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404 reviews for:
The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Lee Strobel
3.94 AVERAGE
404 reviews for:
The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Lee Strobel
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
The Case for Christ was a very informative read if you want to understand how academic Christians maintain their faith in Jesus Christ. Lee Strobel builds a solid case for the existence of Jesus, but that case is built upon a few assumptions that are not entirely convincing when viewed from all sides.
Essentially, the divinity of Christ boils down to the reliability of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Strobel "proves" their reliability by presenting discussions he had with prominent biblical scholars. These scholars offer their testimony that the things they've studied have only strengthened their faith in Christianity. They offer rebuttals to some popular arguments against Christianity, and overall give a good amount of evidence that the Bible is largely accurate regarding its historical references. Strobel argues that given the reliability of the Gospels, Jesus Christ surely is the Son of Man, the Prince of Peace, and the Lamb of God.
I enjoyed reading the book because it gave me a better picture of how Christians can examine their faith critically and still come out on the other side as a believer. Coming from Mormonism (a faith so young that it lacks the rich history of academia found in Christianity), I had no idea that there was actually some evidence for the Bible. There's absolutely no evidence supporting the Book of Mormon, so I always thought belief in Christ must always be founded completely on faith. But there is enough archeological evidence that we can probably assume that some sort of Jesus figure lived around the beginning of the Common Era.
That said, the case presented by Strobel makes a few key assumptions that I cannot accept. The accuracy of the Gospels, while often accurate in their portrayal of places and customs found in ancient Jerusalem, is heavily in question when it comes to what Christ supposedly said and did. The earliest of the Gospels is Luke, which was most likely written about four decades after Jesus's death. Given that time gap, we can almost surely assume that very little of Jesus's words were actually spoken by him. The message may have likely made it through the years, but fundamentalist Christians who claim those words were actually spoken by Jesus are almost assuredly mistaken.
There are many other points of view that cast doubt on the validity of the four Gospels that are hardly treated in Strobel's book. Another short example of something that reeks of Christ being a legendary figure is the portrayal of Jesus throughout the gospels. Luke, the first written, is the least legendary, which makes sense given its proximity to the actual event. From there, the legend grows with each new gospel, until we reach John and Jesus has become the Christ figure we hear about today.
I don't have time to present all the objections I found to Strobel's one-sided treatment of the issue, but the more I study the history of the Bible, the more I am convinced of the humanity of Jesus. That said, I am not a biblical expert. I am still learning more about the Bible and am open to where new information will take me. So we'll see what happens as I keep studying the origins of Christianity, but this book did little to quell my doubts about the literal existence of the Son of God.
I knew what I was getting into when I started the book, so I don't fault the book for being biased. Strobel is presenting his conversion story, but thirty years after the actual events. The rose-colored glasses of his strong faith in Christ obviously led him to present his "investigation" in an unbalanced manner that glosses over all of the serious issues challenging Christian claims.
If you're looking to get into the mind of a believer and see what keeps them believing based on today's knowledge of biblical studies, I would highly recommend this book. If you're looking to get a fair treatment of the evidences for Jesus Christ's divinity, you should probably look elsewhere.
Essentially, the divinity of Christ boils down to the reliability of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Strobel "proves" their reliability by presenting discussions he had with prominent biblical scholars. These scholars offer their testimony that the things they've studied have only strengthened their faith in Christianity. They offer rebuttals to some popular arguments against Christianity, and overall give a good amount of evidence that the Bible is largely accurate regarding its historical references. Strobel argues that given the reliability of the Gospels, Jesus Christ surely is the Son of Man, the Prince of Peace, and the Lamb of God.
I enjoyed reading the book because it gave me a better picture of how Christians can examine their faith critically and still come out on the other side as a believer. Coming from Mormonism (a faith so young that it lacks the rich history of academia found in Christianity), I had no idea that there was actually some evidence for the Bible. There's absolutely no evidence supporting the Book of Mormon, so I always thought belief in Christ must always be founded completely on faith. But there is enough archeological evidence that we can probably assume that some sort of Jesus figure lived around the beginning of the Common Era.
