Customer Reviews

The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus (6 pack)

5 star:		(214)
4 star:		(67)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(41)
1 star:		(58)

 

 

This book does an excellent job of building up a case for Christ and Christianity. The book is divided into three parts: an examination of the Bible's accuracy, an analysis of the character of Jesus, and an analysis of the resurrection. Each part is divided into several chapters and for each chapter, Strobel interviews a different biblical scholar in the given subject. So, basically this book is a collection of some of the best ideas from the best defenders of the Christian faith.

The first part shows some amazing evidence regarding the authenticity of the Bible. This section clearly shows that the Bible is the most authentic piece of ancient literature ever (which many atheistic scholars agree on). For example, Homer's Illiad (which is usually considered to be the second most reliable ancient document, next to the Bible) was written in 800BC and its oldest surviving manuscripts are from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. On the other hand, the New Testament was written in the first century and the oldest surviving manuscripts are from the 2nd century. So, 1,000 year gap for the Illiad, and 200 year gap for the New Testament. Also, the Illiad has 650 surviving manuscripts, whereas the Bible has over 24,000. Lots of other types of evidence are presented in this section, such the Bible's style of writing, sources from outside the Bible, and archeology.

The second part examines Jesus character and answers questions like: Did Jesus actually consider himself to be the messiah?, Was Jesus insane when he claimed to be the messiah?, Does he fit the Old Testament's description of the messiah, and Did he fulfill the Old Testament prophecies? Once again, Strobel and his interviewees present some amazing evidence here.

The third section goes into the details of Jesus' resurrection. Questions that are posed here are: Was Jesus' resurrection a hoax?, Was Jesus' tomb actually empty?, Did Jesus appear to people after his crucifixion?, and What is the circumstantial evidence for the resurrection?

Overall I found the evidence in this book to be very convincing. I admit that I was already Catholic before reading the book, but when reading books regarding religion, politics, or controversial issues I make sure that I keep an objective and open mind.

Of course, there are many negative reviews about this book on Amazon, but I'm not too surprised because this book has a very wide audience: Christians, other religions, agnostics, atheists, pretty much anyone. This is because many people recommend this book to non-Christians, which is because it covers pretty much all the basic points in Christianity. So, with many atheists reading the book it's natural to have many negative reviews. Also, this book only covers the basics; it doesn't give long answers to all the questions (like some other, larger apologetics books do), so many people will come up counter-arguments. And, the book is in an interview format, so the interviewees might have forgotten a few arguments when being interviewed.

But, the point of this book is not to cover every possible counter-argument to Christianity. It covers many, but not all. If you want more evidence for Christianity then Strobel has many other amazing books, and at the end of each chapter in this book he gives lots of references.

And of course, the main thing to do when reading a book about religion (or any other controversial topic) is to not be biased! If you're biased or have a preconceived position on the topic then no matter how much evidence you are given, chances are that you will not be swayed. It's really too bad how much our emotions or bias get in the way of important issues like religion.

This book caused a fundamental change in the way I looked at Christianity. After reading this book, I was able to finally able to explain "why" I believe. It showed me that Christianity is made stronger by looking at the evidence and gave me the courage to have conviction in my faith. Every Christian should read this book, and buy a copy for their friend, family member or co-worker who insists that Christianity doesn't make sense.

"The Case For Christ" is an enjoyable and easy to read. The author deals with numerous tough questions about the Bible and the life of Christ. Questions are answered concisely, but the author includes lists of many other books for further reading on any topic.

This book is well written, extremely fascinating, extensively researched and convincing. A great resource for committed Christians and skeptics alike.

I liked Lee Strobel's book, but it wasn't a patch on the other Tribune jounalist's examination of the life of Christ--THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JESUS CHRIST "as told to" Neil Elliott, which I found inspiring and moving in a special way, so that it could appeal to the entire range from fundamentalists to anti-Jesus liberals.

We need more books to put Jesus in the context of the Roman Empire and a Holy Land caught up in a special brand of Messianic fervor. That was where Jesus was coming from, whether God incarnate or merely a "Son of Man," as he referred to himself.

There are good reasons to read this book, and there are probably bad reasons to read this book. I read it as I was coming to Christ, and it helped me to feel more secure in my descision.

Really the core question that this book is not "Did Christ live and is indeed the Savior of the world?", but "Can a reasonable person believe?"

If you are reading the book to find the answer to the first question, then I do not think the book can make you believe the answer. It provides one person's answer to each of the common questions asked. Each of these experts are biased in their belief, and present "a" answer to the question presented to them, not nessesarily "the" answer. If you are truely searching for objective truth, then you are looking in the wrong place. (Objective truth is probably impossible to find on religious matters)

If you are looking for the answer to the second question, then this is an excelent book. It shows how a studied and resonable person can believe. Each of the experts interviewed believe, and provide very solid reasonable explainations about how they can believe considering the common objections that they are questioned about.

