Cold-Case Christianity Participant's Guide

A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels

J. Warner Wallace

• Publisher: David C Cook
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780830775491
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Teología cristiana

This fully-illustrated, eight-session guide takes participants through ten important principles employed by detectives, applying these techniques to the New Testament Gospel accounts. Designed to work seamlessly with the original book and DVD, this guide is accessible and engaging for participants and leaders alike. It includes questions for reflection, notes for discussion, and examples to help users investigate the claims of Christianity using the skills of a cold-case detective. Participants will grow in certainty and unite in confidence as they learn how to defend the truth through this unique investigative experience. This interactive study guide includes a free QR code and URL to access all eight videos, plus additional content for engaging study as a group or on your own. To aid you in your planning, following are the session titles and video run times: 1 Session 1 10: 20
2 Session 2 10: 10
3 Session 3 13: 36
4 Session 4 11: 06
5 Session 5 9: 21
6 Session 6 10: 19
7 Session 7 10: 08
8 Session 8 10: 01

Session Eight

Were They Biased?

Everyone has a motive. We tend to think of criminals when we hear the word, but jurors are also encouraged to consider motive when examining and evaluating eyewitnesses who have testified in a trial. Jurors are told that they must think about whether or not a witness was “influenced by a factor such as bias or prejudice, a personal relationship with someone involved in the case, or a personal interest in how the case is decided.” There are two factors at work in a question like this: bias and motive. Were the disciples lying about the resurrection, as Bart Ehrman claims? Were their claims based on religious expectation or bias? If so, what was it that they were hoping to gain from this elaborate lie? If the apostles wanted Jesus to be God, an elaborate lie wouldn’t actually accomplish this, at least for the apostles. Lies might fool those who weren’t there, but they wouldn’t fool those who knew better. What did the disciples hope to gain if their stories were false? Let’s study the issue of motive and finish our journey with an examination of Christian eyewitness bias.

In all my years working homicides, I’ve come to discover that only three broad motives lie at the heart of any murder. As it turns out, these three motives are also the same driving forces behind any kind of misbehavior; the reasons why we sometimes think what we shouldn’t think, say what we shouldn’t say, or do what we shouldn’t do:

Financial Greed

This is often the driving force behind the crimes that I investigate. Some murders, for example, are the result of a botched robbery. Other murders are committed simply because they gave the suspect a financial advantage. As an example, I once worked a homicide that was committed by a husband who didn’t want his wife to receive a portion of his retirement.

Sexual or Relational Desire

I’ve also investigated a number of murders that were sexually (or relationally) motivated. Some victims of sexual assault are murdered by their attacker so they can’t testify later. Some murders are committed simply because a jealous boyfriend couldn’t bear to see his girlfriend dating another man.

Pursuit of Power

Finally, some people commit murders because a position of power or authority was jeopardized. It might be a rivalry between two people who are trying to get the same promotion. Others have killed simply because the victim dishonored or “disrespected” them in front of a group of peers.

Sex, money, a...