That said, the case presented by Strobel makes a few key assumptions that I cannot accept. The accuracy of the Gospels, while often accurate in their portrayal of places and customs found in ancient Jerusalem, is heavily in question when it comes to what Christ supposedly said and did. The earliest of the Gospels is Luke, which was most likely written about four decades after Jesus's death. Given that time gap, we can almost surely assume that very little of Jesus's words were actually spoken by him. The message may have likely made it through the years, but fundamentalist Christians who claim those words were actually spoken by Jesus are almost assuredly mistaken.
There are many other points of view that cast doubt on the validity of the four Gospels that are hardly treated in Strobel's book. Another short example of something that reeks of Christ being a legendary figure is the portrayal of Jesus throughout the gospels. Luke, the first written, is the least legendary, which makes sense given its proximity to the actual event. From there, the legend grows with each new gospel, until we reach John and Jesus has become the Christ figure we hear about today.
I don't have time to present all the objections I found to Strobel's one-sided treatment of the issue, but the more I study the history of the Bible, the more I am convinced of the humanity of Jesus. That said, I am not a biblical expert. I am still learning more about the Bible and am open to where new information will take me. So we'll see what happens as I keep studying the origins of Christianity, but this book did little to quell my doubts about the literal existence of the Son of God.
I knew what I was getting into when I started the book, so I don't fault the book for being biased. Strobel is presenting his conversion story, but thirty years after the actual events. The rose-colored glasses of his strong faith in Christ obviously led him to present his "investigation" in an unbalanced manner that glosses over all of the serious issues challenging Christian claims.
If you're looking to get into the mind of a believer and see what keeps them believing based on today's knowledge of biblical studies, I would highly recommend this book. If you're looking to get a fair treatment of the evidences for Jesus Christ's divinity, you should probably look elsewhere.
Great book, and would recommend Christians to read it to be more well-versed in our faith. Would also recommend it to skeptics (but keep in mind that this book is not perfect, as with all books). It challenges the authenticity of the bible and Jesus, and made Jesus more real to me by the end of the book. But I did take a long time to finish this read as it was so heavy in content and required much focus and concentration to fully comprehend.
Anyone who doubts the authenticity of the Bible should read this book.
Strobel writes this book under the guise of it being a rigorous skeptical inquiry, but doesn't seem to understand that no matter how high you stack your pile of crap, it doesn't change the fact that it's still a pile of crap. In his investigation he exclusively interviews Evangelical Christian "experts". The "evidence" that Jesus is the son of God is anecdotal at its best and mathematically dubious at its worst in a flimsy effort to give his book a patina of scientific veracity.
Lee Strobel must have racked up some serious air miles flying all over the place to interview academics for this book. These days I'd be recommending he think about his carbon footprint a bit more... but that aside, this is an excellent read. You wouldn't think that a book about the scientific, philosophical and historical evidence for Christ could be a page turner, but it is!
I like the way Strobel begins each chapter with related and relatable experiences from his career as a legal journalist. It's fascinating and an interesting way into considering the evidence for Christ and what it means. I also like the way that the interviews aren't preachy. They're just a medium for exploring the evidence and then it's left to you to think it through. That's not to say there isn't a strong call to action. At the end we're presented with a stark choice; in the face of all the evidence, how will we respond?
The biggest endorsement for this book is the sheer number of people I know who have read it and have decided to follow Jesus or who came to it struggling with doubts and finished it with their faith affirmed. Highly recommended.
I like the way Strobel begins each chapter with related and relatable experiences from his career as a legal journalist. It's fascinating and an interesting way into considering the evidence for Christ and what it means. I also like the way that the interviews aren't preachy. They're just a medium for exploring the evidence and then it's left to you to think it through. That's not to say there isn't a strong call to action. At the end we're presented with a stark choice; in the face of all the evidence, how will we respond?
