The Investigation

🔎 THE INVESTIGATION

You’re the detective. The evidence is real. The truth is waiting to be uncovered.

🧠 INTRODUCTION: Your Assignment

🧾 Case Brief:

      • Subject: Christianity

      • Objective: Determine whether the claims of God, Jesus, and the Bible are true

      • Tools Provided: Evidence from science, history, logic, and eyewitness testimony

    • Investigator Assigned: You

Welcome, Detective. You’ve been selected to lead an investigation of eternal significance. At stake? The most important question of all time:

Is Christianity true?

This is no blind faith exercise. You’ll use real-world reasoning and forensic logic to evaluate the evidence. The Bible claims to be more than a book. Jesus claimed to be more than a man. The universe may be more than matter and energy.

Let’s investigate.

🗂️ CASE FILES TO EXPLORE

Each of the following case files is a mini-investigation packed with evidence, reflection prompts, and your chance to form a verdict.

🕳️ Case File 1: The Crime Scene – The Universe Itself

      • The universe had a beginning.

      • The laws of physics are fine-tuned.

      • The multiverse theory falls short.

    • The universe is expanding—just as ancient Scripture described.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
Can something come from nothing—and arrange itself so perfectly by accident?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Does the universe point to random chance—or to a purposeful, intelligent cause?

📜 Case File 2: Eyewitness Reports – Can We Trust the Gospels?

      • The Gospel authors were eyewitnesses or interviewed them.

      • Their accounts are supported by archaeology and other sources.

      • They had no motive to lie.

    • The Gospels align across authors—despite different times and places.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
If the apostles lied, why did they suffer and die for it without a single defector?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Are the Gospel writers credible and historically trustworthy?

📚 Case File 3: The Bible – Reliable or Rewritten?

      • The Bible has more manuscripts than any ancient work.

      • The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm long-term accuracy.

      • Archaeology and prophecy affirm its claims.

    • Copyist changes are minor—no core truth has ever been altered.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
Could a man-made book survive unchanged for 3,000 years—and predict future events with detail and accuracy?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Is the Bible a human invention—or divine communication?

🧬 Case File 4: The Clues of Life – Intelligence in the Code

      • DNA is a language filled with instructions.

      • Science still can’t explain how life emerged from non-life.

      • Information always points to an intelligent source.

    • Even the simplest cell outsmarts the most advanced machine.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
If DNA is a code, who wrote it?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Is blind chemistry enough to explain life—or does life point to a mind?

🧠 Case File 5: The Mind, Morality, and Meaning

      • You’re more than a brain—you have a mind.

      • Free will and conscience can’t be reduced to neurons.

      • Objective morality points to a Moral Lawgiver.

    • Our deep desire for meaning suggests a higher origin.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
Does our mind, morality, and meaning come from atoms—or from something higher?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Is the human experience better explained by nature—or by design?

🧍‍♂️ Case File 6: The Missing Body – The Case for the Resurrection

      • Jesus was truly dead—verified by Roman executioners.

      • The tomb was empty, and the body was never found.

      • Post-resurrection appearances changed everything.

    • Over 500 eyewitnesses saw Jesus alive—many at the same time.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
What explains the explosion of the church and the bravery of the apostles?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Was the resurrection legend—or the most important event in history?

🏛️ Case File 7: Echoes of Jesus – The Cultural Clues

      • Science was birthed by Christian thinkers.

      • Art, music, and architecture reflect the Gospel story.

      • Jesus’ fingerprints are seen in hospitals, universities, and human rights.

    • No one has shaped history, art, and culture like Jesus.

🕵️‍♂️ Detective Question:
If Jesus never lived, why does His shadow fall across every area of human civilization?

📌 Verdict Zone:
Can a myth leave this much evidence—or was He real, and divine?

🧾 FINAL REPORT: Time for Your Verdict

The clues are in. The evidence has been examined.
Now it’s your turn to draw a conclusion.

You’ve walked the crime scene. Interviewed the witnesses. Weighed the data. This case doesn’t call for blind faith—it calls for reasonable trust.

What do you believe?
Will you follow where the evidence leads?

➡️ If you’re ready to take the next step, open the final file:
The Gospel: Your Personal Verdict

🧰 READY TO BECOME A CASE MAKER?

The case may be closed—but your mission is just beginning.

You’ve seen the evidence. You’ve reached your verdict. Now you’re called to carry the truth forward—to live it, share it, and defend it with clarity and confidence.

🧠 Build Your Forensic Faith:

Blind faith believes without evidence.
Forensic faith believes because of the evidence—and is ready to make the case.

🔍 Equip Yourself:

      • Learn how to explain what you believe and why it’s true.

      • Practice respectful conversations with skeptics and seekers.

    • Live your faith out loud—with logic, love, and consistency.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
— 1 Peter 3:15

🧰 SIDEBAR: A Detective’s Toolkit

Books & Resources:
📘 Cold-Case Christianity
🔬 God’s Crime Scene
🧠 Forensic Faith
🕯️ Person of Interest
🎓 Evidence Case Files Library
🛠️ Free Apologetics Tools

Inspired by the forensic work of former atheist and cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace.

💬 CALL TO ACTION

🔎 Case Still Open?
Still have questions? Great detectives never stop digging.

The $1 Million Dollar Question:

Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here’s a quick test:
Q. Have you ever told a lie?
Q. Have you ever stolen anything?
Q. Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
Q. Have you ever lusted over someone?
Q. Have you ever hated someone?

If you have done these things, God sees you as a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, an adulterer-at-heart, and a murderer-at-heart. And this is only 5 of God’s Ten Commandments (a/k/a “God’s Law”). And the Bible warns that on the Day of Judgment, God will punish you in a terrible place called Hell. But, there is “good news”! God is not willing that any should perish. Sinners broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid their fine by shedding His sinless blood on a cross ~2,000 years ago. This means that God can legally dismiss their case (and yours!): “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Then Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death. Today, repent (turn away from your sins), put your complete trust in Jesus, and confess Jesus as your Lord & Savior… and God will give you eternal life as a free gift.

The $1 Million Dollar Myth:

Contrary to popular belief, being a “good person”, doing “good deeds”, or being “religious” will not get you a ticket to heaven! Many people are hoping God will dismiss their sins because their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. They further hope that because God is “good” he will let them go unpunished and enter heaven. However, because God is “good” he must by nature punish sinners (i.e., God would not be a good judge if he let criminals go free). The Bible states: “There is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) The Bible also states: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) And finally, think about this, if your goodness could save you, Jesus would have died in vain (i.e., for no good reason). The Bible states: “I (Jesus) am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me. (John
14:6) Friends, please don’t “roll-the-dice” and gamble your eternal life on the life-threatening lie that being a “good person” will get you to heaven.

Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus:

Here is a prayer you can use to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord & Savior. It is a suggested prayer – the key is that you are speaking from your heart.
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me turn away from sin going forward. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus into my heart and I confess him as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for sending your Holy Spirit to help me obey you, and to do your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

Congratulations! And welcome to God’s family!

 

Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus:

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    I am a Christian and want to grow in my faith.I am recommitting my life to Christ.

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