Customer Reviews

The Case for Christ

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Lee Strobel has done the Christian community-and indeed, the world, a service with this DVD. I was extremely impressed with both the content and the production values. The video is a great introduction to Christian apologetics both for the ordinary "man or woman in the pew" and the "ordinary skeptic."

To claims that the film is biased, of course it is. It's an apologetic documentary after all. But it is nevertheless a fairly balanced overview, or summary, of the evidence for the truth claims of the NT. This documentary isn't any more biased than the TV documentaries that usually air on the cable channels (A&E, THC, DSV, TLC, etc.) at Christmas and Easter which are typically aimed at a popular audience and biased against the truth claims of the NT and which usually cater to the sensational and bizarre. Strobel's DVD should serve as a nice counterpoint to all the popular sensationalist documentaries out there. True, the film doesn't get too technical, however perhaps it really doesn't need to? Anyone interested in delving deeper can check out the books listed in the bibliography, many of them written by the very scholars interviewed in the film.

Also interesting are the special features video interviews with many of the scholars interviewed in the film giving personal testimonials about how their work as scholars has increased their faith.

I think every church would benefit by screening this DVD for its members.

Lee Strobel is a well-educated legal journalist who sets out to prove that Christianity is false. He admittedly feels threatened when his wife becomes a Christian and says that he is afraid of losing her. Strobel constructs a method of investigating the case for Christ just as he would in a court of law. He gathers evidence from Christian scholars and puts hard questions to them as to the validity of the Bible and Jesus' claims of being the Messiah. The viewer is taken on the step-by-step journey which Lee Strobel made which converted him from atheism to Christianity. This kind of presentation is very appealing to those of a logical and systematic nature. It is made even more powerful by the fact that Lee Strobel's wife relates what she went through while her husband was on his quest for truth. The one important point which he failed to make is that no one can absolutely prove that Jesus is who is said he was. That would negate the need for faith which is an essential element for a believer, and which is what Jesus called us to.

This DVD is technically better than most Christian multimedia products trying to prove that Christ is the Son of God. It does not suffer from the quality of most subculture Christian DVDs; however, this DVD is more about Lee's conversion story than it is an in-depth examination of the evidence. While I understand the need to provide a quick "reasons to believe" for the general public, it would have been nice if this DVD had a real strong 2-3 hour featurette examining the evidence piece by piece.

As a conversion story, this DVD works well enough. Both Lee and his wife are featured and many different scholars appear for quick explanations on certain topics that deal with the resurrection and reliability of the Gospels, etc. There are philosophers William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland as well as recognized N.T scholars Craig Blomberg and world famous N.T. Wright who make appearances arguing or providing evidence on certain subjects. All in all, this is a good DVD for quick information about certain topics regarding Christianity, but by not delving deeper into the material, it could have the rather opposite intent by insulting either Christians who are looking for a resource to help them "provide an answer" or to those seeking for answers.

Several detractors complain that the author's presentation is one-sided. What do you expect when you attend a trial or a debate? Do the attorneys or the debaters each present the case for both sides? Of course not! The author simply presents his point of view and backs it with the available evidence. The DVD would seem a good tool for believers to use to organize what they already know to be the basis for their beliefs. You want to refute the evidence? Do the research yourself and write your opposing viewpoint. (BUT REMEMBER: Since you complained about the one-sidedness, be sure to present, equally, both sides of the argument. Show 'em how you think it should be done.)

This DVD is just over an hour of entry-level apologetics (defense of the faith). If you were looking into the claims of Christ, this would be a great start. Lee Strobel was a former journalist for the Chicago Tribune that clamed atheism. Once his wife became a Christian, it set him into a two-year investigation of the claims of Christ. This DVD is the Readers Digest version of that investigation. His entire investigation is recorded in his book "The Case for Christ."

