Jesus Is Alive: Louis Zamperini

The resurrection of Jesus is more than a mere historical curiosity.  His living presence has impacted millions of lives across the globe and through the centuries. 

Louis Zamperini (1917-2014)

One of these was Louis Zamperini (1917-2014), an American World War II bomber pilot, who was shot down over the Pacific and somehow survived brutal imprisonment in Japanese prisoner of war camps.  He is the subject of the compelling account of his life in Laura Hillenbrand’s gripping 2010 biography Unbroken.  The first part of the book was made into a movie directed by Angelina Jolie.  The movie presents Zamperini as the courageous man he was, unbowed and unbroken by the months of horrifying abuse by his captors.  The book, however, tells a more complete story.  The title, it seems, is ironic because Louis was in fact crushed and broken in spirit by his devastating experiences.  Not until his encounter with Jesus could Louis truly be said to be unbroken, or rather mended and made whole.  For Louis Zamperini, Jesus was real.

This blog article is an excerpt from my book: Five Languages of Evidence: How to Speak about Reasons for Christianity in a Post-truth World.  Not yet published; available upon request. 

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