it clear that freshly discovered manuscripts are being added to the total, and that sometimes two separately cataloged manuscripts are found to be sections of what was, when produced, a single manuscript. The problem is that the sheer quantity of materials is presented in Evidence That Demands a Verdict as if it is a guarantee of the accuracy and reliability of the text in those manuscripts. ● In the course of describing versional evidence, in a section titled 6. Latin translations, the Vetus Latina Register is twice called the “Vestus” Latina on page 50. ● In a section titled 7. Syriac, continuing to describe versional evidence, the author wrote, “Syriac Peshitta. The basic meaning of peshitta is “simple.” It was the standard version, produced around A.D. 150-250. There are more than three hundred and fifty MSS from the fifth century extant.” (p. 50) The Peshitta was not produced around 150-250; the author provides a better description on the very next page which says, “The New Testament portion was probably written before AD 400.” It is more accurate to picture the Peshitta’s initial development in the late 300’s, with further refinement and standardization in the 400’s (not unlike the development of the English New Testament from Tyndale’s 1526 work to the KJV in 1611). It is flatly wrong to claim that there are more than 350 copies of the Peshitta from the fifth century. There are a few copies of portions of New Testament in the Peshitta version that can be plausibly dated to the 400’s, and some can be dated to the 500’s (the most famous example being the Rabbula Gospels), but most of them are later than that. In addition, it should have been mentioned that in the Peshitta, the “New Testament” has only 22 books (without Second Peter, Second John, Third John, Jude, and Revelation), not the usual 27 books that most readers of Evidence That Demands a Verdict will picture when they read about the New Testament. ● In the same section (7. Syriac), the author wrote, “Number of MSS: 350+. Old Syriac: Two MSS. There are around sixty in the fifth and sixth centuries alone.” (p. 50) This is simply not true. There are two important copies of the Old Syriac text of the Gospels: the Sinaitic Syriac, and the Curetonian Syriac. There are fewer than a dozen Syriac manuscripts that contain books of the New Testament and can be plausibly dated to the 400’s and 500’s. In addition, they represent, in most cases, the Peshitta, not the Old Syriac. ● In the same section (7. Syriac), the author wrote, “The earliest known translation of the Greek New Testament is in the Peshitta, the official Bible of the Syriac-speaking church. (Cairns, DTT, 330) The New Testament portion was probably written before AD 400, making it a significant witness to the original Greek text. (Cross and Livingstone, ODCC, 1268)” (p. 51) The Peshitta is not “the earliest known translation of the Greek New Testament,” inasmuch as Coptic, Old Latin, and Gothic versions were made before it. ● In a section titled Visualizing the Number of Biblical Manuscripts, the author wrote, “A stack of extant manuscripts for the average classical writer would measure about four feet high; this just cannot compare to the more than one mile of New Testament manuscripts and two-and-a-half miles for the entire Bible. (Wallace, lecture at Discover the Evidence, Dec. 6, 2013)” (p. 53) Here, again, Evidence That Demands a Verdict presents the quantity of manuscripts as if the more manuscripts we have, the more verification we have of the accuracy of the text. But even the source used for this quotation – Dan Wallace – has argued that when the vast majority of manuscripts disagree with the Alexandrian Text, they are almost always wrong. He has even argued that all of the Greek manuscripts are erroneous, except one, in Mark 1:41. In almost all cases where 85%-95% of the manuscripts support a Byzantine reading and thus disagree with the much smaller cluster of Greek manuscripts that support an Alexandrian reading, Wallace favors the Alexandrian reading. ● In a section titled 3. The Diatessaron (c. AD 170), part of a section on “Important New Testament Manuscripts,” the author wrote, “This early harmony of the Gospels was published in Syria. It has significance as an early manuscript because the remaining copies, even though they are later translations from it, bear witness to the earliest gospels.” (p. 61) Something like that, but not quite. The Diatessaron is, as described, a “harmony of the Gospels” – that is, it combines the contents of the four Gospels into one non-repeating narrative. As such, it should be categorized among patristic works, not among manuscripts. It is not extant in any Greek manuscripts; the small fragment 0212 was once thought to be a fragment of the Diatessaron but Mark Goodacre and others have argued persuasively against that identification. ● In a section titled 6. Codex Sinaiticus (AD 350), in the course of describing some important manuscripts, the author reproduced Bruce Metzger’s summary of Constantine Tischendorf’s first encounter with pages from Codex Sinaiticus: “While visiting the monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai, he chanced to see some leaves of parchment in a waste-basket full of papers destined to light