The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger (Paperback)

~ Lee Strobel (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company (October 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310254760
• ISBN-13: 978-0310254768
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #168,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple Case, December 9, 2007

By	R. Michael Friends (Round Rock, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lee Strobel's little bitty book, The Case for Christmas, does a good job at its intended purpose, which is to evangelize to non-Christians and skeptics. Like his other books, he presents counter arguments to those skeptics who do not really know Christianity. If you have read his other books, you have read everything in this book, too. The Christmas story itself is almost a minor topic. A Christian with the most basic knowledge of the Bible will not find much here. That is the weak point of the book for me, he just barely scratched the surface when there was potential for so much more.

Brother Lee does a good job of defending an early date for the Gospels (to support their credibility as eyewitness accounts). While he makes the case for the Synoptics, he leaves John at a later date, maybe 90 AD. Yet, when he talks about historical accuracy, he rightfully shows John is reliable, and one example he made was John 5:1-15, the story of the Pool of Bethesda, that pool with five porticoes. This place was not known in modern times until it was excavated by archeologist. It was just as John described.

That much is good, but Lee could have taken the next step. John talks about these pools in the present tense. The historian Josephus mentions that this northern district, where the pools were located, was incinerated early in the revolt by Cestius, in October of 68 C.E. (Jewish Wars 2.250). He also says that in May of 70 C.E., the Romans breached the first wall in the northern part of the city and destroyed it, in the district which he said had been previously destroyed "by Cestius" (Jewish Wars 5.302). Josephus tells that the entire city of Jerusalem, by order of Caesar, was razed to the foundations when the Romans overtook the Jews (Jewish Wars 7:1).So, if the Roman army destroyed the pools and porticos along with the rest of Jerusalem, the author's use of the present tense requires a pre-70 C.E. dating for John.

As for his comment on selecting December 25th as the birth date of Christ, that Pope Julius I declared it so in 385 AD to challenge the pagan celebration of the Roman god Saturnalia, that old argument is just too weak. The date was celebrated much earlier. The Nativity Feast was established by the early Church. Its origin goes back to the time of the Apostles. In the Apostolic Constitutions (Section 3, 13) it says, "Brethren, observe the feastdays; and first of all the Birth of Christ, which you are to celebrate on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month." In another place it also says, "Celebrate the day of the Nativity of Christ, on which unseen grace is given man by the birth of the Word of God from the Virgin Mary for the salvation of the world." Sextus Julius Africanus also says December 25 is Christ's birthday, mentioning in his Chronographiai (221). In the second century St Clement of Alexandria also indicates that the day of the Nativity of Christ is December 25. In the third century St Hippolytus of Rome mentions the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, and appoints the Gospel readings for this day from the opening chapters of St Matthew. I could site more, but I have made my "case."

In summary, less fluff about the people he interviewed and more historical meat would have been nice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evidentialist's Case for Chrsitmas Gives a Christmas Gift, October 30, 2009

By	Mike Robinson "Mike A Robinson" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Case for Christmas is a darling little book that weaves a solid apologetic throughout its charming writing style. Strobel, as a former investigative reporter (was an atheist at the time), examines the material in the Gospel of Luke regarding the birth of Christ.
Employing rigorous probing into the text and history, Strobel discovers that the birth reports of Jesus in the Bible are accurate, startling, and compelling from an evidentialist's standpoint.
This Christmas book makes for a wonder-filled Christmas for the reader and an excellent Christmas gift to the saved and especially the unsaved (be sure to have them open it a few days before the 25th so that they can enjoy the truth is furnishes during the whole season).

By Mike A Robinson author of God Does Exist! and other Christian books.
God Does Exist!: Defending the faith using presuppositional apologetics, evidence, and the impossibility of the contrary

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another solid Strobel work of Christian apologetics, January 18, 2006

By	Chad Oberholtzer (Boalsburg, PA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lee Strobel has this approach down to a science, having honed his skills in "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith." He identifies questions that he presumably has or had about Christianity from his previous perspective as an atheist and skeptic, finds extremely intelligent and impressively credentialed academics to interview, and writes down their answers to his questions. For a logical, sequential thinker, this approach most definitely works.

"The Case for Christmas" is a shorter and less exhaustive work than "Christ" or "Faith," and it is ideal for distribution to spiritual seekers at a time of year when many are more open to consider spiritual things. Though I would consider his previous books to be more significant because of their greater length and depth (and would suggest them instead to anyone searching for some quality contemporary apologetics), I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who would like to hear some well-reasoned arguments that support the notion that the Christmas story, as told in the Bible, may have actually happened. If you're skeptical but willing to hear some facts and explanations which suggest that the story of Jesus in the Gospels may actually be true, then I'd encourage you to read this book.