I really enjoyed reading through this book. I’d let it slip down my tbr for too long until seeing the author speak in person a few weeks ago and really enjoying his approach. I was quite impressed with his easy, approachable manner and his talent for making the arguments feel so basic.

This book addresses briefly the need for the argument (primarily young folks leaving the church because of a lack of knowledge with which to combat secularism, but also the general aspects of witnessing in daily life) and the basic approaches to use as an answer for questions about faith. Each feature is concise and readable and tells the facts in a way that is easy to understand and repeat—but he also provided pen and ink illustrations throughout to show how things look.

Interspersed in all of the text are examples from real-life cases (and Dateline fans, where he’s often a guest, may be able to pinpoint the exact crime cases he used for illustration). My crime-solver self loved seeing the details about case-building and the processes of evidence.

This is the third of a set of books dealing with knowing why your faith is true and how to give a good answer for your belief. It stands just fine on its own but he does reference some content from the other two books for further reading/greater illustration.

If you know anyone with questions about their faith, buy them a copy too...but read it first yourself!

Thanks to the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Why do you believe God exists?

Such a loaded a question and it challenges you to a forensic faith. A faith that will enable you to share what you believe and why. Going to the scriptures and historically, forensic faith takes evidence and eliminates doubt. It seeks the truth. The text is geared to make you a caseworker for Christ. It brings out the detective out of you to make a case for what you believe.

The four chapters lay out the ground work

Distinctive Duty
Targeted Training
Intense Investigation
Convincing Communication

With rebuttal notes at the end for your review.

I was greatly encouraged by Wallace's first book Cold- Case Christianity, which shared his experience as a cold-case detective and what lead him to Christ. That book is a good read for everyone. This book is geared toward Christians to share their faith and why they believe. It is somewhat recycled from The Cold Case text however, it is a good review. What I would have liked to see more and he briefly touched on is the heart. Christianity is not about what we know intellect but our response to who God is. Just as the beatitudes teach us, we must be poor in spirit to see God. Our pride in what we know does not lead us to the cross. I don't believe Wallace's intend is strictly knowledge but how we communicate and seek truth for ourselves.

For me this was a difficult read for me to keep on tract so I struggled to finish it. Regardless, it does have value and would recommend it as such.

A Special Thank You to David C Cook and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

In his book, Forensic Faith: A Homicide Detective Makes the Case for a More Reasonable, Evidential, Christian Faith, J. Warner Wallace relies on his law enforcement skills and applies them to the field of Christian apologetics. Wallace argues that Christians can, and must, be ready to defend what they believe in an increasingly atheistic society. Using scripture and his experience in criminal investigation, Wallace explains why and how we believers can reach others with the Gospel.

Forensic Faith is a small book, but it packs a powerful punch. As a former atheist himself, Wallace systematically presents the arguments routinely used by skeptics and demonstrates how to answer them. The examples from his years as a police officer are both fascinating and informative. His simple and logical approach makes the concepts he teaches easy to understand. Wallace’s passion for apologetics is palpable as he maintains that any Christian with a little study and stamina can have a reasonable and effective answer for the toughest critic.

Forensic Faith is a must-have for those seeking to train themselves in apologetics and the effective defense of their faith in a hostile world. I highly recommend it.

I was given a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

'Forensic Faith' - a guide for establishing our duty to make the case for what we believe as Christians, develop the ability to contend for our faith, and help other Christians see this as their duty as well. J. Warner Wallace continues the momentum of his prior book: Cold Case Christianity, with this eye-opening work that should be considered a core requirement in every Church's teaching curriculum. We are enlightened on the importance of shifting from simple, half-hearted belief to evidential truth, especially in the age of reason.
Wallace reminds us: of how the bible encourages exploration and reasonable examination, of how biblical authors challenged us to investigate their claims so that we may be fully convinced in our own minds, of how much we are in a battle to convince this fallen world why we believe what we believe. To be used as a 'gateway book', Wallace instructs us via examples, practices and principles - to collect, organize and engage biblical and evidential truth. It's a great effort on the part of the author to push us to change the way we think about Christianity, in order to change we live as Christians.
Highly recommended.

The Case for Christ tells one man's story of becoming a Christian, and the evidence that convinced him -- the results of his findings, if you will. (Which is great, and absolutely necessary!) Forensic Faith, on the other hand, challenges the already-Christian to make that research their own: to dig deeply and ask, "Why do I - not Lee Strobel, not J. Warner Wallace, but I - believe? Why is Christianity true?"

Forensic Faith is the "why/how" counterpoint to The Case for Christ's "what"/data. You will find encouragement in your faith walk and, likely, more confidence and willingness to share your testimony and faith publicly. The experts say the best stories are those we are passionate about. Are you passionate about your faith? Do you pursue it and truly love God with all your mind?

