God's Crime Scene

Apologists use different tools to defend their positions. Christian apologists, in particular, are well-known for using science, philosophy and or bible verses. However, I have never come across an apologist with a detective (private eye) skillset, who employs techniques used in solving murder cases to justify the existence of God, until I picked up God’s Crime Scene by J. Warner Wallace.

J. Warner Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective in real life. He brings his work experience to the table and uses actual cases to determine whether a divine being created the universe or not. He says,

“This book is my attempt to help you look at the nature of the universe – my effort to share a personal investigation of God’s existence. I hope to pass along a detective’s perspective related to evidence and case construction. I want to make you a better investigator and give you a few tools for your call-out bag.”

J. Warner Wallace starts by examining a particular case where someone did break into a home from outside and killed a man. One of the reasons the detectives on the case came to this conclusion was because the suspect left his shoe foam behind. Thus the author concludes that if an important evidence points to the existence of an external suspect, it is imperative that the investigation must follow that trail. He says, “… like the shoe foam, the earth’s creation cannot be explained from ‘inside the room’. The evidence points to a cause outside of space, time and matter.” This means, for a relevant explanation as to why the universe came to be, we must take look outside of it.

The author offers the Milky Way as an example. He states that the position and size of it is favourable to life. Also, the composition, position, age, and mass of the sun is perfect for life on earth. Not only that, the earth’s atmospheric condition and terrestrial nature are just right for our existence in this world. These, he says, are evidence that disproof the theory that the world sprang out of nothingness.

The author also expresses concern that the people who believe that the earth came out of nothing are redefining the word “nothing” to suit their agenda. J. Warner Wallace quotes the theoretical physicist, Lawrence Krauss who says,

“’Physics has changed what we mean by ‘nothing’…Empty space is a boiling, bubbling brew of virtual particles popping in and out of existence…If you wait long enough, that kind of ‘nothing will always produce results.’”

The author counters this view by asking,

“…can we rally avoid a beginning from nothing by simply redefining nothing? When theoretical physicists behave in this way, they remind me of my sons when they were teenagers. They would come home from school and look in the refrigerator for something to eat. My wife always stocked the refrigerator with healthy food, leading at least one of my sons to proclaim, ‘There’s nothing to eat in the refrigerator.’”

J. Warner Wallace says those who believe there are imperfections in human biological systems, hence, ruling out any notion of a designer or God, simply do not account for human’s limited understanding of this world. He argues that,

“There are times when our limited understanding of biological systems leads us to perceive some degree of imperfection even when this is not the case. This appears to be the situation involving what used to be considered ‘junk DNA’. The more we learn about apparent ‘non-functioning’ genes and seemingly useless genomic regions, the more we recognize them as important contributors to an elaborate informational system. In the past several years, scientist have discovered a large number of non-protein-coding DNA regions under strong ‘selective constraints.’”

God’s Crime Scene is a rigorous attempt at looking at a mountain of evidence to bring together a full picture of a supreme maker behind the creation of the universe. Whether you are convinced by the author’s arguments or not, God’s Crime Scene is a serious and bold work of painstaking detail. The language used is simple enough. However, the introduction of science terms can be overwhelming for laymen. Having said that, I believe the overall book is simple enough to understand as a whole.

God’s Crime Scene is a good resource for those who don’t mind putting on a detective’s hat and going on an unbeaten path of discovery.

God's Crime Scene is written by J. Warner Wallace and published by David C. Cook (August 1, 2015).

Many thanks to David C. Cook for review copy.

Did God create the universe and intelligent life, or did everything evolve without divine intervention? That's the question Wallace, a retired homicide investigator, investigates in this book using the same techniques he did solving cold cases.

I like the way he uses police cases as a spring board for discussing the origin of the universe. Reading how techniques are used in a criminal investigation really help us understand how those same techniques are used in drawing conclusions about our existence.

His writing on evidence is great. It really helped clarify in my mind what good evidence is and how it is evaluated. He also explains the various kinds of evidence, such as circumstantial. I was impressed with his comments on nonmaterial influence, something materialists reject. Mental states, such as motive or the ability to reason, are important to criminal investigations. I liked his discussion on determinism and free will, a good explanation. He helped me understand causation and the difference between event and agent explanations.

I was also introduced to abductive reasoning, inferring to the most reasonable explanation. I like that he keeps coming back to examining the explanatory strength of each explanation to see which one best accounts for the evidence. His investigation into evil and God is great.

Wallace explains the scientific method in terms of police work. First there is information gathering, then evaluating. Next is drawing reasonable inferences and then making sure the evidence supports the conclusion. I really like his relating the process to criminal investigation.

Another aspect of the book I really liked is comparing this study of the origin of the universe to that of a case tried in court. The defense attorney and the prosecutor each ask the jury to believe different explanations. The defense attorney will say his or her client was not involved (naturalists). The prosecutor will claim the individual was involved and committed the crime (outside influence – intelligent design). The jury has to make a decision based on the evidence presented. And that is what Wallace wants us to do.

I really like the way Wallace has crafted this book. The illustrations of his own criminal investigations are really interesting reading. How he relates them to the investigation of the origin of the universe is superb. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in whether an external being caused the creation of the universe or not. The cumulative evidence is well presented in this book.

There is added material for further investigation into each chapter subject at the end of the book. It is great material for those who would like to go a little deeper into each subject.

I highly recommend this book. I think Wallace is the best and clearest apologist for Christianity I have read.

You can read my review of Cold Case Christianity here.
http://www.bookwomanjoan.blogspot.com/2012/12/cold-case-christianity-by-jim-wallace.html You can find out more about Wallace and his ministry at http://coldcasechristianity.com/ and http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/please-convince-me-apologetics/read/.

J. Warner Wallace is a retired cold-case homicide detective and adjunct professor of apologetics at Biola University. He was an atheist through his undergraduate and graduate work. His experience in law enforcement strengthen his conviction that truth is directly related to evidence. At age thirty-five, he was given a New Testament and investigated Christianity. He became convinced it was true. He earned a Master's in Theological Studies from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. His investigative work has received national recognition. He and his wife have four children and live in Southern California.

David C Cook, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.

"God's Crime Scene" is an apologetic book that looks at evidence about the origins of the universe from the point of view of a cold case detective. Does the universe (including the earth, humans, and even their minds) show evidence of outside tampering or can the evidence be explained in purely naturalistic terms?

The author looked at many "lines of evidence" (cosmology, biology, etc.) as he examined the case. I felt he did an excellent job of distilling the arguments down to explanations that non-scientists can understand. He quoted people from all sides of the debate, and he presented a wide range of possible explanations in the process of finding which one best fit the evidence.

He used examples of various cases he's worked on to show how a detective examines evidence to determine if it's from an outside source and who is responsible. He then applied these methods to the evidence found in the universe. This helped to illustrate his points so I could more easily understand his reasoning.

He only examined whether there was a Divine Intruder or not and, if so, what the evidence can tell us about this intruder. He did not attempt to argue who the Divine Intruder might be. He has another book that examines the Christian Bible to see if it's trustworthy evidence, and it's a good companion book with this one. I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to anyone who is uncertain if there is a god or not. It's also a good resource for people who like to debate this sort of thing with atheists and agnostics. This book will especially appeal to those who are interested in detective work.