Using the dramatic scenario of an investigative journalist pursuing his story and leads, Strobel uses his experience as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune to interview experts about the evidence for Christ from the fields of science, philosophy, and history.
The Case for Christ
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Is there credible evidence that Jesus is the Son of God?
Not too many years ago, I was an atheist. My agnostic wife's conversion to Christianity prompted me to use my legal training (M.S.L., Yale Law School) and journalism experience (I was the legal editor of "The Chicago Tribune") to systematically investigate whether there's any credible evidence that Jesus is the unique Son of God. "The Case for Christ" retraces the two-year quest that rocked my world. But instead of me merely describing the evidence that convinced me Christianity is true, I interviewed thirteen leading scholars and experts, posing to them the tough questions I had when I was a skeptic. These authorities, with doctorates from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other prestigious institutions, were forced to defend their positions with compelling evidence and persuasive logic. Among the topics I cover are: € Historical evidence: Are there really enough reliable documents supporting the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus? € Scientific evidence: Do archaeological findings support or contradict the historical accounts of Jesus? € Psychiatric evidence: Did Jesus ever claim to be God? If he did, was he crazy? And does he fulfill all of the attributes of God? € Fingerprint evidence: Do ancient prophecies -- written hundreds of years before Jesus was born -- really point to him alone as being the Messiah of Israel and the world? € Plus powerful evidence from four leading authorities on the ultimate authentication of Jesus' claim to being God: his resurrection from the dead. I wanted the book to be both reliable and readable. I have been extremely gratified by the reaction of renowned law professor Phillip Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley, who wrote: "Lee Strobel asks the questions a tough-minded skeptic would ask. His book is so good I read it out loud to my wife evenings after dinner. Every inquirer should have it." Hank Hanegraaff, the nationally syndicated "Bible Answer Man" and president of the Christian Research Institute, was especially gracious in his review: "This is not a dry-as-dust theological treatise. 'The Case for Christ' is a supreme example of investigative journalism that reads like a fast-paced novel. I couldn't put it down. I will go so far as to say that 'The Case for Christ' is the best presentation of the historical evidence for Jesus, in print at a popular level, that I have ever read." Others who have strongly endorsed the book are Bruce M. Metzger, professor emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary; well-respected scholars J. P. Moreland, Thom Rainer, Peter Kreeft, and Gregory Boyd; Ravi Zacharias, one of the world's foremost defenders of Christianity; famed psychologist Gary Collins; and such highly regarded Christian leaders as Bill Hybels, D. James Kennedy, Bill Bright, and Luis Palau. I wrote this book for three audiences. First, it's for Christians who want to be prepared to defend their faith when it's challenged by skeptics like I once was. (I include a chapter responding to the liberal Jesus Seminar's conclusions that Jesus never said most of what the New Testament claims he said.) Second, it's for Christians who are wavering in their faith and want to anchor it firmly once more. Third -- and most of all -- it's for spiritual seekers who are truly interested in investigating for themselves whether it's rational to put their faith in Jesus of Nazareth. No single book can answer every question. However, I encourage anyone who is authentically curious about Jesus to read "The Case for Christ" with an open mind and sincere heart. Weigh the evidence for yourself. Reach your own verdict. I'll be cheering you on.
