Josh McDowell

Life

McDowell was born in 1939 in Union City, Michigan, one of five children. His given name is Joslin. He grew up with an alcoholic, violent father. He later disclosed that from the age of six to thirteen he was repeatedly sexually abused by a farmhand. He enlisted in the Air National Guard but was discharged after suffering a head injury.

Intending to study law and then enter politics, he enrolled at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek. By his own account, he was an agnostic at the time, holding that it cannot be known whether God exists. He reportedly set out to research a paper refuting the historical basis of the Christian faith but instead experienced a conversion. He went on to graduate from Wheaton College and earned a Master of Divinity with honors from Talbot Theological Seminary.

Ministry and Work

McDowell joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ and began full-time ministry as a speaker on university campuses in Latin America. He later returned to North America, where he became known as a traveling speaker at numerous universities. In 1972 he published Evidence That Demands a Verdict through Campus Crusade for Christ. The book is a work of Christian apologetics, the reasoned explanation and defense of the faith, and it defends the reliability of the Bible and the claims of Jesus on the basis of historical evidence. It sold more than one million copies, and in 2006 it ranked thirteenth on the American magazine Christianity Today's list of "the most influential evangelical books since World War II." He later published a fully revised edition with his son, Sean McDowell.

His other books include More Than a Carpenter, A Ready Defense, and Right from Wrong; in all, he has written or co-written more than 150 books. He founded Josh McDowell Ministry, a youth-focused organization that addresses relationships, sexual purity, and moral issues. According to his publisher, in 1991 he launched GAIN (Global Aid Network), a relief ministry that meets physical needs such as hunger and disease. He is reported to have shared the gospel with more than 25 million people in 125 countries.

Influence on the Korean Church

In the 1980s McDowell visited South Korea and lectured on university campuses. In Korea he is chiefly presented as a speaker for Korea Campus Crusade for Christ (KCCC) and as a "converted skeptic." More Than a Carpenter was translated into Korean under the title Who Calls Jesus a Religion?, and a revised and expanded edition was published by Duranno Ministry in 2010. Other works translated into Korean include a Christian apologetics series and a book responding to The Da Vinci Code. At a 2014 gathering in Gwangju, he gave his testimony about the abuse he had suffered and how he came to forgive his father, and he spoke about the path to freedom from sexual addiction.

Assessment

Within evangelicalism, his books are regarded as representative works of apologetics and have been widely read for many years. However, a talk he gave on September 18, 2021, at a gathering of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) sparked controversy. In it he identified critical race theory as a threat facing the church and made remarks to the effect that Black and other minority families do not value education. Following criticism, he issued an apology the next day, stating that his remarks had been a generalization that did not reflect reality and that he believes racism has hindered equality. Some critics, such as Professor Warren Throckmorton of Grove City College, called the apology hollow. McDowell and the leadership of Cru decided that he would step away from ministry and speaking, and Josh McDowell Ministry came under the leadership of its chief executive officer, Dewayne Zook.