I believe that it is God's job to call you to faith. If you are feeling His call, this book can help you understand and explain that the Christian faith is not a blind faith.

Everyone should read this book! It offers legitimate answers to the questions about God and Jesus. It is written in an extremely easy to understand fashion, yet it is not "dumbed down". It treats the subject matter and the reader with respect. Fascinating!

Strobel sets up a number of straw men in this book, and then knocks them down: "Critics say that Jesus was such and such-- but Expert X says diferent!!!" This is his method, and it gets tiresome quickly, for many reasons. First, he does little to lay out reputable criticisms, picking and choosing those arguments he wishes to refute. Then he goes to his experts, all of whom are (surprise!) Christian professors who destroy the straw argument, leaving us little choice but to agree that, indeed, Christ actually did this or that miracle. As an example of rational argumentation, the book gets zero stars, though it's at times entertaining. There's an excellent book waiting to be written on this topic. This ain't it.

"Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;" -- Titus 1:1-3 (NKJV)

Many born-again Christians are reluctant to discuss their faith with skeptics, despite the Great Commission, and encouragement not to be ashamed of Jesus before men. This book will be a blessing for such uncomfortable believers.

Let me explain. I was working at a homeless shelter one night when I met a fellow volunteer who had lots of questions about independent evidence that Jesus is who is said He is. I listened to all of his questions and asked, "What kind of evidence would you like to study?"

He immediately replied, "Well, it would be great if a reporter looked into questions the way newspapers always do and wrote about what was discovered."

I smiled and replied, "Would you like to read a book that a reporter wrote while he was a skeptic, who later became a Christian?"

A huge smile spread across his face.

I handed him a slip of paper with all the information about this book, and suggested we talk further a month later when we next volunteered. I knew that the Holy Spirit was working overtime to bring this skeptic into the fold.

Before reading The Case for Christ, I had noticed that our church offered free copies to anyone who wanted to learn more about Jesus. I didn't pick the book up though until I heard Lee Strobel speak at a Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale service. I wanted to know more, and this book nicely expanded on what he had to say. It was time well sent in preparing me for more excellent witnessing opportunities. Since then I've also read The Case for the Real Jesus, also by Lee Strobel, and suggest that you read both books. Start with The Case for Christ.

As a legal journalist by profession, Lee Strobel likes to provide a legal context for his chapters and to describe the process he used to obtain the answers. This makes the book feel a little like so-called new journalism. The real meat comes in the questions and answers during interviews with leading Christian scholars.

Here are the key questions raised in the book and the authorities who addressed them:

1. "Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted?" (Dr. Craig Blomberg)

2. "Do the biographies of Jesus stand up to scrutiny?" (Dr. Craig Blomberg)

3. "Were Jesus' biographies reliably preserved for us?" (Dr. Bruce Metzger)

4. "Is there credible evidence for Jesus outside of His biographies?" (Dr. Edwin Yamauchi)

5. "Does archeology confirm or contradict Jesus' biographies?" (Dr. John McRay)

6. "Is the Jesus of history the same as the Jesus of faith?" (Dr. Gregory Boyd)

7. "Was Jesus really convinced that He was the Son of God?" (Dr. Ben Witherington III)

8. "Was Jesus crazy when He claimed to be the Son of God?" (Dr. Gary Collins)

9. "Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God?" (Dr. D.A. Carson)

10. "Did Jesus--and Jesus alone--match the identity of the Messiah?" (Louis Lapides, M.Div, Th.M)

11. "Was Jesus' death a sham and His resurrection a hoax?" (Dr. Alexander Metherell)

12. "Was Jesus' body really missing from His tomb?" (Dr. William Lane Craig)

13. "Was Jesus seen alive after His death on the cross?" (Dr. Gary Habermas)

14. "Are there any supporting facts that point to the resurrection? (Dr. J.P. Moreland)

If you really want to dig into any of these subjects, you'll probably find the information here to be too superficial to be totally satisfying. You can, however, use the footnotes to find meatier material, and I encourage you to do so.

As a believer, I found myself gaining lots more reasons to believe. What a blessing! Praise God!

Strobel does an excellent job of examining the evidence for the Ressurection of Christ from all angles. His findings are very logical and convincing. This is a really good book to read if you are as confused and skeptical as I have recently become. The methodical way that Strobel presents the evidence in this book argues very very strongly for the truth of the Bible. The only shortcoming as far as I'm concerned is his neglecting to really give the full arguments for the liberals and atheists (or if he did, they sure don't have very solid cases). I would highly reccomend this book to anyone interested in learning about the history and the evidence of Christ and the church.