If you are already a Christian, you will find this video to be a great start in bolstering your apologetic. It touches on areas of manuscript evidence, extra biblical evidence, eyewitness accounts, predictive prophecy and the resurrection of Christ. This is a very high quality film, just as another one of Lee's films, "The Case for a Creator."

This video kept my ten year old entertained, even though many parts were over her head. However, it was certainly too much for my seven year old, but he did sit through it. Any documentary on biblical evidence that can keep a seven year old entertained, says a lot for the quality. I recommend viewing this video; it is completely something that I would be comfortable passing out to Christians and non-Christians alike.

I was a confirmed atheist for the last 16 years, a woman of science, of Darwinism beliefs, but something was always missing, that something was Jesus Christ, while this was not my sole reasoning for becoming a Christian, I certainly found it helpful and I think you the reader could as well, what is there to lose? A bit of your time... What is there to gain? Everything... I am now a confirmed Christian, a Baptist...

The Case for Christ is a 'Can't put down book". Tactfully and honestly presents all the evidence in an understandabloe way. Evidence presented by credible scholars removes any doubt one might have for the resurrection.

Kudos to Lee Stobel for making this into a DVD. I had read the book and loved it, but putting this information on DVD, makes this a powerful witnessing tool. This will reach many people that would not otherwise sit and read the book. I first rented it from my local Blockbuster, and watched it twice. I then looked for it on Amazon and ordered my own. I shared it with a couple friends, and ended up ordering 12 more to give to ladies in my Bible study group. I love way he presented the facts, and the information he used to back it up. I thank God for leading Lee Strobel to the truth, and for using him to reach millions of people.

This DVD proves Christ is actually what he says. Lee Strobel was an atheist, who firmly believed in the facts in science. He hated any and all form of religion as if it were a myth. But after researching the data, he slowing came to accept and facts of the Bible and acknowledged Christ was who he said He was. He came here to save the world, die for our sins and rose again on the third day JUST as the New Testament says. A great movie!

I found this part-testimony, part-investigation, part-apology DVD well-filmed, engaging, and thought-provoking. "The Case for Christ" could be a good starting point for a dialogue between believers and their fellow searchers and/or agnostic/atheistic friends about the written biblical witnesses to the life, mission, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That said, I also think the film has a few lean areas I would hope Mr. Strobel takes note of for future productions:

(1) I was disappointed by the absence of female biblical scholars in the film, and the general absence of real-life women (excepting Strobel's wife, who offers an interesting testimonial, but who is not a scholar). For example, it would have been much more interesting to have heard female scholars give their opinion on Jesus' radical relationship to women than have these viewpoints voiced through their male counterparts.

(2) While the film contains clips of everyday street people uttering disparate views about who they think Christ was, we see no comparable views of biblical scholars a-la-Jesus-Seminary who by and large have opposed and tried to deconstruct the orthodox biblical interpretation of Jesus. This is a rather curious omission, given the treatment and space by Strobel to this controversy in his same-titled book. A featurette on this scholarly controversy would have added more strength to Strobel's argument. After all, he does interview the famous New Testament scholar N.T. Wright who has entered an intense dialogue with various Jesus Seminary scholars. Given the media attention given to this particular scholarly controversy, why not seize the occasion and have Wright share his response to the claims of those scholars? This I consider a missed opportunity. (Footnote: After writing this review, I have become aware that Strobel apparently deals with this matter extensively in another one of his DVDs (The Case for nthe Real Jesus). Still, it would have been pertinent to include some discussion on this controversy in the DVD under review here).

Despite the above limitations, I find the DVD "The Case for Christ" a very good choice for believers to share with their theological friends and foes interested in knowing about Christ as he is proclaimed in the biblical scriptures. as they follow Lee Strobel's personal quest, investigative journey, research, and interviews with respected biblical scholars. Those scholars offer valuable insights and keen interpretative textual analysis of what has been the most fascinating subject of all ages since the birth of the common era, which, coupled with Strobel's detective-like journey of investigative discovery and personal revelation, are the backbone of this engaging, thought-provoking film.