Josh's Journey to God
As a kid, Josh didn’t believe God was real — or good. He saw no evidence of it in his own life, or those around him. His father was a violent alcoholic who regularly beat up Josh’s mom, and Josh himself was abused for six years by the handyman his parents invited to live in their home. Full of rage, shame, and emptiness, Josh wanted to die. Only his anger kept him going.
At college, Josh mocked students he discovered were Christians. In his opinion, these “dimwits” believed in a fantasy world. They needed a crutch, because they were weak.
Ironically, God would use these “dimwits” to launch Josh on a fact-finding mission that would lead him to Europe, to study historical documents, to disprove their faith. But what Josh had to acknowledge, after months of studying these ancient manuscripts, was that the historically recorded facts overwhelmingly pointed to Jesus BEING who He said He was.
And if Jesus is the Son of God, as He claimed, why should Josh not trust what Jesus said about God and His great love for him? Or not trust that the Bible is trustworthy, too?
By finally surrendering to God’s authority and great love for him, Josh gained freedom from his past and answers to these critical questions: “Who am I? … “Why do I matter?” … “What’s the point of life?” Living from these answers began to make all the difference in Josh’s life!
![](https://www.josh.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/607/2023/09/Josh-young-smiling-204x300.jpeg)
![](https://www.josh.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/607/2018/05/joshmom.jpg)
![josh-mcdowell-headshot-1.jpg josh-mcdowell-headshot-1.jpg](https://www.josh.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/607/elementor/thumbs/josh-mcdowell-headshot-1-qbat1yyf9apxosigc1em77q47w99p8mvcveazagcco.jpg)