- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Zondervan (7 Aug 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0310226465
- ISBN-13: 978-0310226468
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.5 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
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- #80 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible > Bible Studies > New Testament > Biography
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
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.
From the Author
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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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When I first met shy and soft-spoken Leo Carter, he was a seventeen-year-old veteran of Chicago's grittiest neighborhood. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When I first met shy and soft-spoken Leo Carter, he was a seventeen-year-old veteran of Chicago's grittiest neighborhood. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
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.
50 of 54 people found the following review helpful
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.
74 of 82 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As someone who has spent years studying ancient history, I can attest to the accuracy, fairness, readability, and thorough nature of this excellent new book. And while it's great that "The Case for Christ" has generated so much response at amazon.com, I'm concerned that a handful of people who disagree with the author's conclusions have sought to discourage others from obtaining the book through reviews that are at times misleading or which miss the point of the book entirely. Taking simplistic potshots when there is no ready mechanism for response by the author seems terribly unfair. Let me give just a few examples. One reviewer tries to discredit the author's citing of Josephus, a first century historian. First, the reviewer claims that Josephus wrote about Jesus 80 years after Jesus died, which is absurd because this would place the date after Josephus' own death! Further, he claims Josephus' work has been "universally acknowledged to have been altered or doctored by later Christians." Yet this is a point that the book's author, Lee Strobel, readily concedes! However, Strobel takes the approach of a true historian by seeking to determine what part of Josephus' work is authentic and what was likely a later Christian interpolation. Unfortunately, potential readers of the book might think from the review that Strobel's book is lacking, when it's the review that misses the mark. A reviewer points out that several of the experts interviewed in the book are from Christian universities, so of course they believe Jesus is who he claimed to be. However, these scholars don't hold this view because they are at Christian universities; they are at Christian universities because they have been personally convinced by the evidence that Jesus is who he claimed to be! These experts are highly respected scholars with excellent academic credentials. Why aren't opposing scholars interviewed? Because the scholars in the book are confronted with the claims of these opposing scholars and are forced to defend their positions with facts. Thus, the claims of opposing scholars are given due consideration. In addition, the author devotes an entire chapter to debunking the highly questionable -- and sometimes laughable -- scholarship of the left-wing Jesus Seminar. Concerning the resurrection, a reviewer claims: "If one disciple claimed to see Jesus, wouldn't others also do so in order to not feel less special or blessed?" Why would someone falsely claim to have seen the resurrected Jesus when it meant a life of hardship, rejection, poverty, and eventual torture and death? Can anyone find a single example in history of a person who knowingly and willingly allowed themselves to be tortured to death for a lie? I could go on and on. There are logical and rational responses to every single point brought up by the reviewers. In fact, a fair reading of this book shows that it already provides answers to much of what is raised! At about 300 pages, this book is clearly intended to be an overview of the evidence concerning Jesus. To fault the author for not going deeper on one point or another does not mean there aren't adequate answers. It simply means one book can only give so much information. What is in this book, as far as I can determine, is accurate, balanced, and written in a very creative and highly readable form. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an open mind.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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 2 months ago by Yonmon
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 4 months ago by Barry Meyler
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 5 months ago by Ashtar Command
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 5 months ago by Shopperreader
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 5 months ago by Mark Northants
A must read. The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel
As a former investigative journalist, Strobel's work is incisive, engaging and relevant. In this book we find a sceptical Strobel compelled by his wife's conversion to... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gill King
Turned me around!
My dad gave me this book to keep in my luggage 8 years ago as I set out for a far away land (England!). For 4 years that's where it remained. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Sean
The Case fo Christ Lee Strobel
As a Christian I read this book because it was recommended for use in evangelism.
It is a most enjoyable and interesting book.
It is a most enjoyable and interesting book.
Published 9 months ago by Charlton London
Biased account pretending to be honest
What a waste of time. If you're looking for intellectual stimulation you can skip this book. This is not an attempt at serious scholarship. Read more
Published 9 months ago by K. Winters
Disappointing
The idea behind this book is interesting, but I was disappointed with the result. The 'hard' questions were anything but hard, and the author accepted the answers far too readily. Read more
Published 10 months ago by R. Sykes
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