Not too many years ago, I was an atheist. My agnostic wife's conversion to Christianity prompted me to use my legal training (M.S.L., Yale Law School) and journalism experience (I was the legal editor of "The Chicago Tribune") to systematically investigate whether there's any credible evidence that Jesus is the unique Son of God. "The Case for Christ" retraces the two-year quest that rocked my world. But instead of me merely describing the evidence that convinced me Christianity is true, I interviewed thirteen leading scholars and experts, posing to them the tough questions I had when I was a skeptic. These authorities, with doctorates from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other prestigious institutions, were forced to defend their positions with compelling evidence and persuasive logic. Among the topics I cover are: € Historical evidence: Are there really enough reliable documents supporting the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus? € Scientific evidence: Do archaeological findings support or contradict the historical accounts of Jesus? € Psychiatric evidence: Did Jesus ever claim to be God? If he did, was he crazy? And does he fulfill all of the attributes of God? € Fingerprint evidence: Do ancient prophecies -- written hundreds of years before Jesus was born -- really point to him alone as being the Messiah of Israel and the world? € Plus powerful evidence from four leading authorities on the ultimate authentication of Jesus' claim to being God: his resurrection from the dead. I wanted the book to be both reliable and readable. I have been extremely gratified by the reaction of renowned law professor Phillip Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley, who wrote: "Lee Strobel asks the questions a tough-minded skeptic would ask. His book is so good I read it out loud to my wife evenings after dinner. Every inquirer should have it." Hank Hanegraaff, the nationally syndicated "Bible Answer Man" and president of the Christian Research Institute, was especially gracious in his review: "This is not a dry-as-dust theological treatise. 'The Case for Christ' is a supreme example of investigative journalism that reads like a fast-paced novel. I couldn't put it down. I will go so far as to say that 'The Case for Christ' is the best presentation of the historical evidence for Jesus, in print at a popular level, that I have ever read." Others who have strongly endorsed the book are Bruce M. Metzger, professor emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary; well-respected scholars J. P. Moreland, Thom Rainer, Peter Kreeft, and Gregory Boyd; Ravi Zacharias, one of the world's foremost defenders of Christianity; famed psychologist Gary Collins; and such highly regarded Christian leaders as Bill Hybels, D. James Kennedy, Bill Bright, and Luis Palau. I wrote this book for three audiences. First, it's for Christians who want to be prepared to defend their faith when it's challenged by skeptics like I once was. (I include a chapter responding to the liberal Jesus Seminar's conclusions that Jesus never said most of what the New Testament claims he said.) Second, it's for Christians who are wavering in their faith and want to anchor it firmly once more. Third -- and most of all -- it's for spiritual seekers who are truly interested in investigating for themselves whether it's rational to put their faith in Jesus of Nazareth. No single book can answer every question. However, I encourage anyone who is authentically curious about Jesus to read "The Case for Christ" with an open mind and sincere heart. Weigh the evidence for yourself. Reach your own verdict. I'll be cheering you on.
From the Back Cover
Is there credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God? Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools like Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandies who are recognized authorities in their fields. Strobel challenges them with questions like How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence exist for Jesus outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event? Strobel's tough, point-blank questions make this remarkable book read like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it's not fiction. It's a riveting quest for the truth about history's most compelling figure. What will your verdict be in The Case for Christ?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 56 people found the following review helpful
By T. P. Ang
Format:Paperback
I would highly recommend this book to anyone exploring Christian apologetics for the first time. It is a compellingly written and easily readable defence of Christian claims about Jesus Christ. Strobel tackles the subject from about every conceivable angle by investigating everything from the geography of the New Testament to the events surrounding Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. It is on this latter point that the book builds is case most strongly, providing credible arguments for a rational basis for believing in the resurrection.
The book's structure is both its strength and its weakness. The author assumes the role of detective as he jets around America meeting and interviewing experts on the various aspects of the case he investigates. The cross-examinations that take place are recounted to the reader and make for more lively reading than a traditional narative. The interviews are also cleverly interspersed with the little anecdotes that tie in with the unfolding argument. However, the question-and-answer format tends to leave gaps in the arguments and gives the overall case a disjointed feel. Also, arguments tend to get simplified because they are related in the form of a dialogue.
On the whole, the book is well-written and accessible, but slightly simplistic, and can serve as a good starting-point from which to explore the case for Christ further.
