Rating: 
Summary: Style might appeal to some
Review: As a "searcher" I thought this book would be a great read to help me get a hold on the truths of Christianity. I was dissappointed with this book. Strobel covers most bases, but spends too much time telling me about the experts' offices, coffee-drinking habits, and physical appearance. As a logical/scientific thinker, I wanted something with more meat and more references to outside sources. This book might appeal to someone as a great beginning to Christianity if they appreciate the more dramatic "hammed up" style. I'll stick with the deeper thinkers like CS Lewis.
Rating: 
Summary: Still Skeptical about this Jesus Person? Read this!
Review: Lee Strobel tackles all of the hard questions put up by skeptics concerning the life and Deity of Jesus Christ. He interviewed 13 experts who have studied and read extensively on each aspect where people have cast doubt on whether Jesus is real, is the Christ, and His Resurrection (which is the cornerstone of the Christian faith).Admittedly all of the experts are Christians themselves, but they have logically and reasonably defended their area of expertise. Add all 13 areas together, and the case for Christ becomes watertight, even to those who have no faith in Christ. To make the case for Christ, one must first establish the reliability of the eyewitnesses (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul). Then establish the accuracy of the Gospel, and the historical and archaeological record corroborating the Gospel. Then one needs to match the Jesus of faith with the historical Jesus. Once the historical aspect is established, one then goes onto the theological aspect, showing that Jesus acted and behaved as God, and that he was resurrected to prove that he was God. Each piece fits together and creates a pretty airtight case. I challenge any objective skeptic to look at all of the evidence for themselves. Mr. Strobel's book can be an excellent guide in your own journey of discovery whether it is to solidify your faith, or to challenge his conclusions.
Rating: 
Summary: The Case For Christ
Review: This book was written by a man who thought Christianity was primitive superstition. But when he went on a quest to prove Christianity wrong he ended up with enough evidence to convert to Christianity himself.
He tackles questions rangeing from Can the Biographies of Jesus be trusted? to Was Jesus death a sham? And was he really seen alive after his death on the cross. I highly recommend this book for any Christian who has been asked questions about the reality of Jesus that they could not answer, or any agnostic who is willing to honestly look at the facts. This book will help you attain the Biblical definition of faith found in
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Completely One-Sided
Review: Strobel's "A Case For Christ" might be a nice affirmation of faith for Christians, but I highly doubt it's going to convince any skeptics. Honestly, I'm rather surprised its so popular among Christians. My biggest complaint is that Strobel's reporting is one-sided in several aspects. For one, all the scholars he interviews are all conservative, evangelical Chrisitans. Not once did he interview a person of who might have been more liberal... much less interview a non-Christian scholar on Christian or Biblical studies (and there are many). Furthermore, never *once* did Strobel look to find rebuttals or other perspectives on the statements and evidence that these scholars gave him. Many of the information he received was controversial or from a very narrow viewpoint. This supposedly "excellent researcher" made no effortto seek a response to this evidence (even if he ultimately sought a rebuttal to said response). No liberal Christians, no Jews, no Muslims, no secular scholars were ever consulted either for opinion, viewpoint or rebuttal. Very shallow "reporting and research." Lastly, I was suprised how easier Strobel was convinced (makes you doubt how much of a skeptic he really was). Much of the evidence presented by the scholars is subjective or circumstantial, yet Strobel takes it as gospel (excuse the pun). It makes me wonder that if he'd investigated any other religion he might have turned up as a die-hard Hindu. Strobel is a good writer, and he addresses issues that are important to Christians, but this book in no way deserves the publicity or five-star reviews it has received.
Rating: 
Summary: The Case for Truth
Review: Lee Strobel presents this book as a scholarly investigation into the evidence for Christ as he is depicted in the Gospels. Strobel sets himself up as the skeptic as he interviews a number of scholars and experts, asking them hard questions and putting their evidence to the test. Yet, in each case the experts are able to rebut Strobel's skepticism with strong evidence for Christ as the Son of God. The truth is that most of the experts Strobel interviews have more merits in Christian Evangelism than in Academia. Additionally in his pursuit to "chase down the facts", Strobel somehow neglects to interview one skeptic throughout the course of the book. Strobel's pursuit for evidence is an exercise in rhetoric, telling one side of the story in an attempt to persuade non-believers. The result is not a scholarly investigation into the facts, but a piece of well constructed [...].
Rating:
Summary: A Great Introduction to Christian Apologetics
Review: The Case for Christ, while not overly technical, is a sobering assessment of the evidence for Jesus Christ's resurrection. The only low point to the book would be that it is not very extesive. Often times, assertions are provided instead of evidence. However, this is the only flaw I see in an otherwise great book. It's great to hear the opinions of various different scholars on their area of expertise. The format for the book was quite enjoyable. Although Strobel wasn't TOO viscious as a skeptic, I felt he did a fine job at playing Devil's Advocate. Also, the stories Strobel provides before each chapter are entertaining and sometimes moving. Strobel's work covers just about every important issue pertaining to Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Even better, Strobel provides, at the end of each chapter, suggested resources for further studies. These resources effectively solve my issue with the evangelists using mere assertion, and it is why I think this book deserves a 5 instead of a 4.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Introduction to Apologetics
Review: Strobel has presented a rather well laid-out explanation of the proofs for Christ. While most of the information is pretty basic, and he doesn't go too far into the details, for anyone who is seeking the truth about Jesus, it is a great jumping-off point. The only problem I had with the book, is that he stresses the point that he is writing it as a legal journalist....supposedly looking at and weighing all the evidence and making an appropriate conclusion. But the only people he spoke to were the ones trying to make the case for Christ. To be truly objective, he should have given equal audience to Christ's detractors, rather than just taking excerpts from their books and presenting them to the pro-Christ scholars. He explains about rebuttals and their importance in a truth-seeking court-room, but doesn't offer any rebuttal to those that don't agree with his "panel" of scholars.
