{"id":40675,"date":"2016-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/detective-accepts-christ-based-on-evidence\/"},"modified":"2016-04-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T00:00:00","slug":"detective-accepts-christ-based-on-evidence","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/detective-accepts-christ-based-on-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Detective Accepts Christ Based on Evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As a cold-case homicide detective, J. Warner Wallace called himself a hardcore atheist and &quot;evidentialist&quot; because he believed the truth was always tied to the evidence. But at the age of thirty-five, he took a serious look at the evidence for Christianity and became a follower of Christ. Here&#39;s how Wallace summarized his conversion:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As an atheist, I was very comfortable as the captain of my own ship &hellip; I had been a police officer for nearly ten years and was used to being in charge in difficult situations. I didn&#39;t like intrusions, and there was no room for God in my life. I am not a theist today because I was raised by believers&mdash;I wasn&#39;t. I am not a believer because I was hoping for heaven or afraid of hell&mdash;I had no sense of value for either. I am not a theist because I was trying to fill a &quot;void&quot; or satisfy a &quot;need&quot;&mdash; I felt none. I believe God exists because the evidence leaves me no reasonable alternative.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Warner added:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Jurors evaluate evidential cases every day across our country, and they are asked to make a decision even though they don&#39;t have every question answered or every possible detail explained. When the overwhelming evidence points to a reasonable conclusion, jurors make a decision &hellip; The standard of proof (SOP) in the most critical of criminal trials is &quot;beyond a reasonable doubt,&quot; not &quot;beyond a possible doubt.&quot; I&#39;ve never conducted the perfect investigation, and we&#39;ve never presented the perfect case before a jury. But in my career as a cold-case detective, I&#39;ve never lost &hellip; If there&#39;s enough evidence to make a decision, they&#39;re asked to make a decision. When it comes to the case for God&#39;s existence, there&#39;s enough evidence.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3402,3424,3450,3478,3689,3711,3713,3839,3901,3902,3933,4153,4725,4828,4891,4900,4929,4992,5199,5202,5303],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-40675","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-agnosticism","tax_ctp_tags-apologetics","tax_ctp_tags-atheism","tax_ctp_tags-belief","tax_ctp_tags-conversion","tax_ctp_tags-creation","tax_ctp_tags-creator","tax_ctp_tags-easter","tax_ctp_tags-evidence","tax_ctp_tags-evidence-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-faith","tax_ctp_tags-holidays","tax_ctp_tags-proof","tax_ctp_tags-resurrection","tax_ctp_tags-science","tax_ctp_tags-secularism","tax_ctp_tags-self-reliance","tax_ctp_tags-skepticism","tax_ctp_tags-truth","tax_ctp_tags-unbelief","tax_ctp_tags-worldview"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Detective Accepts Christ Based on Evidence - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/detective-accepts-christ-based-on-evidence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Detective Accepts Christ Based on Evidence - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a cold-case homicide detective, J. Warner Wallace called himself a hardcore atheist and &quot;evidentialist&quot; because he believed the truth was always tied to the evidence. But at the age of thirty-five, he took a serious look at the evidence for Christianity and became a follower of Christ. 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