the oven of the monastery.” (p. 62) While that is the version of events claimed by Tischendorf, the monks of the monastery have persistently denied it. Tischendorf’s contemporary J. Rendel Harris considered the story impossible to take seriously. The discovery, in 1975, of additional pages of Codex Sinaiticus in a previously sealed-off room, effectively shows that the monks were not in the habit of burning manuscript-pages, even damaged ones; but instead practices the ancient custom of retiring damaged materials to a genizah. The chance that Tischendorf misconstrued what his hosts at the monastery were saying about the parchment pages in the basket, or that he made up the story as a pretext for its removal from the monastery, seems very high. ● In the section F. Important New Testament Manuscripts, there is a problem not of error but of brevity. The descriptions of Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezae, and Codex Washingtonensis are excessively frugal; in addition, no minuscule manuscripts are described. This somewhat collides with the first sentence of the following section: “All told, the sheer number of New Testament manuscripts and the earliness of the extant manuscripts gives us great reason to believe that the New Testament accurately transmits the content of the autographs.” (p. 63) In very many passages, the few early uncials that receive a modicum of attention on pages 62-63 support Alexandrian or Western readings (and in some cases, anomalous readings that correspond to no major manuscript-family), and thus disagree with a rival reading that is supported by the vast majority of manuscripts (typically over 85% but occasionally over 99%). One could easily get the impression that the “sheer number” of manuscripts in favor or a particular variant ensures that it is genuine; however, it is practically an axiom among textual critics that manuscripts ought to be weighed rather than counted. ● In a section titled Patristic Quotations from the New Testament, the author presents an often-repeated claim: “Indeed, so extensive are these citations that if all other sources for our knowledge of the text of the New Testament were destroyed, they would be sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire New Testament.” (p. 63) This quotation is taken from Metzger & Ehrman’s The Text of the New Testament, but descends from a statement made long ago by Walter Buchanan which referred to the results of research conducted by David Dalrymple in the 1780’s – and it is not vindicated by the data collected by Dalrymple. It is essentially a phantom claim which sounds reasonable but for which a verifiable foundation has not been built. Now, if one were to extract quotations from patristic writers from the sub-apostolic age on into the 400’s, one probably could reconstruct every verse of the Gospels, either in Latin or in Greek or both. But this is not the same as showing that the resultant reconstruction accurately represents the original text; after all, the textual apparatus of the UBS Greek New Testament routinely lists patristic writers whose quotations disagree with one other; sometimes even the same writer cites the same passage in two different ways, prioritizing its message rather than its exact form. ● In a section about early citations of the New Testament by the church fathers, under the heading j. Others, one finds the following statement on page 65: “Other early church fathers who quoted from the New Testament include Barnabas (c. AD 70), Hernias (c. AD 95), Tatian (c. AD 170), and Irenaeus (c. AD 170).” “Hernias” must be a reference to “Hermas,” that is, the composition known as the Shepherd of Hermas, which is usually assigned a composition date not around AD 70 but at least a few decades later. (I suspect that a digital scanner is to thank for the creation of the writer Hernias.) ● Also in the section titled j. Others, on page 65, the author writes, “To all of the above we could add the later church fathers: Augustine, Amabius, Laitantius, Chrysostom, Jerome, Gaius Romanus, Athanasius, Ambrose of Milan, Cyril of Alexandria, Ephraem the Syrian, Hilary of Poitiers, Gregory of Nyssa, and many others.” Instead of “Amabius” the reference should be to “Arnobius,” a writer who lived in Sicca, in Africa, southwest of Carthage, in the opening years of the 300’s. Instead of “Laitantius” the reference should be to “Lactantius,” who wrote only slightly later than Arnobius. (Again I suspect that a digital scanner is to blame.) It is not my intention to belittle the authors of Evidence That Demands a Verdict by pointing out these mistakes. The book is huge, and as Proverbs 10:19 indicates, where there are many words, there are mistakes. I encourage everyone to read it discerningly; eat the corn and leave the cob. Fortunately corrections for future editions should be easy to make, and in the meantime, Sean McDowell’s blog is well situated to provide, as a courtesy to his readers, an errata-list. I must say, though, that authors such as Darrell Bock, William Lane Craig, Craig Evans, Michael Licona, Lee Strobel, and Ravi Zacharias should have noticed these errors and encouraged the author to correct them, before writing their glowing endorsements of the book. By James Snapp Jr.