Rating:
Summary: Case for Lee Strobel
Review: As I have said with Josh McDowell's More Than Just a Carpenter, I will say with this: it makes a good introduction, but is not high scholarly stuff. Now, I will admit this, Strobel makes a far better case in his book that McDowell, and he does it in a far more interesting manner. That he interviewed some of the best Conservative Evangelical scholars on their opinions is a good thing. My New Testament studies professor was unabashedly liberal and even he has a great respect for some of the names that Strobel dropped. However, that is not to say the book is completely without issues. First off, it is written at a rather rudimentary level, though not so much so that more advanced students will not be intrigued by it. Secondly, Strobel, because he is a believer, will no doubt elicit cries of bias from some, though I believe that most fair minded readers will at least concede there is less bias than had he done them after his conversion. Thirdly, there's not a lot that's "scholarly" about the book, mostly because it's written by a journalist. For that reason, it leaves many questions such as authorship and dating either skimmed over or untouched. It could make some readers wonder if Strobel was deliberately avoiding issues, or just didn't know what to ask (I'd like to think it was the latter). In any event, it does begin to make the step from basic to intermediate apologetics and has the benefit of being current. For those reasons, Strobel deserves at least some praise, though an individual will probably wind up needing reading a lot more than they bargained for to be able to use Strobel's work appropriately.
Rating:
Summary: Half a case is not always better than none
Review: One might first ask, if faith is faith, why is it necessary to make a "case" at all? One believes for compelling moral, personal, and spiritual reasons. By its nature, faith does not need proof; it isn't subject to logical necessity. It is a matter of heart and soul. But Lee Stroebel must think the opposite, for he has written a book to justify faith. Stroebel claims to be following the procedure used in court cases to determine the truth or falsehood of a case: he interviews "expert witnesses," i.e., people whose professional credentials qualify them to deliver authoritative and therefore persuasive opinions on the various kinds of evidence under consideration in the question of whether Jesus Christ was who he said he was: the son of God and the saviour of mankind. We readers are the "jury." Having heard the testimony of the experts, we are free to arrive at our own decisions about the divinity and mission of Christ. If Stroebel had actually done what he claims to be doing, we might have an interesting book. But in a real court case, the experts on both sides are available for questioning and cross-questioning. The lawyer for one side does not get to present his experts and merely summarize/characterize or sometimes caricature the opinions on the other side. If a decision were reached on such a basis, the case would be thrown out of court. Yet, this is essentially what Stroebel has done. He interviews people who are unquestionably experts, but whose beliefs match his own. Like a good novelist, he creates a character who seems to be conducting an impartial inquiry based on a personal quest, but that is an authorial illusion. The case has already been decided, the experts chosen accordingly. As for arguments on "the other side"? Stroebel gives his own paraphrases, but interviews no one. There is no real dialogue, no real disagreement, no real "other side" to the book at all, not even from believing experts whose credentials are equally compelling. The "case," though it appears to be impartially conducted, is loaded from the beginning. Stroebel's lack of real objectivity is apparent in the occasional reference to arguments on the other side as crazy or idiotic, or the implication that "liberal" scholars must be atheists or non-believers for not accepting the Bible's words at face value. Interestingly, for Stroebel the "other side" is not disbelief in the divinity of Christ. A believer who does not consider the Bible's texts unquestionably historical is on "the other side," a phrase which seems to suggest an entire lack of faith rather than a different understanding about the historical status of Biblical narrative. One ought to be suspicious of the "dramatic" elements in Stroebel's book as well. As any good journalist learns in school, one makes a story more readable and compelling by getting in "the human element," the telling detail, the puzzled reaction. Stroebel's writing techniques are commercial and formulaic: he has studied up on how to create characters and dramatic scenes. His faith may be serious, but he writes to sell. There are genuine and profound areas of debate and disagreement in the field of Biblical studies, even among believing scholars. After reading Stroebel's books, I would recommend reading serious scholarship, and a lot of it, rather than the one-sided pretense of The Case for Christ. True faith doesn't need a defense, but it can be enriched by real inquiry.
Rating:
Summary: An 'A' for effort
Review: This is an accomplished work. The writing here is good, the research exhaustive, and the conclusions in favor of the existence of Jesus, the general reliability of the main gospels, etc, etc, etc. (With some serious logical flaws.) HOWEVER, this book, just like any other source of any kind, can never prove -- as it claims to do -- that Jesus was the son of God incarnate, come to save humankind from our sins. To believe a statement like that, you must rely on faith. Earthly evidence will avail you nothing at all. Personally -- and this is just something to think about -- I believe that the literal truth of Jesus, let alone his status as divine or not divine, is not at all, as Strobel says, "the most important spiritual issue of all." Isn't what's REALLY important about Jesus his attitude of forgiveness and tolerance and his message of love, and the often wonderful results that legacy has had in people's lives since his stories were first written down? If the idea is to make people better, then a Jesus of pure myth is just as potent as a Jesus of pure historical truth...and everything in between fits just as well. I'm on a soapbox here, and I apologize, but to me, Lee Strobel's book, though admirable, is rather pointless. If, however, you are a believing Christian, Strobel's work may give you a reason to be proud of your beautiful, enduring faith. If, like me, you believe in the validity of the Christian faith without professing Christianity itself, you may find interesting historical scholarship and a new appreciation for Christianity. You may also have fun picking out the logical fallacies.
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