Rating: 
Summary: For history/anthro majors
Review: The book can seem to be dry for the average reader, as it goes over the history in detail. I thought this would be a good book to give to my friends who are filled with doubts about the Chrisitan faith, but I wouldn't give it to them unless they had the history/evidence driven intellect. Case for Faith or Mere Christianity is a much better book to give to a friend with doubts.
Rating: 
Summary: Some case!
Review: I started out as a Southern Baptist, and over the years gradually evolved into an agnostic. Throughout that time, though, I was looking for some solid book, study, dissertation, whatever, that could convincingly send me back to the Christian fold; frankly, I missed the secure feelings of belief and community I had experienced in my younger years. In short, I was looking for what this book purports to be, but unfortunately isn't. The book was a gift, and as I started reading it I wondered if this guy was really on to something. After a while, however, I realized what was going on. Only far-right Christian scholars are interviewed here, and Strobel is clearly in their corner, posing questions he knows will be answered the way he wants, and avoiding the tougher material. There are false assumptions, faulty logic, selective use of "evidence," long-discredited theories, and general disdain for the "liberal" Jesus Seminar and anybody else who disagrees with the fundamentalist camp. Whatever the qualifications of the interviewees, the discussion is rather superficial and barely impressive enough to fool those not familiar with the serious biblical scholarship of the last couple of centuries. Previous reviews have more than adequately covered the problems involved in so many details in the book, and Earl Doherty's "Challenging the Verdict" is probably the best point-by-point refutation so far available. Let me just add that for Strobel to have his wife get on this site and give his book a five-star review seems to me, if not desperate, at least a little unprofessional. I would also like for him to explain in detail what it was that turned him from an atheist into a Christian, but, considering this book, I don't think I'd find that very convincing either. Ironically, for me this book has managed to achieve its opposite objective: If this is the best the Christian right can come up with to justify its beliefs, then it's doubtful there was any substance to them in the first place. (BL, Tucker, GA)
Rating: 
Summary: It Set Our Foundation
Review: All in all the book helps to strengthen my faith even more then it already was. Not saying that I ever had any doubt about God, but now I can say that I have hard educated evidences to back up what I'm talking about. There have been times when people have asked me, "how do I know that what is in the Bible is true? And how do I know that who ever wrote it was not just making it up? Well, now I can at less come up with a better answer compared to before, I would just say, "because I know it is, it is the Bible." Good augment! Right?
Now I also understand how the other side thinks. Just as easy as it is for me to say that I believe, it is that easy for them not to believe in the Bible. The Bible and how it came to be, brings up all kinds of questions. This alone can cause people not to believe in it. The Case For Christ shows us the evidence to proof that Jesus is real. At times there was some shaky evidence, that a none believer might have come across. It would lead them to believe that maybe they had found something that could prove that the Bible is not right. The Professors that were interviewed for this book never show any signs of worry. Their faith kept them strong, and in the end, everything that they talked about fit like a puzzle. The Case For Christ covered three major parts examining the records analyzing Jesus and researching the Resurrection. The arguments, the understanding, and the evidence. The medical evidence of the crucifixion, now this hit really hard. Wow, it has made me think about how I will react to something that I am going through. I knew that Jesus had gone through some hard and painful things. But this book open my eyes to exactly what he went through. I cried, I hated, then I saw the love that Jesus has for everyone that hurt him, the forgiveness! IT'S AWESOME! The Case For Christ open my eyes to so much that I never though about before. I guess you could say that I took the Bible for granite. The Case For Christ is most differently a good tool for people that have so much doubt about the Bible, weather or not to believe it is true. Also for those who are just seaching spiritually. I think The Case For Christ will give them a want to learn more attitude about our loving God. It gives them a chance to come up with their own conclusion about the most talked about issue as far as religion goes.
Rating:
Summary: "Newspaper" stylings weak, although evidence is strong.
