In “Jesus on Trial,” New York Times bestselling author David Limbaugh applies his lifetime of legal experience to a unique new undertaking: making a case for the gospels as hard evidence of the life and work of Jesus Christ. Limbaugh, a practicing attorney and former professor of law, approaches the canonical gospels with the same level of scrutiny he would apply to any legal document and asks … all the necessary questions about the story of Jesus told through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. His analysis of the texts becomes profoundly personal as he reflects on his own spiritual and intellectual odyssey from determined skeptic to devout Christian. Ultimately, Limbaugh concludes that the words Christians have treasured for centuries stand up to his exhaustive inquiryuincluding his examination of historical and religious evidence beyond the gospelsuand thereby affirms Christian faith, spirituality, and tradition.
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None of us would associate the name Limbaugh with theologian, and David Limbaugh would be the first to disclaim that tag. He is a lawyer who went through a serious period of doubting his own Christian faith. He did a lot of research among well-known theologians and, of course, the Bible. He wrote it up in a book, focusing on the issues that had bothered him, summarizing some of the deep stuff and challenging others to look into their faith as an adult. Let this book challenge you!
I expect a number of readers have picked up this book on the sole basis of seeing the name Limbaugh on the cover. I’m not a fan of this writer’s older brother, a political commentator named Rush. (More about that in a bit.) But this book is a solid, encouraging, scholarly, thoughtful discussion of why the Bible ought to be believed and why the Christian message is a grace-bathed and valid offer of salvation.
David Limbaugh moved from atheism to Christian faith, and offers carefully researched reasons why he now trusts and believes the Bible. Much of what he says has indeed been asserted before, and he offers an impressive portfolio of researched essays and bits of scholarship the giants of Christianity have penned through the ages. He points to the reality that the Bible was written by 40 or so men, people who didn’t know each other, who didn’t consult, who came from a disparate variety of backgrounds. And yet the Bible does contain a unified whole or core message that is remarkably consistent. In his words, “mind-boggling unity.”
Much of Limbaugh’s book is a meticulous chronicling of the Bible’s myriad prophecies, which have largely come true in amazing detail. He shares interesting details from secular history and archeology that, again and again, affirm the accuracy of the Bible’s historical record. The book also gives us a consistent picture of a God who is fair, loving, and never capricious.
I’m thankful for the fact that Limbaugh affirms God’s miracle-working power and thus validates Christianity as a faith born out of a miraculous virgin birth and headed by the Son of God who carried in His fingertips the power to heal and resurrect. Anyone who denies that Almighty God can do supernatural things and create a university with His own words will never embrace Christianity and Limbaugh is a good defender of this concept.
Before closing, I’ll confess one disquieting conundrum – and then hasten to affirm that this is an edifying piece of work. Limbaugh points to “the pervasive theme of God humbling the proud and lifting up the humble.” I concur with that. Christianity is a humble, He-must-increase-I-must-decrease faith experience. It is not chest-thumping or triumphalistic.
So I was cheered as I read, to see that even with this author being Rush Limbaugh’s younger brother, David’s manuscript is fully Christian in attitude and style. He pleads with his readers to surrender self and commit to this wonderful, gracious Savior who died for them. At the same time, I don’t know what to make of the fact that in his acknowledgements at the close, he lauds in the most glowing terms: “my brother Rush,” and then Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.
I’m a moderate-to-liberal Democrat, so haven’t absorbed much from this troika of modern media thought. I once accidently tuned in to a Mark Levin diatribe on AM talk radio, and honestly thought it was an SNL caricature; the host was almost literally shrieking in a high-pitched indignant voice and in a style that can only be categorized as mocking, angry hate speech. I must honestly say that when I read in Philippians 4: “Let your gentleness be evident to all; do not be anxious about anything; whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy – think about such things,” the musings of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Levin do not come to mind. Many earnest believers are concerned here in 2019 that the strident tone of President Trump’s media cohorts is sending an entire generation far, far away from the Christian gospel and the church of the 21st century.
Having said that, my own Democratic biases are almost certainly coloring my (over)-reaction. If Sean Hannity is actually a humble, self-denying disciple of the gentle Jesus who loved sinners and the stranger within His gates, then Sean is my brother in the faith and I must abide by the discipline of that kingdom reality. And in that vein of thought, I again thank Mr. David Limbaugh for the uplifting book that has turned my heart toward the Savior.
Read it twice.