An investigative legal affairs journalist probes the evidence for the divinity of Jesus.

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (September 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN: 0310209307
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches

Lee Strobel, former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune and a former non-Christian skeptic, sets out in his book to “determine if there’s credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God.” He interviews 13 devout Christian Biblical scholars and puts to each of them basic questions concerning credible evidence that supports the divinity of Jesus. He continues to probe their answers to produce a compact and interesting summary of the apologia that exists to support the case for Christ.

One major criticism of his work is that no critics of Christianity are interviewed, and so no counter-arguments are explored except very briefly in the form of questions to develop the answer of his interviewee. The result therefore is hardly balanced reporting although he does produce a good case for one side of the debate, a case that cannot be dismissed without serious consideration.

All the same, as the publisher comments on the back page: “This remarkable book reads like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it’s not fiction. It’s a riveting quest for the truth about history’s most compelling figure. What will your verdict be in The Case for Christ?”

The questions asked (and the scholars who respond) are as follows:
1. Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted? (Dr Craig Blomberg)
2. Do the biographies of Jesus stand up to scrutiny? (Dr Craig Blomberg)
3. Were Jesus’ biographies reliably preserved for us? (Dr Bruce Metzger)
4. Is there credible evidence for Jesus outside His biographies? (Dr Edwin Yamauchi)
5. Does archaeology confirm or contradict Jesus’ biographies? (Dr John McRay)
6. Is the Jesus of history the same as the Jesus of faith? (Dr Gregory Boyd)
7. Was Jesus really convinced that He was the Son of God? (Dr Ben Witherington III)
8. Was Jesus crazy when He claimed to be the Son of God? (Dr Gary Collins)
9. Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God? (Dr D. A. Carson)
10. Did Jesus - and Jesus alone - match the identity of the Messiah? (Louis Lapides, M.Div., Th.M.)
11. Was Jesus’ death a sham and His resurrection a hoax? (Dr Alexander Metherell)
12. Was Jesus’ body really absent from His tomb? (Dr William Craig Lane)
13. Was Jesus seen alive after His death on the cross? (Dr Gary Habermas)
14. Are there any supporting facts that point to the resurrection? ((Dr J. P. Moreland)

There is a summary conclusion that addreses the question: What does the evidence establish, and what does it mean today?
Strobel’s bibliographical recommendations at the end of each chapter seem to be generally excellent.

This is a worthwhile book for those seeking intelligent rational answers in support of Christian beliefs about Jesus.

A Journalist Investigates Cuttent Attacks on the Identity of Christ

Paperback: 311 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (2007)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-310-24061-7
Product Dimensions: 8.0 x 5.25 x 0.75 inches

Lee Strobel, with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, was the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and a spiritual skeptic until 1981. His wife became a Christian and Lee was antagonistic to her beliefs.

But deciding to be fair and objective, as much as he could from his bias towards atheism, he decided to sift through and weigh up the evidence for the Christian claims about Jesus. After all, a fair trial of the available evidence was a sound legal move and one by which he, as a legal journalist, should surely grant the claims made concerning the one called Christ. Setting out to interview the most highly regarded scholars of Christianity, he was staggered by what he discovered.

As a result, given the veracity of the evidence, he too became a Christian. Lee has since published the results of those interviews so that others may also consider the evidence, and in their role as jurors of one, decide the outcome of the “Case” he presents.

This latest “Case” book considers further the truth about Jesus. From the back cover of this book comes the following summary:

Today, the traditional picture of Jesus is under intellectual onslaught from critical scholare, popular historians, TV documentaries, Hollywood movies, bestselling authors, Internet bloggers, Muslim debaters, and aetheist think tanks. They’re capturing the public’s imagination with a radical new portrait of Jesus that bears scant resemblance to the picture historically embraced by the church.

How persuasive is this new image of jesus? Is it based on well-supported facts and arguments - or does it fade away when exposed to the hot light of scrutiny?

In this dramatic investigation, award-winning writer and former legal editor Lee Strobel explores such controversial questions as:

* Did Christianity suppress “alternative gospels” that portray Jesus more accurately than the New Testament?
* Did the church distort the truth about Jesus by tampering with the early Biblical texts?
* Have fresh insights and explanations finally disproved the resurrection?
* Were the essential beliefs about Jesus stolen from earlier mythology?
* Have new objections disqualified Jesus from being the Messiah?

Evaluate the evidence for yourself as leading experts grapple with the latest objections from today’s foremost critics. Then reach your own verdict in The Case for the Real Jesus.

This book is very timely. Even in Christian circles there is a movement away from the traditional understandings of God, how Scripture should be regarded, and the nature of Jesus. This movement is fuelled by philosophies since the Enlightenment, the liberal theologies derived from them, and heat-set by elements of today’s post-modernism. Liberalism in the mainstream Christian churches is tearing into the Christian faith, modernizing doctrine towards more fashionable cultural trends in the effort to attract more adherents but actually achieving the opposite instead. Unbelief is what this is about. Doubts are raised, and the truth is watered down to make it more acceptable to the modern thinker - except doing so also makes it no longer truth at all.

So… just who exactly is Jesus? Could He really be “God Incarnate”, or is that just a myth disproven by today’s more sophisticated knowledge and sensibilities? If you are to be fair and objective, then give Him a fair trial by examining the evidence for yourself. Lee Strobel brings it to you in all his “Case” books (several of which you will find reviewed right here) and you, the lone juror, must decide one way or the other for yourself.