A great book.

This book is packed with information. I recommend this book for anyone who has questions or gets asked a lot of questions about Christianity.

Esse livro é sensacional. Comprei na versão em inglês para praticar, então aprendo o conteúdo e exercito o inglês. O livro chegou rápido, tem ótimo tamanho. Quem já conhece os autores sabe do estilo de escrita. Gosto da simplicidade e profundidade que os autores alcançam nesse livro. É uma leitura densa, muitas vezes passo dias pensando sobre uma frase. É um livro rico em detalhes e faz um paralelo muito interessante entre ciência e Deus. Fazia um tempo que eu procurava um livro assim. Recomendo de olhos fechados.

I was given the first edition of this book many many years ago as a young Christian and found it significantly impacted my understanding of my faith. Now 30 years later, with an almost teenager who wants to know the ways of the Christian faith, I find the journey she is taking has grown in understanding. I seriously would love to see this book as a devotional for families who wish to impart both knowledge and understanding to their children regarding the faith they have as Christian. Our young ones are exposed to alternative religions, belief systems all the time. So this book, though intense, provides great apologetics for many questions we face in our day to day life.

This book is very well-organized, and the information in it is *very* useful for Christians who want to equip themselves to defend their faith or even for non-believers who want to see how the arguments against Christianity hold. And there's definitely a LOT of information here!

Fantastica lettura, profondamente illuminante sulla fede cristiana. Il libro presenta argomentazioni solide, ben documentate e accessibili, che invitano alla riflessione sia i credenti che chi è in ricerca. Un'opera preziosa per chi desidera approfondire le basi storiche e razionali della fede cristiana. Assolutamente consigliato.

No serious Christian, regardless of denomination, can afford not to read this book. It demonstrates conclusively, through meticulous argument and careful documentation, that the Bible is true. For those who are disheartened by the increasing influence of revisionist and minimalist thought about the real meaning of the Bible, this book is an absolute must-have. Indeed, in its many pages, I have only discovered one single error. The authors, who are otherwise so exact and accurate, mistakenly claim that the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament - which appear in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but not in Protestant editions - were only added in 1546 by the Council of Trent. In fact however, these books, which form part of the Greek Old Testament utilized by the early Church, were specifically listed as part of the Bible at no less than three Church councils in the 4th century - Rome (382), Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). When the Protestant reformers removed several books from the Old Testament in the early 1500s, the Catholic Council of Trent re-affirmed their integral place in Scripture - just as the Church had believed from the very beginning. Trent was not making a novel pronouncement at all. In effect, since the Orthodox and Catholic Churches have always received these books as being a part of the Bible - they are thus to be found in the in the Scriptures of the overwhelming majority of the Christian world. Also to be noted, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches are far older than Protestantism; they were in continuous possession of the Bible long before the Protestant reformation. It is true that questions were raised from time to time about the canonicity of some of these books, but books which all Christians recognize were also questioned before the canon was settled. It is a little-known fact today that Martin Luther actually wanted to remove several books from the New Testament, including James and Revelation. As stated above, the Old Testament of the early Christians was the Greek version called the Septuagint. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that the vast majority of quotations from the Greek Old Testament to be found in the New Testament were taken word-for-word from the Septuagint. It is sometimes argued by Protestant scholars that a rabbinic council held at Jamnia around the year 90 fixed the canon of the Hebrew Bible at the 39 books later recognized as canonical by Protestants. This is a specious argument, not only because the Church was using the wider canon of the Greeek Old Testament at the time but also because these same Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus as the Messiah. So, if they didn't even believe in Jesus why would Protestants regard them as the best authorities to delineate the limits of the Old Testament? I must again reiterate that this is the only error in the entire text of this book, a truly mammoth undertaking for which the authors richly deserve full credit and appreciation from the entire Christian world. Indeed, note please that I have favoured this outstanding book with a fully deserved 5 Star rating. So, if you are wearied by claims that miracles can't happen or that certain books of the Bible were written by anonymous authors centuries after their actual authors lived, this is the book that will heal your heart and soul and will also truly help to give you back your trust in the Word of God.