The biggest endorsement for this book is the sheer number of people I know who have read it and have decided to follow Jesus or who came to it struggling with doubts and finished it with their faith affirmed. Highly recommended.
Strobel wrote something in his conclusion that is so true yet one of two things I didn't like about this book: there's no way on Earth he, or anyone else, would be able to fit everything into writing. The more he studied and uncovered, the more questions I had! The unreliability of other religions was mentioned several times but not studied in depth, so naturally I want books about those other religions that prove them wrong. I do wish I was more educated on the topic, especially on atheists' arguments, but I was thankful I previously took an Origins of Christianity course in college because everything would have been so far over my head if not. It did make me appreciate how educated Strobel was going into his investigation; it allowed the conversations to be more in depth, provided both sides of the argument, and further proved that his research is true - especially since this all came from an atheist. Faith is something I have never struggled with in my life but having the hard facts to back it up is empowering. Reading it at a time in my life where I am so uncertain of everything else and completely without Christian community or example was encouraging because it helped set my mind back on track and motivate me to keep fighting for a personal relationship when it seems easier to give up and believe it's an impersonal religion. The only other thing I didn't like was a personal issue I had with the writing. For the most part everything was clear and easy to process but I absolutely hated the way he quoted scholars starting his sentence with "Said so and so, " before relaying the quote. There were a few other minor things like this one that rubbed me the wrong way but this one effected me the most for some reason. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading his other books.
This might have been better to read physically rather than to listen to. It was pretty dense listening and at points, was hard to keep track of it all. Overall, I enjoyed it and took a number of things away from it that will stick with me.
The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17 that the Resurrection is the very linchpin of the Christian faith: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
In The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus Lee Strobel speaks with leaders in the field history, archaeology, pathology, divinity, theologians and other researchers for them give their take on whether Jesus actually walked this earth.
On Good Friday I watched a video and gave proof that Jesus existed outside of the Bible, since then I have been watching and reading different materials but this book gave an in-depth look and made a solid case that Jesus existed/exists. I get up in the Anglican church, I think I have been a half-hearted Christian all my life, I have seen and felt Jesus worked in my life so I knew in my heart he exists but my head... not so much. This is why I enjoyed this book so much, it tells us in no uncertain terms that was here, that my faith is not futile.
I liked how the book was structured, Strobel made it really easy to read. I particularly liked the historical look and context, because context is key and I cannot use my current knowledge to understand the Bible or the culture at the time Jesus was alive as a human.
After finishing this book I felt stronger in my faith and a stronger urge to walk a straighter path.
I learned a lot reading this book but what stood out for me was:
Literally, excruciating means ‘out of the cross.’ Think of that: they needed to create a new word, because there was nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion.
In The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus Lee Strobel speaks with leaders in the field history, archaeology, pathology, divinity, theologians and other researchers for them give their take on whether Jesus actually walked this earth.
On Good Friday I watched a video and gave proof that Jesus existed outside of the Bible, since then I have been watching and reading different materials but this book gave an in-depth look and made a solid case that Jesus existed/exists. I get up in the Anglican church, I think I have been a half-hearted Christian all my life, I have seen and felt Jesus worked in my life so I knew in my heart he exists but my head... not so much. This is why I enjoyed this book so much, it tells us in no uncertain terms that was here, that my faith is not futile.
I liked how the book was structured, Strobel made it really easy to read. I particularly liked the historical look and context, because context is key and I cannot use my current knowledge to understand the Bible or the culture at the time Jesus was alive as a human.
After finishing this book I felt stronger in my faith and a stronger urge to walk a straighter path.
I learned a lot reading this book but what stood out for me was:
Literally, excruciating means ‘out of the cross.’ Think of that: they needed to create a new word, because there was nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion.