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393 reviews for:
The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Lee Strobel
3.93 AVERAGE
393 reviews for:
The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Lee Strobel
3.93 AVERAGE
While this book is a good introductory course into apologetics, I felt that this book failed in several key ways.
First, Strobel is writing from a distance of years, maybe a decade or more, since his own search and conversion. In fact, phrasing and statements from the epilogue, or conclusion, lead me to believe none of the interviews he cites even took place before he was already a Christian. This is not a bad thing, but it does cast a bad light on his so-called search for proof. He's already found it, and it feels very disingenuous to pretend otherwise for an entire book.
Second, Strobel's writing style is middle-school level and far too narrative. Now, there's nothing wrong with writing to a broad audience, and maybe it's just that I've been reading more complicated books since before I started school (thank you, Daddy), but a lot of the text felt like it was over-simplified and "talking-down." That Strobel would choose a narrative, almost novel-like writing style for a non-fiction book is also problematic. It felt like he wanted to keep readers engaged and active, but he went about it the wrong way. Instead it comes off like he wants to recreate the Scopes Trial, but with Jesus instead of Creation at the core of his arguments.
And thirdly, Strobel never actually got around to making his point. I think he felt the reader could come to their own conclusion, but what happened was that the book just sort of stopped, and then we were into the concluding passage. He skipped over any concluding arguments that made sense and went right to the evangelism part of the book. We went from talking about historically, did Jesus exist and does Christianity make sense right to "AND THIS IS HOW YOU BECOME A BELIEVER."
All of that being said, it does seem like this book would be a good tool to use in a classroom setting, for Bible classes for teens or for the newly converted. It had a lot of good information that I usually take for granted, having been raised in the church. It also brought up a lot of the biggest arguments against Jesus and countered them nicely. It was also not a hard book to read, which means it's a great one to give to people who don't have a ton of time or who are younger. Language isn't a problem here, Strobel defines his terms very nicely and clearly, and there isn't a lot of distancing terminology.
The final thing I wanted to hit on before wrapping up is that this is not a book to make converts but to educate the newly converted. This book is probably not going to convince anyone who isn't either already swaying toward Christianity, or who isn't very open minded. It's written for people who are already coming to the conclusion that Christ is the answer, not people who are happy with their beliefs and didn't ask for convincing.
First, Strobel is writing from a distance of years, maybe a decade or more, since his own search and conversion. In fact, phrasing and statements from the epilogue, or conclusion, lead me to believe none of the interviews he cites even took place before he was already a Christian. This is not a bad thing, but it does cast a bad light on his so-called search for proof. He's already found it, and it feels very disingenuous to pretend otherwise for an entire book.
Second, Strobel's writing style is middle-school level and far too narrative. Now, there's nothing wrong with writing to a broad audience, and maybe it's just that I've been reading more complicated books since before I started school (thank you, Daddy), but a lot of the text felt like it was over-simplified and "talking-down." That Strobel would choose a narrative, almost novel-like writing style for a non-fiction book is also problematic. It felt like he wanted to keep readers engaged and active, but he went about it the wrong way. Instead it comes off like he wants to recreate the Scopes Trial, but with Jesus instead of Creation at the core of his arguments.
And thirdly, Strobel never actually got around to making his point. I think he felt the reader could come to their own conclusion, but what happened was that the book just sort of stopped, and then we were into the concluding passage. He skipped over any concluding arguments that made sense and went right to the evangelism part of the book. We went from talking about historically, did Jesus exist and does Christianity make sense right to "AND THIS IS HOW YOU BECOME A BELIEVER."
All of that being said, it does seem like this book would be a good tool to use in a classroom setting, for Bible classes for teens or for the newly converted. It had a lot of good information that I usually take for granted, having been raised in the church. It also brought up a lot of the biggest arguments against Jesus and countered them nicely. It was also not a hard book to read, which means it's a great one to give to people who don't have a ton of time or who are younger. Language isn't a problem here, Strobel defines his terms very nicely and clearly, and there isn't a lot of distancing terminology.
The final thing I wanted to hit on before wrapping up is that this is not a book to make converts but to educate the newly converted. This book is probably not going to convince anyone who isn't either already swaying toward Christianity, or who isn't very open minded. It's written for people who are already coming to the conclusion that Christ is the answer, not people who are happy with their beliefs and didn't ask for convincing.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I liked the way this book was written in cases and interview styles
The Case for Christ is one of the most prominent books I have read about God and the Christian faith. It takes Biblical, historical, scientific, and archaeological facts and applies them to the existence and truth of God. I love how Lee Strobel is able to take the logical essence of Christianity and apply it to raw faith in such a beautiful way. Perfect for people with analytical minds, questions about the facts of the Bible, and for strengthening your foundation in Christ!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Very factual and insightful. I've been a christian for a year and this book really opened my eyes in a way that nothing else has before. I felt it was a balanced and unbiased review of evidence with no fear of saying where the bible could have downfalls.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I don’t even want to leave a review because I feel talking about religion is taboo just like politics. But, I’m going to anyway. This was recommend to me by a Christian coworker who felt that by reading this book “I’d believe” or convert I guess. The only thing I got from this book was that at the end, the author just appealed to faith. He only interviewed Christians who all had the same beliefs basically. I was expecting counter arguments from non-Christians. Strobel also don’t really present an arguments for anything. He was to quick to accept the explanations. Not to mention, the explanations weren’t really explanations. It was more so just a bunch of hearsay. There wasn’t much of any arguments.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5 stars! This was such an amazing book to read because I had never considered the hard evidence for Jesus being a real person and who He said He was. This didn't necessarily do anything except strengthen my own faith, but it was really cool to read about someone so skeptical approach it in the best way he knew, which was through investigative journalism. I will say there were some points I wish Strobel would have covered more, but, as he mentions in his own interview at the end, there's only so much one book can cover (and he provides plenty of extra reading and notes for furthering your own research).