It's important to know what we Christians believe and why. Wallace wants us to understand our faith and know how to defend it. He wants us to know how to make a persuasive case for Christianity.

This, and the other two books Wallace has written, are unique in style in that he blends his experience as a cold case detective with his expertise in apologetics. Reading about some of the cases he has worked on is a good break from the intensity of reading about defending the faith. He also makes good use of his case work as examples about the nature of evidence, proving a case, making judgments, etc.

Wallace's work is timely and essential reading for Christians. We are in a time when many Christians are unable to counter the arguments of atheists. This book provides an interesting and effective way of evaluating the nature of those arguments.

Many Christians do not even know of the evidence supporting Christian faith. Wallace does a great job in presenting the evidence and helping us know how to share that evidence with others. This is a great book for parents, helping them answers those penetrating questions their teens are asking about faith.

He includes answers to common challenges to Christian faith, such as the claim that Christian faith and science are incompatible. He also has an evidence locker, a list of resources to make our case. He includes books and online ministries. Other items were to be available at the book website but as of this review the site was not live.

This is the final book in a trilogy by Wallace. God's Crime Scene made a case for God's existence and Cold-Case Christianity made the case for Christianity. I highly recommend all three books.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse. My comments are an independent and honest review.

This is a book on making a case for Christianity by J. Warner Wallace. Wallace himself is quite an interesting fellow. A second generation Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy turned cold-case detective, J. Warner Wallace became a Christian later in life after years of walking the path of skepticism. This is his third book on Christian apologetics that he authored and using his background as a detective he teaches us how to employ skillsets he has learned as a detective in the pursuit and defense of truth with specifically the Christian worldview in mind. Readers will feel the author’s heartbeat that he’s concerned about his own kids and the state of the future of the church and where everything is headed; which is why he wrote this work to address the crisis that more than ever young people in the church are apostatizing and Christians themselves are unable to articulate why they are Christians.
The main body of this book consists of four chapters. In the first chapter Wallace argues that Christians have the distinctive duty of being a Christian Case Maker. He argues his point by marshaling forth five examples that Christians should follow in being a Christian Case Maker. Chapter two of the book is titled “Targeted Training” in which the author provided five steps towards training Christian Case Makers. I really enjoyed this chapter and the author’s powerful point that there is a difference between merely teaching the Bible and training someone. Training has the idea of getting ready for a mission of some sort. What Wallace has to say about training youth groups in this chapter is filled with sound advice. The author sharing his story of his days as a youth pastor would no doubt be something many other youth workers resonated with, with the sad reality of seeing students fall away from the faith when they go off to college and the need to train the next generation. His story of bringing his youth to go out on apologetics’ mission’s trip reminded me of our ongoing own campus ministry doing evangelism and apologetics. This chapter was very pastoral which is a rare gem compared to most works on apologetics. Chapter three of the book is titled “Intense Investigation” and here the book presents five practices to help one examine Christianity like a good detective. I love how Wallace first gives us the investigative practice in the world of criminal investigations before transitioning to the spiritual realm the same practice. Chapter four is on convincing communication and here Wallace presents to the readers five principles to help the readers share what they believe like a good prosecutor. I thought this was a “homiletic” of Christian case making. I think we need more works like this in training Christians on the delivery of apologetics’ content both effectively and faithfully. But this chapter does not just look at the Christian case maker, he looks at those whom we are presenting the Christian case to as well. I thought here Wallace has a very good discussion of the ¾ Principle of how there are different kinds of “jurors” that is analogous with how there are different kinds of Christians and non-Christians and the spectrum of self-certainty and openness. The book ends with a postscript on protecting God’s flock and he uses the analogy of “Sheepdog” that those in the military and Law Enforcement would understand. This is followed by notes on quick rebuttals to a few objections and a bibliography on resources to help the lay Christian apologist which he wittingly titled “Evidence Locker.”
I really like the way J. Warner Wallace writes. He is great with analogies and breaking things down for people to understand. I also enjoyed the graphics throughout the book that served as great visual aids for greater understanding. He’s not kidding when he said he was an artist which gifting he did employed as a youth pastor. I also thought it was neat to see various Forensic faith sidebars throughout the book. For instance in chapter one we see sidebars such as “Forensic Faith Profiles” that highlights various Christian case maker, “Forensic Faith Definition,” “Forensic Faith Challenge” and “Forensic Faith Assignment.” Later chapters have other types of sidebars according to the need of the chapter such as “Forensic Faith Investigative Guideline,” “Forensic Faith Communication Guidelines,” etc. The book also has many lists which is helpful for readers to track along with the book. Wallace is not only good with lists, in the book he also teaches the readers to make lists of everything we gather from our studies. The purpose of a good list is that it helps us present the evidence in good summary form. And good summaries are both brief and powerful which helps with our presentation.
I really appreciated the book. This book is jammed packed with information and practical suggestions and examples. It is well thought out, organized and clear. But more than just information I appreciated the fact that Wallace is a man of God who sees the importance of pursuing excellence in our apologetics and dealing with the evidences. I appreciated his testimony of his pursuit of excellences in all areas of life too. From reading this book I learned that Wallace was not only a detective in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department but apparently he was the top graduating honor recruit of his graduating class in the Sheriff’s Academy. Wallace was also a member of the Sheriff’s version of the SWAT team. Apparently Wallace is quite well rounded: he has an architectural degree from UCLA and is a musician and an illustrator. I found his example of doing things well very compelling and we must not forget our personal character does have a role in our evangelism and apologetics.
I recommend this book. Don’t just buy it, read it. Don’t just read it and move on; have it around as reference.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by David C. Cook, Litfuse and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

This book is absolutely amazing!

I’m grateful beyond measure by James Warner Wallace’s ministry. His commitment to equip believers to make the case for Christianity will never cease to inspire me.

Forensic Faith did 2 things for me: 1) Help me realize how important it is for people around me that I assume my role as a case maker 2) Open my eyes to see all the evidence I still need to master. I don’t know it all. I need to keep studying.

This book explains what, in my opinion, are very complex principles, but in a way that anybody can understand and relate to, which is a sign that the author really knows what he’s talking about.

The urgency, passion, and commitment you feel while reading is almost tangible. This generation, maybe more than any other, needs us to love God with all our mind, and that’s exactly what I feel compelled to do now.

Also, I think this book gives us hope, it shows us that it is possible to help others overcome their doubts and lead them to faith. Questions don’t have to overwhelm us or dimish us. In fact, they can be the very source God uses to bring others back to Him.

Long story short: I loved it, but not in the way that would make me scream for a while and then forget the whole thing, but in a quiet and subtle way that will leave an impression in my heart forever.

A great way to enhance your daily Bible reading and a way to shine a light on situations that happen today. Faith is something that has to be had not proven but when you need a little black and white help it's always good to have examples like this.

It was an interesting book. I know that what I believe is true but when I took a philosophy class last semester (as I get older I want to keep the mind going), I realized that I could not talk intelligently about it. Many of the arguments that were given me to question my faith in that class were used in the book (like the typical 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' one). I am not sure that I could ever make it to the Christian Case Maker that he talks about in this book. At this point I can talk a little more intelligently about the questions that could come at me.
The book follows a natural progression from barely understanding the topic to being well versed in and what to do. He seems to rely a lot on the fact that you have read the other books in his series but when he mentions them, he does bring forth the relevant points from them so you do not miss anything in the referrals to them.
I would recommend to any who are being questioned about their faith and as a tool for a parent to sit with their pre-teen and teenage children so that when they go off to college, their faith will be there own, not the faith of their parents. They will be able to talk intelligently about why they believe what they believe when they are questioned in class.

"Forensic Faith" explains why Christians need to learn the evidence supporting the Christian faith and teaches some basic apologetics skills. The first part of the book made the case for why it's important not to just have blind faith that Christianity is true but to understand the evidence that confirms it's true and to build your skill at sharing this information.

Many Christian kids are losing their faith due to unanswered questions, yet the answers are out there. We need to train our kids (and adults) with the answers. Training involves practice, and the author described how he's done this with youth groups. I totally agree that kids should be taught the evidence and the skill to share it. I taught myself some of this way back when I first went to college, and it made a huge difference.

The author was a cold-case detective. In the second part of the book, he explained how skills he used as a detective can be applied to spotting evidence for Christianity and using this evidence to make a case for it. A lot of this information was from (and covered in greater detail in) his previous two books. If you've read those books, you're probably already convinced that it's important to learn and share the evidence for Christianity, but you might still be interested in his suggestions on how to train youth groups or on using the evidence to "make a case" when asked why you believe. However, I'd mainly recommend this book to Christians who aren't very familiar with the evidence supporting their faith.

Cold Case Detective J. Warner Wallace has written his third book using his skills as a cold case detective to examine the truth of the Scriptures. In the current book, rather than using his skills to defend his/our faith, the author introduces us to the skills he uses to defend his faith. I have not read the two previous books where he examines the evidence of the Gospel and the existence of God, but found his writing believable.

I have no training in forensic science, and, thus, have no way of judging the material presented - but I did find it interesting. The author takes the reader step by step as the authors and participants in scripture make their own cases for faith.

The book is readable and understandable to the average reader. I recommend it for the inquisitive reader that want to strengthen his or her knowledge and understanding of apologetics. It may not belong on the shelf of every pastor, but there should be room for it in every church library collection.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.