A Short Biography of J. Warner Wallace

Jim was raised in a broken home; his parents divorced when he was very young. His mother was Catholic, his father was an atheist, and his future step-mother would, in time, become a Mormon. In the midst of all of this, Jim remained an atheist throughout his childhood and into his adult life. He held a distinct animosity toward people of faith, especially those who tried to share their faith with him.

Jim has an interest in the arts and attended California State University at Long Beach, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Design. He then earned a Master's Degree in Architecture from UCLA, and married Susie, his high school sweetheart of 9 years. Jim eventually returned to the profession of his father in 1988, and became a Police Officer at a municipal agency in Los Angeles County. It was here that Jim learned about the nature of evidence and the role that evidence plays in understanding truth. Jim served in a number of interesting Law Enforcement assignments: he worked as a Patrol Officer, served on a street level narcotics unit and the SWAT Team, worked the Gang Detail and a career criminal surveillance team, and eventually became a Robbery / Homicide Detective. Jim presently works Cold Case Homicides exclusively.

In 1996, at the age of 35, Jim became a Christian. It was not the result of a crisis in his life, nor was it the result of a need he was seeking to meet. In fact, his conversion took him completely by surprise. He attended church at the invitation of a friend and listened to the pastor describe Jesus in a way that convinced Jim that Jesus was (if nothing else) an appealingly smart guy, a wise sage who might possess some ancient wisdom worth considering. This presentation of Jesus provoked Jim to read the Gospels for the very first time. He applied his understanding of forensic statement analysis to the Gospel of Mark to see if it met the criteria one might anticipate in an eyewitness account from the Apostle Peter. Jim spent weeks picking apart the Gospel word by word. In the end, Jim was convinced that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John were, in fact, reliable eyewitness statements. This presented Jim with a dilemma, however, as these accounts all include a record of the supernatural power of Jesus, His claims of deity and the Resurrection. Jim was forced to reconsider his naturalistic presuppositions. He eventually surrendered his biases and his life to Jesus and became a follower of Christ.

Jim grew in his understanding and served in a number of capacities in the local church. He eventually entered seminary at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, earning a Master's Degree in Theological Studies. He served as a Youth Pastor for several years, then planted a church in 2006. Along the way, Jim created PleaseConvinceMe.com as a place to post what he was learning (and teaching) about the Christian Worldview. This adventure in apologetics became the major thrust of Jim's Christian service and now occupies much of his free time. Jim has appeared on Television and Radio, explaining the role that evidence plays in the Christian definition of "faith" and defending the historicity of Jesus, the reliability of the Bible and the truth of the Christian worldview. Jim also speaks at churches, retreats and camps as he seeks to help people become "Christian Case Makers."