ZONDERVAN REFLECTIVE
Person of Interest Investigators Guide
Copyright 2021 by J. Warner Wallace
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ePub Edition July 2021 : ISBN 978-0-310-11135-1
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CONTENTS
Welcome to the Person of Interest Investigators Guide. This casebook, created to be used with its accompanying video sessions, was written as a supplement to my book Person of Interest. I believe this investigation is more important now than ever before. Confidence in the teaching of the New Testament is lower than in prior generations; the youngest among us are more uninterested than any other age group. Many skeptics deny the reliability of the New Testament gospels, and even believers are skeptical or uninformed about what the Bible teaches on the deity of Christ. For many, Jesus has become a misunderstood, irrelevant relic from the past.
Did Jesus really live? Can we reconstruct the truth about Jesus even if we dont trust the New Testament? Are there any good reasons to believe he existed or that he was anything other than an ancient sage? Why should I care about Jesus? Does he still matter today? Is Jesus truly historys most important person of interest, and if so, how does this conclusion affect me? Thats what this investigation is all about.
To get the most out of this study, I hope you dig deeper into the evidence you are about to examine by reviewing my complete investigation in the book Person of Interest. We will only scratch the surface here, and Jesus is too important to treat lightly. If Jesus of Nazareth is who he claimed, this investigation will be more important than anything youve ever studied. The more you learn about the evidence for Jesus (and the incomparable impact hes had on human history), the better youll be able to assess his role in your life and make the case to others.
I was a thirty-five-year-old committed atheist when I first began to sift through the evidence related to Jesus. I was also a successful detective in Los Angeles County. In this investigative series, I will tell you why I first became interested in Jesus and how I employed a unique fact-finding template to discover the truth about him. I will also describe one of my cases and show you how the approach I used to solve that case helped me to uncover the truth about Jesus. Ive changed several names and swapped details of my criminal cases to protect the identity of victims (and suspects) and to safeguard the progress of cases still under investigation.
When our investigation is complete, youll understand why Im a Christian today, and youll also understand why Jesus matters, even if youre skeptical about the New Testament gospels.
J. Warner Wallace, Dateline-featured cold-case detective, and author of Person of Interest
The Person of Interest Investigators Guide is designed to be experienced in a group setting (a Bible study, Sunday school class, or small group gathering). Each session begins with a Case Briefing section, opening questions to get you thinking about the investigation, and a Statement Analysis section to discuss the Bible passages. I will then guide you through the investigation in the video. Afterward, youll work together as an investigative team to examine the evidence and engage in a follow-up investigation. Each session ends with a chance to debrief, deliberate, and pray.
To make the most out of this investigation, each member should have his or her own copy of this investigative guide and a Bible. Dont worry about which Scripture translation you use; youll be able to glean the evidence from whatever version youre accustomed to. Youll be encouraged to examine all the evidence by reading the relevant content in Person of Interest, which chronicles the investigation more thoroughly and provides deeper insight into the case for Jesus and his impact on history. It is best to read the book alongside this investigative guide, and I will provide you with direction each week in the Making the Case section.
Please note: This is no ordinary Bible study. Each investigative session is longer than a typical small group session. If you decide to complete each session in its entirety, please give yourself one to two hours to watch the video and work through the group investigation together.
To get the most out of this series, remember the following:
1. Investigative teams (especially homicide detectives) make the most progress when they are interactive. For this reason, youll make the greatest headway (and experience the most spiritual growth) during your