Am I disappointed with this book? Yes.

Let's start with the basics: What's "new" about this "New Evidence that Demands a Verdict"? Well, the old chapters 11 and 12 from Vol. 1 are history. (That is, the one on general Bible prophecies, like the one on Tyre, and the chapter that was nothing but testimonies.) The old Vol. 1 chapters 2 and 3 are now one chapter (materials used to make the Bible/canon), and the old chapter 4 (historical reliability) is now two chapters, one for each Testament. There is a short added chapter on the Jesus Seminar (call it Jesus Under Fire Lite, and also, buy that book first). There are a slew of new chapters on different types of worldviews (skeptical, mystical, etc.) and a couple of chapters on figuring out what truth is -- yes, you can see McDowell's current "Right and Wrong" mission shining through. There are a few (very few) updates within chapters, old quotes removed, new ones added. And of course, there is a new cover -- gold.

That's it. Now the question is: Why did they even bother to update it?

Don't expect it to answer criticisms such as those we found in the old Jury Is In project. (We are at least referred to He Walked Among Us...but it's out of print!) The cover blurb says that it is intended to help Christians "answer questions challenging (them) in the 21st century" but I suspect someone at Thomas Nelson got the numbers on the century reversed. 12th century, perhaps, but use this in the 21st century against the 21st century skeptic or critic and you may as well hand them the keys to the steamroller and lie down on the pavement.

It is unfortunate to have to say this, but Josh McDowell had a golden opportunity with the ETDAV franchise to make a real difference in apologetics with this update. Instead, only the cover came out gold. McDowell is doing an admirable job with his current campaign helping teenagers, and as a busy worker for Christ, he does much good, but it is clear that the new ETDAV is an "update" by someone who had his fingers in too many pies. I would be less than honest if I didn't admit something here, at the risk of being falsely accused of sour grapes: I sent samples of Tekton material to McDowell and offered to help revise ETDAV, long before I knew about this update. I never heard back from him, and from the meeting I had with him it seems clear that he either never saw the material or else forgot about it at once. But it really is irrelevant whether it was me or someone else who sent McDowell the material, because there is a lot of material out there that could have inspired a much better update in the first place. The bottom line is that the "new" ETDAV is nothing new at all, and McDowell bears full responsibility for it. (Although also part of the mix was Bill Wilson, who was the major impetus for the revision, and Norman Geisler, who was the Managing Editor.)

The unfortunate aspect of this update is that (as I have learned by experience) books like this often do more harm than good in the long run because people count of McDowell to provide the be-all, end-all refutation to Skeptical objections; and when he doesn't, they become lost in the woods and don't know what to do. Admittedly that is not all at McDowell's feet. But we nevertheless say: Buy it only if you don't have the old ETDAVs and are a new Christian looking for a place to start. Then be sure and take the next steps.