The book's structure is both its strength and its weakness. The author assumes the role of detective as he jets around America meeting and interviewing experts on the various aspects of the case he investigates. The cross-examinations that take place are recounted to the reader and make for more lively reading than a traditional narative. The interviews are also cleverly interspersed with the little anecdotes that tie in with the unfolding argument. However, the question-and-answer format tends to leave gaps in the arguments and gives the overall case a disjointed feel. Also, arguments tend to get simplified because they are related in the form of a dialogue.
On the whole, the book is well-written and accessible, but slightly simplistic, and can serve as a good starting-point from which to explore the case for Christ further.
33 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'll admit right now that I was (and still am) an athesist or at least an agnostic when I picked up this book. The style in which Strobel uses to discuss the key questions against Christ is compelling and turns the book into a real page-turner. His 'interrogation' of the theological experts ensures that the questions that you have are posed and a form of an answer given. However, I would suggest to anyone who feels compelled to convert to Christianity after reading this book to at least take note of the websites out there that have compiled a very detailed critique of the book and the 'testaments' given by the experts. Either way, its a very interesting read and hopefully, rather than immediately converting people, leads them to investigate further the case of Jesus and Christianity and perhaps the responses of the athesist school of thought to gather a balanced opinion.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Ned Santorum
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It would be unfair to criticise this book for being when its title clearly indicates that its mission is to set out the one-sided case for Jesus's existence as the son of God. However, between its covers, Strobel gives the impression of an unbiased search for the truth, complete with a sprinkling of courtroom anecdotes to imply a high level of scrutiny, which this book simply isn't. He speaks to not a single scholar who is not an evangelical Christian.
My first problem in this book came with the first two chapters which attempt to explain why we should believe what the gospels say. Here Strobel unfortunately falls back on circular arguments such as mentioning the good character of the gospel writers as reason for believing their accounts. However, the only evidence we have for their characters is in the gospels themselves, so one already needs to be convinced by the gospels to buy this argument.
These first two chapters are amongst the weakest in the book, which is problematic as many of the later arguments of the book are based on the reliability of the gospels, so if you haven't been convinced by that, many of the later chapters fall down too.
The biggest problem with Strobel's investigation is that while he asks some of the challenging questions of his academics that are often posed by sceptics, he swallows whatever explanation they give him with no further scrutiny no matter how implausible their explanations are. For example, at one point he asks how it is possible for the massacre of the infants by Herod to have taken place as Herod's reign does not fit in with the dates of other events in the Bible. The answer he is given is that there might have been another King Herod. This to me sounds like an attempt to validate a previously held belief, not an honest attempt at historical discovery. Yet Strobel accepts many answers of this calibre without hesitation, which is frustrating for the reader.
Another fatal flaw of Strobel's approach is that he adds no weight to the fact that one needs greater historical evidence to believe in miracles than to believe other things. For example, if there is a 2000 year old document that says Julius Caesar enjoyed drinking wine, we may well accept this to have a reasonable probability of accuracy, but if it said he walked on water we would probably ask for more evidence. Strobel does not appear to realise this.
He is also too eager to jump to supernatural conclusions. Even if we agree with him up to the point that the gospels are fantastic, reliable accounts from the time, the most likely explanation is still not that a man who is the son of a deity was sent to Earth and performed miracles. While Strobel dismisses explanations such as hoax, hallucination, misreporting, legendary exaggeration and lying, he fails to acknowledge that even if unlikely these explanations are all more likely than the supernatural explanation. Again, he requires someone who already believes elements of the Bible or in a god for this to convince, which is a shame as his aim is to convince us of Jesus's divinity by secular historical means,an aim which he fails to meet.
Ultimately, this book looks good on the surface, but falls down following the application of basic critical thought. It will convince those seeking to be convinced, but anyone with a genuinely neutral stance shouldn't be taken in.
It has been said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Lee Strobel would do well to remember this.
My first problem in this book came with the first two chapters which attempt to explain why we should believe what the gospels say. Here Strobel unfortunately falls back on circular arguments such as mentioning the good character of the gospel writers as reason for believing their accounts. However, the only evidence we have for their characters is in the gospels themselves, so one already needs to be convinced by the gospels to buy this argument.
