Undaunted

Starred review from August 13, 2012
McDowell’s (Evidence That Demands a Verdict) has made his mark as a Christian apologist, addressing challenges to the Christian faith and inquiries put forward by non-Christians. Each of these was a logical presentation of historical and legal evidence meant to commend belief in the tenets of Christianity. This book is something completely different. For those who know of McDowell the apologist but have not heard his life story, this is an open door into the journey of an evangelical giant that is both terrible and tremendous. The autobiographical narrative chronicles the author’s passage from a nasty upbringing, which leads to a potent and enraged agnosticism, to a blessed later adolescence following a convincing conversion through diligent study of biblical texts and their historical arguments. The stories that McDowell vividly recounts seem almost unbelievable, if only because the reader does not want to consider that a child’s life could be so horrific or that grace could, in the end, be so transformative. Ever the apologist, McDowell uses his testimony to present a cumulative case of evidence in favor of the Christian faith. The story is gripping and, like his apologetic works, the case he makes is hard to argue with.