Review: A small pantheon of books, and the controversial 'Jesus Seminar,' purport to falsify the Christian New Testament. Some of the arguments point to plainly extant differences between the Gospels, and, claiming them to be irreconcilable, suggest that the New Testament is unreliable. Some of the arguments are more obviously dubious -- for example Charles Templeton's novel, Act of God, popularizes the argument that Jesus Christ is not even mentioned by noted [non-Christian] historians of the first and early second centuries; Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger. As a matter of record, and of extensive scholarship, Templeton's suggestion is simply wrong. Lee Strobel, former investigative journalist and legal editor for the Chicago Tribune, and former atheist turned Christian cleric, directly confronts these arguments, interviewing recognized scholars in ancient histories, archeology, ancient languages and literature, paleography, even psychology. The sum of the evidence will fascinate anyone interested in the question of historical Christianity's empirical validity. On a few peripheral points I may respectfully disagree with Strobel's apparent assertions, and that's okay -- the conclusion is sound: no body of ancient writings has been as rigorously preserved, is as internally consistent, or is as well corroborated in non-sympathetic while historically conterminous records, as is the New Testament. There is solid content here for anyone with honest questions about the truth of Christ's unique existence and claims, but the the writing style becomes tiring and is probably not the most effective approach to a work of apologetics.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book that anyone who is able to should read
Review: I read this book a few years ago, during my Freshman year of high school. I found it to be quite helpful in strengthening my faith. Before that time, I had began to doubt the truth of many of the claims that the Bible makes, and I wasn't sure if there was evidence of any sort to back it up. I believe that we should take the Bible on faith because it is God's inspired word, of course, but I don't believe that this disqualifies a search for historical evidence to support its credibility. I think faith in the Bible is strengthed by examining the world around us, and the world that was the setting for biblical events, as this book does. This book is an excellent analysis of the ancient world of the 1st century, in how it relates to and supports the authenticity of the New Testament. This book proved to me that Christ really did rise from the dead, that the manuscript evidence for the New Testament overwhelmingly supports it, and that looking at the claims the Bible makes from a rational and unbiased perspective will lead any person honestly searching for the truth to the same conclusion as Strobel. After reading this book, when my pastor says on Easter morning, "He is risen!", I can respond with more confidence than ever, "He is risen indeed!"
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling ideas, but not a particularly good book
Review: This book covers a lot of the same ground as Josh McDowell's "More Than A Carpenter," and for my money McDowell does it a lot more efficiently. Strobel seems to be trying to present his interviews with the Christian experts as if both he and the interviewee were characters in a novel, so the book is filled with utterly useless (no, worse: distracting) references to when Strobel paused to take a sip of his iced tea and so on. That said, even a fairly skeptical person will probably finish this book with a feeling that it's at least a possibility that some of the major events of New Testament did happen, which is a pretty big step since I'm thinking most skeptical types would start the book with a pretty strong opposite opinion. For my part I'm more convinced than ever that books like this (including McDowell's) are a waste of time. All the sides have experts who are completely convinced, and convincing, that their evidence is accurate and that it utterly destroys the beliefs of their opponent(s). If the evidence is as overwhelming as Strobel makes it out to be, it is inconceivable that there would be any knowledgeable scholars of the first century who are not Christians, but obviously this is not true. If Strobel had interviewed even one non-Christian expert on the period I might have had a very different review for this book, but as it is I can't help but dismiss all of his powerful case as biased, since the tower of evidence -- supported at many levels by only a slim girder -- is not ever subjected to serious counter-argument.
Rating:
Summary: An Examination of Objections Written for the General Public
Review: You will not be reading a volume of academic writing from an established scholar in "The Case for Christ." Strobel did not intend it that way. This is the sort of book you would pass to a neighbor over the garden fence or during coffee. It is not written for hardened skeptics, intellectual wizards, or those seeking finite logical proofs for a supreme being which is proposed to be neither finite nor confined by logic. Heavier works do exist. Strobel cites many of them and provides many supplemental references. At times Strobel may appear too easily convinced by the arguments of the scholars he interviews. If your searing intellect is not satisfied with this work (which it should not be, in my opinion) satisfy it to the greatest extent possible elsewhere. Take on the weightier tomes from other qualified thinkers, Christian and otherwise, and continue the pursuit. Weigh the evidence yourself; be intellectually honest; and ask God - if he is in fact real - to make his reality obvious to you. Strobel himself encourages this (365). Otherwise, take Strobel's work for what it is: an easy-going, sincere treatment of some of the most common objections to the plausibility of Christianity, of God in the flesh in the person of Jesus, taking on the evil in the heart of humankind that humankind might be reunited with God. Among other issues, Strobel addresses the historicity of Jesus, fulfillment of messianic prophesies, his claims to deity, the reliability of Biblical documents, and the evidence for resurrection and miracles. He examines various objections including the problem of hell, pain, and evil, Biblical contradictions, human error, witness hallucination, Jesus' mental stability, and the possibility of legendary development. For some, this will clear up several objections; for others it will merely be a starting point.