These first two chapters are amongst the weakest in the book, which is problematic as many of the later arguments of the book are based on the reliability of the gospels, so if you haven't been convinced by that, many of the later chapters fall down too.
The biggest problem with Strobel's investigation is that while he asks some of the challenging questions of his academics that are often posed by sceptics, he swallows whatever explanation they give him with no further scrutiny no matter how implausible their explanations are. For example, at one point he asks how it is possible for the massacre of the infants by Herod to have taken place as Herod's reign does not fit in with the dates of other events in the Bible. The answer he is given is that there might have been another King Herod. This to me sounds like an attempt to validate a previously held belief, not an honest attempt at historical discovery. Yet Strobel accepts many answers of this calibre without hesitation, which is frustrating for the reader.
Another fatal flaw of Strobel's approach is that he adds no weight to the fact that one needs greater historical evidence to believe in miracles than to believe other things. For example, if there is a 2000 year old document that says Julius Caesar enjoyed drinking wine, we may well accept this to have a reasonable probability of accuracy, but if it said he walked on water we would probably ask for more evidence. Strobel does not appear to realise this.
He is also too eager to jump to supernatural conclusions. Even if we agree with him up to the point that the gospels are fantastic, reliable accounts from the time, the most likely explanation is still not that a man who is the son of a deity was sent to Earth and performed miracles. While Strobel dismisses explanations such as hoax, hallucination, misreporting, legendary exaggeration and lying, he fails to acknowledge that even if unlikely these explanations are all more likely than the supernatural explanation. Again, he requires someone who already believes elements of the Bible or in a god for this to convince, which is a shame as his aim is to convince us of Jesus's divinity by secular historical means,an aim which he fails to meet.
Ultimately, this book looks good on the surface, but falls down following the application of basic critical thought. It will convince those seeking to be convinced, but anyone with a genuinely neutral stance shouldn't be taken in.
It has been said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Lee Strobel would do well to remember this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
interesting content, terrible writing style
I personally found the content of this book very interesting. As someone who used to be a Christian but has now fallen in to atheism I found Strobel asked many of the questions I... Read more
Published 1 month ago by klfie
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you're a 'doubting Thomas' read this!
This is a remarkable piece of investigative journalism by a journalist of renown. For 'doubting Thomases' - and they must be legion - it is a must. Read more
Published 4 months ago by S. Crowther
4.0 out of 5 stars
A journalist's personal investigation
The author makes his case on the basis of questions raised and answered using the special skills of a journalist with long experience of legal investigative processes and the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Cantab
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quite good discussion of the case for Christianity
Am still in the process of reading this. Even though I am a practicing Christian I find some of the answers to the hard questions seem rather easily accepted. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Peter Mercer
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read
Why would I an Atheist give 5 stars to a book that lays out the "Case for Christ"? I shall explain.
The book continues all the way through really like a action thriller... Read more
The book continues all the way through really like a action thriller... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Tommi
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could not believe what I read
If this book was to make you believe the bible was credible, it did just the oposite.
well worth a read, after reading this you will realise the bible is just a book of fairy... Read more
well worth a read, after reading this you will realise the bible is just a book of fairy... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Yonmon
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Case for Christ.
Written from the perspective and with painstaking detail you would expect from an investigative journalist. It raises and deals with all the difficult questions. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Barry Meyler
3.0 out of 5 stars
An unconvincing case?
Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" was a bestseller a couple of years ago. The author is a former crime reporter and atheist, who converted to evangelical Christianity and became... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Ashtar Command
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
Really challenges the reader to look at the deeper into the evidence and the claims which God make. Thrilling, exciting, insightful and VERY scholarly - a must read for all you... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Shopperreader
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Case for Christ
Athiest? I dare you to read it! This book is well written by a non believer who is an investigative journalist who's remit is to find out the truth of whatever case is being... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mark Northants
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