Will Christianity hold up in court? Trial lawyer Mark Lanier answers that question in his book, Christianity on Trial: A Lawyer Examines the Christian Faith. He has three decades of experience as a lawyer but also has college training in biblical languages. In the book he brings his biblical expertise and his legal background to bear on some of the foundational apologetic questions concerning Christianity.

He makes an opening statement similar to one he would make in a court of law. He argues that we (the jury) should use our common sense in evaluating the statements of the witnesses and the claims of the experts. He also reminds us that we are evaluating evidence like we would in a courtroom. What is the evidence for the proposition? What is the evidence against it?

He then takes us through many of the fundamental questions believers and skeptics have about the Christian faith. In each case he calls “witnesses” to address those questions. For the existence of a god or no god, he calls to the stand such luminaries at G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis. In order to explain the biblical view of God, we hear from the Psalmist, St. Paul, and John the Apostle.

He also addresses two important issues in our world today: truth and morality. We unfortunately live in a postmodern world that denies the existence of absolute truth. That is why he calls witnesses like Plato, Descartes, St. Paul, Anselm of Canterbury, and Augustine.

We also live in a world full of moral relativism. That is why he also writes about “Right, Wrong and the Moral God.” His witnesses here include Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Adolf Hitler.

He concludes with the resurrection. Lawyers like Frank Morrison (who wrote the book, Who Moved the Stone?) have found the evidence for the resurrection to be compelling when examined in the same way they examine evidence in a courtroom.

If you know a lawyer who is skeptical about Christianity, this might be a book you could pass on to him or her. They will find that the claims of Christianity can indeed hold up in court.