Rating:
Summary: Still as good as when it was first published
Review: I first read this book when it came out a couple of years ago. I was impressed then, and have recommended it to many people since. Recently someone told me that the book had been challenged by a skeptic in an impressive book. I got a copy of the book and tried to give it a fair hearing. I want the truth, not just what I want to hear. I was utterly disappointed in the quality of the "challenge." The author (about whose background and qualifications in journalism, law, or New Testament I could find nothing) sets up his book in a parody of Strobel's, calling to the stand Strobel and the New Testament experts Strobel had interviewed (and whose formidable qualifications Strobel provided the reader)and then giving his own (the skeptic's own) "cross-examination." Unfortunately, he didn't have what it takes to launch a successful challenge -- he NEVER gave either Strobel or his experts an opportunity to respond! ANY witness will "lose" a cross-examination if he is not allowed to answer any of the questions! Even if the skeptic didn't have the ability to contact Strobel and the scholars personally, he could have at least scoured their published writings for the kinds of answers they would have given had they actually been asked. The skeptic seemed to be able to review the published materials of those he agreed with, why didn't he review the published materials of Strobel and his experts? Anyway, given the introductory and summary nature of The Case for Christ, and careful perusal of both the skeptic objections and the Strobel scholars' more lengthy published body of work, The Case for Christ still is formidable, convincing, and a strong affirmation of the truthfulness of the New Testament documents and their record of the historical life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I will continue to recommend the book The Case for Christ. I'm glad the skeptic gave me an opportunity to dig into the case more thoroughly. I'm even more impressed with Strobel's Case.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed from the front cover....
Review: If there's a question about the title of this review, the front cover of the book depicts jesus' handprint with a circle of blood on it, representing his crucifixion. However, it has been proven that the 'spike' used in crucifixion would have to pass through the wrist in order to hold up the body. I find it interesting that a book making a case for christ missed such an obvious mistake. Other than that, I found this book disappointing. Most of the interviews were conducted with Christian experts, and the book included a few 'atheist' claims. Clearly, both perspectives are biased. This book was not an attempt to seach out the truth, but a pathetic attempt to gather meager circumstantial evidence that backs up the Christian perspective. We have a journalist here who must be more focused on legitimizing a Christian lifestyle to join his wife than to be objective about things. Though this book accumulates a bit of evidence, there are still major holes in the theories, and great assumptions must be made about the nature of the gospels, their existence, and the writings surrounding the situation. The questions themselves don't seem all that good, in the interviews. The book fails to establish credibility for the nature of the bible as it is, historically. I was sickened to read the concluding paragraph of the book, which states that you must either accept Jesus as the son of god, a lunatic, or a devil. This statement is purely ignorance, even insanity! Someone who theorizes this or believes this has a very limited, innacurate perspective. If you are interested in different perpectives, you may want to glance at this book. However, it's probably not worth the trouble.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed beyond belief
Review: This has to be some of the most flawed reasoning I have ever read in a book on this kind, particularly from someone hiding behind a facade of journalistic objectivity and Yale Law School. I'd suggest that Strobel take a logic class in his community college before ever being allowed to talk about this subject again. A lot of "A is true therefore B is true reasoning" coupled with page upon page of pseudo scientific conjecture, rumors and hearsay all "validated" by carefully selected "experts". Shame on you Lee. I liked you better as an Atheist, at least you could reason then. Oh yeah, and before you embark on proving that Jesus is the Son of God, you'll have to work on the small matter of proving the existence of God for him/her/it to even have a son.
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