Hello everyone! I just finished reading a book I checked out from the library, Jesus Skeptic: A Journalist Explores the Credibility and Impact of Christianity by John Dickerson. Dickerson, who is an award-winning investigative journalist, spent years reading primary sources and interviewing modern Christians to find out how Jesus has shaped civilization as we know it. Though he was a nonbeliever when he began his investigation, he was awed by the volume of evidence that Jesus was important and became a follower of Christ.

First, he examines the pivotal role that Christ-followers had in what he identified as the five most important advances that make the modern world better than the ancient world.

1. The development and spread of university education

2. The development of modern medicine

3. The end of slavery

4. The rise of literacy

5. The Scientific Revolution

Then, he discusses evidence for Jesus' existence and evidence (notably His God-sized influence unparalleled by any famous person in history) that His claim to be God may be true. Dickerson concludes with the evidence of "the parade of transformed lives": modern people who are transformed by Jesus' teachings, including himself.

One of the things I appreciated most about the book was it's emphasis on primary sources. In fact, some of the sources Dickerson used and more information about the historical figures he discusses is accessible from the book's website, Jesusskeptic.com (you could even use the website on its own if you can't find the book for some reason).

Whether or not you are a Christian, this book is an enlightening read.

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