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99 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One piece of the God puzzle, March 20, 2006
This book offers a "Cliff Notes" like approach in that it condenses the work of many leading Christian scholars into an easy to read format. It is a case FOR Christ, not a true courtroom "hear both sides of the issue" book.
Some other reviewers disliked the lack of 2-sided arguments (there are no interviews w/leading atheists and/or Jesus Seminar thinkers). Being that the title is the case FOR Christ, I did not hold this expectation and was not bothered by this. However, as a staunch skeptic who was not raised with a Christian background, I supplied much of the case AGAINST Christ in my own head.
WHAT I LIKED: The book presents a good introduction of Christian scholarship and answers to common objections regarding the historicity of the Gospels--objections which already existed in my own mind. Suggestions for further reading (primary sources by the interview subjects) are included for those who desire a more thorough scholarly approach.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE: I felt the "re-creation" of Strobel's own search was un-necessary and a bit contrived, as were the comments he interjected when he was interviewing his subjects. Perhaps that is a carry over from his journalism days. I would have prefered a more straightforward interview, but this matter of taste is small and overall I found the book worthwhile despite these stylistic objections.
HOW IT AFFECTED ME: I came to this book as a very skeptical, non-practicing agnostic Jew (who was raised w/a religious education), fresh from my reading CS Lewis' Mere Christianity (which I highly recommend). Book 1 of Lewis, with his logic/philosophy helped me see that the existence of God logically made sense, but I did not yet know *which* version of a monotheistic God was correct--the rest of his book didn't resonate for me on the first reading as it dealt specifically w/Christianity. Strobel's book answered my questions regarding history/fact as it related to the New Testament.
Was The Case for Christ "made" for me in this book? Partially, yes. And partially by Lewis too, which I reread after reading Strobel.
My ultimate conversion came through study of these and other sources, which led me to literally ask God to show himself to me in a way that I would be sure that it was indeed God. I mention this because I believe that for a stubborn skeptic like me, no single source (with the possible exception of the Bible, LOL) would have been able to convince me on its own. Rather, it was a combination of sources/experiences that did so. These included reading the above mentioned books, attending a few church services even while I was still very skeptical, opening myself to the possibility that I had been mistaken in my belief that God didn't matter (if there was even a God to begin with) and literally asking God to let me know him if He was indeed real.
Ultimately, the proof came in a manner that goes beyond scientific verifcation or re-creation. Critics of Christianity and of this and other apologetic works make a good point when they claim God cannot be proved scientifically. I agree. God is beyond science. Scientific or logical methods such as textural criticism, formal logic, archaeology, and so on, can help close the gap in accepting the possibility of God's realness, but ultimately, the gap, at least for me, was completely and finally bridged not by book or proof, but by an experience that cannot be tested scientifically nor recreated in a lab. Skeptics, atheists or agnostics who deep down are married to their viewpoints--no matter what--will likely not budge, and may label the non-testability of my "proof experience" as suspect. I don't begrudge that and would have said the same thing. It had to have it happen to me first-hand before I would believe, and I was able to keep God at bay for years due to my own certainty that this God-stuff was for dummies. I was smart and logical and would have none of that God nonsense. So, this experience came as a big surprise--one that in retrospect was very welcome.
Your mileage in reading this book will vary. If you want to learn something, you can. If you are dead set against learning anything new that might be different from what you already know that you know, it is almost guaranteed that this book will have nothing to offer you. I realize that God's allowing us to come to Him only through our own free will sounds like a cop out and is criticized by non-believers as an all too convenient excuse, but as a former non-believer myself (who was proud of it and who ridiculed that free will stuff too), I say, so be it.
