Books in Review: The Case for Christ

This book completely changed the way I understand my faith. I was very curious about the book when it was assigned reading my first semester of college. When I finally read it, I could not put it down. I was compelled by the sheer volume of evidence that supports and validates the Bible’s account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It was also powerful to see that even the most stanch of atheists converted when he finally added up the evidence and saw a genuine heart change in his wife. I later came to read more of Lee’s books, hear him speak in person, and eventually lead studies through two of his student books. But this book left the greatest mark and gave me a passion for apologetics that I still have to this day. This is a book that every Christian needs to read, end of story ~ Bethel

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​Evidence. Many claim that the Bible lacks any real evidence outside of itself to support what it says, especially when it comes to the accounts of the life of Jesus. These same people claim that they need to see it in order to believe it. But yet, they tend to live by their feelings that give way to bias against God and hardens their hearts toward anything the Bible says. What can be worst is when this tension between faith in God and faith in nothing is brought into a marriage. Many think there is no way for the marriage to survive, or for the unbelieving spouse to be converted. This situation lead one man ask the question: is there actually evidence that supports the case for Christ?

​In his bestselling book, The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel presents a powerful collection of evidence in favor of Christ that started when he wanted to disprove the newfound faith of his wife, Leslie. As an investigative journalist working for the Chicago Tribune, atheist Lee decided to find the best experts available on different areas of biblical scholarship to try and find the holes in Christianity. The book takes you through about two years of interviews with these experts in their given fields. In this accessible interview style, these experts walked with Lee through the ability to verify the manuscripts for the Bible as we know it today, the validity of the existence of Jesus, the validity of his messiahship, and the validity of his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. What you find is that many of the presumed holes in the Bible or in the Christian faith are quickly closed with a little research. And what Lee discovered after two years of investigation is that when you put all the evidence together, it would have taken greater faith to hold onto his atheism than to accept Christianity. Also brought to the faith by the loving faithfulness of his wife, Lee accepted Christ as his Savior and has used this book to support the case for Christ. This book is well-written, informative, but also accessible to anyone on any level. The combination of the powerful evidence and the personal story at the heart of it makes it one of the best resources on apologetics available today. If you haven’t yet read this book, especially if you have questions about Jesus, then this book is a must read. Get your copy today!

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Personal Rating. This book is one of all-time favorites!

Other Resources

​If you like Lee’s book, then there are some other resources you should also check out:

​Case for Christ Documentary (2007) – If you are more of a visual person, this may be a more appealing way to get through the material of the book, as you get to see the experts Lee originally interviewed share the evidence they presented to him in their own words. You also hear him talk about his own personal journey in a way that you can personally witness the change of heart he went through after examining all the evidence. Although the video style is a little dated, it's a great companion to the book version of this material. It's available on DVD, sometimes included with the similar documentaries of Lee's other books (Case for Faith and Case of a Creator).

​Case for Christ Film (2017) – Aside of being a well-made Christian film, this film is one of the best ways to get the sense of Lee’s personal journey parallel with his investigative journey. Although certain details of the original events were adapted for the film, its pretty close in its accuracy to what originally happened in Lee's and Leslie's lives. I also like getting a better sense of Leslie's journey. She struggled with not being able to share her newfound faith with her husband. But you also see that when Lee did come to believe, that it was also her change of character that helped win him to Christ. This version would probably be one of the best ways to use this material to witness to non-believing friends. It's available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and is even currently streaming on Netflix

​Case for Christ: Student Edition – If you are a teen, you have a teenager, or you are a youth leader, this is a wonderful resource. Although a mature teen reader could probably get through the original version of the book without an issue, this version is designed to simplify and break down the material in a way that teens will understand. The 6 week long curriculum set up in the leader’s guide (which also includes the 5 week curriculum for the student of The Case for Faith) is an incredible tool that can be adapted to a youth group or teen Bible study of any size. This is one of the best Bible studies that we did my last youth group, for we really saw the kids come to better understanding of both Jesus himself and the validity of their faith. This is a resource I cannot recommend enough

​Other Books by Lee Strobel – Lee went on to write so many other books in a similar series to that of The Case for Christ. But the two most popular that I personally recommend are The Case for Faith, and The Case for a Creator. Reviews on these books will come at a future date!