Believers worldwide celebrate Holy Week as an essential element in the Christian calendar. It’s the time of the year when Christians everywhere reflect on Christ’s passion and resurrection. The week starts on Palm Sunday and officially ends on Holy Saturday. On Easter Sunday, believers everywhere celebrate the resurrection of Christ as he rose back from the dead.
Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” is a 2016 spiritual journey about the author’s beliefs. In this book, he examines a dozen experts as he makes a personal investigation for the evidence of Jesus.
The Case for Christ Summary:
Lee Strobel is an investigative journalist who has written several books. His 2016 book, “The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus,” explores Strobel’s journey in finding compelling evidence of Jesus Christ as a figure.
During his investigation, he cross-examined multiple experts with doctorates. Many of these experts came from schools such as Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis. Strobel doesn’t shy away as he asks hard-hitting questions like:
- How reliable is the New Testament?
- Is Jesus who he said he was?
- Is there any evidence of Jesus outside the Bible?
- Are there any reasons to believe the resurrection happened?
- What does all this evidence point to, and what does it mean?
The book is split into three parts. In the first part, Strobel interviews experts verifying the Bible’s texts. After each division, he offers a short conclusion on the expert’s argument while offering his own interpretation accordingly.
The second part focuses on Jesus’ life and whether he is God’s Son. During this part, the author investigates the evidence of Jesus performing miracles and whether he fulfilled specific prophesies.
The final part focuses on Jesus’ death. This time, Strobel investigates finding evidence on whether Jesus was resurrected from the dead before he was brought to heaven. Considering that Jesus had such a brutal death, it’s hard for many to imagine how he could resurrect from his deadly wounds.
The book ends with Strobel summarizing the arguments of each chapter in a few paragraphs before collecting the most significant proof in one place. Next, he guides readers through his own conversion from atheism to Christianity, explaining that his investigation took more than six hundred days.
Throughout his research and interviews, he concluded that the evidence favoring Christianity was much more convincing than the evidence for atheism. Strobel explained that his decision was one of the most important ones in his life. However, he does encourage skeptics to research additional evidence from well-respected experts, encouraging people to come to their own conclusion.
The Case for Christ Film Summary:
Strobel’s bestselling book also had a film adaptation. The film was directed by Jon Gunn and was released in 2017.
The film starts with Lee Strobel and his family in 1980. The couple has a daughter named Alison and is expecting their second child. After receiving special recognition, Lee and his family celebrate with dinner, where Alison chokes on a piece of candy.
One of the patrons, a nurse named Alfie, saves Alison. She credits the event to God’s will, which Leslie remembered.
Leslie and Alfie eventually become friends and attend Christian church together. Irritated, Lee tries to dissuade his wife but to no avail. At the advice of his mentor, Lee sets out to find evidence proving that Jesus’ resurrection did not happen. Leslie gives birth to a boy named Kyle.
Lee starts gathering evidence. During his journey of disproving certain events, multiple experts debunk his doubts citing that Christ did die on the cross and that neither of the witnesses was hypnotized during that period.
Throughout his investigation, Lee struggles with his estranged father’s attempts at reconciliation and solving a case of the shooting of a police officer. Despite Lee continuing his pursuit of disproving Jesus’ existence, his mentor reminds him that whether he chooses to believe or not, the last part of proving Jesus’ existence relies on faith. After listening to a colleague’s speech, Lee finally takes a leap of faith and starts his life as a believer. He reconciles with his wife and prays together.
While the film was a moderate success, many critics and believers found it heartwarming, inspirational, and profoundly moving despite deviating from the book.
Takeaway: The Case for Christ allows readers and watchers to analyze significant Christian events critically. While it’s hard to conceive of how Jesus can die from such a brutal death and come back to life, there is no doubt that those who do believe know it’s a matter of faith.
Regardless of whether you’re a believer or skeptic, Strobel offers an excellent read for anyone looking to understand Jesus as a historical figure and the Son of God. If you need to read something that offers detailed research into Jesus’ life in Nazareth, Lee Strobel’s work is a must-read.