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55 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit one-sided, but well written & with good contributions, October 5, 2000
Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" is actually a compilation of answers to questions about Christianity, given by a dozen of experts. Many of these are famous theists like Gregory Boyd and William Lane Craig. Strobel retraces his own journey from atheism to faith, while facing problematic issues like the evidence for Jesus outside the Bible and the resurrection.I liked several aspects in this book, and disliked a few; For the positive aspect, Strobel's book is very readable, almost always fascinating, and captivating without being heavy. Strobel tries to show that it actually requires a lot more faith for an atheist to maintain atheism than it would to trust in Jesus. All the scholars Strobel interviews try to defuse atheist/skeptical arguments and show that the historical evidence that Jesus was who he claimed to be is overwhelming. Does Strobel manage to convince you? Well, it will depend. I am very open to Christian arguments, but I am also very receptive to be best arguments against Christianity; your belief when you start the book will inevitably have a strong influence leading you to a final position. Like other readers, I quickly realized that Strobel's book had a glaring deficiency: Strobel does not show us any direct interview with critics of Christianity. For instance, Gregory Boyd (One of my favorite Evangelical apologists) spends many pages criticizing the Jesus Seminar, but Strobel never lets us read any of their replies. The atheist Michael Martin is also attacked, most times, the arguments against his work are justified, but still, I always had that annoying feeling of not being shown enough of the opposing side. Strobel's method is quoting some skeptical book to a Christian Apologist, and then asking for his comments. Unfortunately, Strobel never does the opposite, quoting passages from Christians to Non-Christians in order to get their responses. And so, to some readers it might be reasonable to claim that Strobel's book is very unbalanced, failing to show interviews with ANY critic of Evangelical apologetics. People who want the truth will want to hear both sides of the story. Still, I was left with the feeling that it will be a big mistake to dismiss the entire book on this basis, even if you are a skeptic who will be annoyed by the limitation. The reason? Well, for a start, this book comes with a number of endorsements from high-profile Evangelicals, so it somehow might represent their best arguments; It is also very creative, and well written and organized. It summarizes the work of several leading apologists for Evangelical Christianity, in a compact and accessible format. Ultimately, the evidence provided is far from being completely unconvincing. You might need more, but even the hard skeptic with an open mind will definitely have to stop to think when reading some of the arguments in favor of Christianity. I suggest you complement this book with something written by skeptics. A good article is "The Rest of The Story", written by Jeffrey J. Lowder especially as a response to this book (Should be freely available on the internet, try Infidels.org). I thought Lowder points some of the flaws in Strobel's book, but still recognizes its value and is never bitter against it, a good article against some weaker parts of this book, but it still justly recognizes the quality of Strobel's contribution. Overall: Not as balanced as the title would suggest, but very well written, creative, full of quality Christian apologetics from several authors, in a very effective summarized way. Also with a good Summary, Notes and Index, something I always like in my books. Has its weak points, but I still strongly recommended this work for any theist or atheist seeking truth.
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49 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reads like a great Novel. Engaging anf Powerful!, April 25, 2000
Lee Strobel has given the Christian community a wonderful apologetic work that reads like a great novel. Strobel is a journalist and has a knack for writing detail that many other authors might miss. "The Case for Christ" is a project that has Strobel traveling the globe to interview some of the more well known Christain philosophers and apologists. Strobel has organized the book into three main parts, each dealing with a crucial issue in the Christian Faith. For example, part one covers the evidence for the Christian faith. What evidence is there? How can the evidence be tested? What is the scientific evidence? All these questions and many more are covered in the first part. Moreover, Strobel seeks answers from top people in many areas of study. Strobel interviews and questions Dr. Craig Blomberg (Denver Seminary), Dr. Bruce Metzger (Princeton University), Dr. Edwin Yamauchi, Dr, Gregory Boyd, Dr. Ben Witherington III (Asbury Seminary), Dr. D.A. Carson (Trinity), Dr. J.P. Moreland (Biola University), Dr. Gary Habermas (Liberty University), Dr. William Lane Craig, etc. Each scholar contributes to the content of the book via Strobel's probing and asking difficult questions. Topics covered are the resurrection, the historicity of Jesus, the person Jesus (i.e. who He was and what He claimed) and the historical evidence for the Christian faith. This book is extremely well written and packed full of wonderful facts. I highly recommend it for the serious reader and the not so serious reader as well.
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