Rating: 
Summary: At least better than _The Case For Faith_
Review: For those familiar with my very negative opinion of Strobel's _The Case For Faith_ (see "more about me") might be surprised that I'm going to give _The Case For Christ_ a more favorable review. I know that both books feature well qualified, prominent Christian apologists, yet I found the interviews in CFF to be mostly drivel. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised that the interviews in CFC to be much more thoughtful and interesting. I'm convinced that those who are already Christians, or those leaning that way, would find this book to be strongly supportive of Christian views.Even so, for those that are skeptical to begin with, I don't think they would be swayed by this book. Strobel tries very hard to give the appearance that he has researched all the counter-arguments and his interviews systematically strikes them all down. The problem is it looks much more like he has simply chosen counter-arguments that he knows his interviewees know how to respond to. There are a number of works countering the arguments Strobel makes in this book. I've read the critique of the book by the Internet Infidels. There is also an entire book dedicated to critique this book, _Challenging the Verdict_ by Earl Doherty, available here at Amazon.com which I have not read. The problem that I have is basically, even if Strobel and his interviewees are 100% right on (and those critiques of Strobel's work are totally off base,) is it reasonable for God to expect us to know it? Is it not a reasonable thing for those undecided to suspect that Strobel, his interviewees, and the Gospel itself to be biased in favor of Christianity? After all, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar work by a Muslim to demonstrate the validity of Islam. And a similar book by a Buddhist to support Buddhism, etc. If I were to express the opinion that I'm skeptical that Mohammed said and did what Muslims say, a Christian would consider that reasonable. If I were to express the opinion that I'm skeptical that Rev. Moon is who he says he is, a Christian would say that is reasonable. But if I were to say that I'm skeptical that Jesus says who he says he was, apparently that is a crime punishable by eternal damnation. This isn't reasonable. Really, in essence, Christianity isn't so much a faith in Jesus - nobody alive today has ever met him. Christianity is faith in the men that wrote the Gospels and those that espouse its validity. So, really, if Christianity is true, then it basically means that God expects us to have faith in the PEOPLE that support Christianity. God Himself, seems to have done nothing in two-thousand years to prove Himself. He leaves our fate in the hands of those that espouse Christianity. So, even if it so happens that those that espouse Christianity are in fact right, why would it be an expectation of God for those of us living two thousand years later to know that or send us to hell while simultaneously knowing that all the other religions and those that espouse them are false? So, as I said, Strobel's CFC is a good read and Christians will just love it, but I think the counter-arguments he tries to dispel are straw-men.
Rating: 
Summary: Reads like a novel, but proves like an Apologetical textbook
Review: I must say that I did not have much intention to buy this book in the first place, but my friend gave it to me for free. Lee Strobel covers his personal quest to uncover Truth, turning from Atheist, to Agnostic, and eventually Christian. I have heard many bad reviews from this book saying that he goes on and on about description, and never gets to the point he wants to make. I agree in one sense that this is true, but the reason I find this fascinating is that the book is not a book to read necessarily just for Apologetics, but a narrative and testimony about the conversion of a man who was caught up in the secular world. Strobel hits on all the evidences, and while so much of it is meant more for the new or doubting Believer, I found myself asking "well, what about this?" after a question is answered. The great part is that he answers it right after that. I picked up this book one day in my dorm room and just started reading. I don't remember putting it down for anything but eat, sleep and going to the bathroom. It reads like a novel, but proves like a scholarly Apologetics textbook. I was disappointed that the content didn't satisfy more complicated questions, but this book is meant more for the beginning Christian. This is a must for any Youth Pastor or any ministry that is using Apologetics to bring unbelievers to confess the name of the Lord. No matter what you get this book for, may it help you grow closer in your walk with Christ, and God bless!
Rating: 
Summary: Good starting place for the devlopment of an apologetic.
Review: I happened to hear Lee Strobel preach and was very interested in obtaining his book, THE CASE FOR CHRIST. This book had a profound effect on me. The chapter on the crucifixion is one of the most powerful and detailed accounts of how Jesus was executed. The conclusion of why Jesus took such a horrible torture upon Himself, that it was for love, was enough to make me put the book down and drop to my knees. This book is not exactly neutral in approach. The scholars interviewed are Christian and obviously have a faith that goes beyond the material facts. Yet the facts outlined can be checked out by the curious reader, and the view on the facts turn out to be remarkably objective. This certainly lends credibility to the interview subjects' perspective. There are also a lot of good references listed at the end of each chapter that lend themselves to further study. This is a good book to start with if the reader is looking to discover Christ. If the reader is already a Christian, this book will guide him or her in building a foundation for an apologetic. The scholars are solid, and the book is full of footnotes and reference material. It is not the be all and end all of who Christ is or apologetics, but it provides a very good start to the curious reader.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: This book is what I said it is. Anyone who has a clear and outright objection to one of the claims in this book and can answer it in the fullest write it in a review.Plus unless your a scholar I doubt you would like to go head to head with one of these guys.
Rating:
Summary: Case for Christ settled my courts
Review: This was one of the most amazing pieces of Christian literature that I have ever read. It reminded me of the book by Josh McDowell, "More Than a Carpenter" only with a more scholarly twist. While living in a world where skepticism is the law, this book was able to settle some of the largest claims against the validity of Christianity. If you have any doubt in your mind about the potential existence of Christ, this is a must read. Mr. Strobel interviews scholars, some of the most intelligent men in the field, and is straight and honest in asking some of the most brutal arguments against Christianity. Furthermore, being a religious scholar myself, this information is accurate as presented. Just to validate any questions that might arise in thinking that the book was written at a slanted angle. It meets all of the criteria of unbiased literature, and will make you think.
Rating:
Summary: Great demonstration of historical foundation for NT
Review: Lee Strobel does an excellent job explaining the historical foundation for the NT. He starts off by asking the reader to analyze the data, and see what explanation best suites the information given. He then moves on to give the data needed to make a well-informed explanation. He starts by analyzing the NT writer's objectivity. By asking well-qualified professionals, he addresses several pertinent questions necessary to make a valued judgment. He addresses questions that deal with, 1. Analyzing their character
2. The way their accounts match up to outer historical evidence
3. Whether they decided to only write what would further promote their beliefs
4. If we should trust the books even though time has passed since the events happened and when they were written
5. If they could have plagiarized what they wrote from a common source
6. If the copies of the originals can be trusted Lee Strobel asks all these questions and more. He then moves to analyzing the character of Jesus. He answers questions like, was Jesus convinced he was God, could he have been crazy, and did Jesus fulfill the attributes of the OT prophesized God. Strobel finishes his investigation with a penetrating analysis of the resurrection. He directly investigates if the resurrection could have been a hoax, if it was possible for Jesus to have survived the ordeal, was the tomb really empty, and what do all the undeniable facts point to. When all is said and done, Strobel's analysis presents strong evidence that the NT books are the most reliable in history, the resurrection did occur, and answers many objections along the way. He does this by establishing facts that are un-contested by scholars, and showing how with just these, the evidence unquestionably points to the resurrection actually happening, and the NT's historical superiority. Other positives that added to the books value are Strobel's great answer's to issues like, why don't we accept other prophets of Jesus time, Jesus Seminar, Gospel of Thomas, whether the City of Nazareth existed, whether killing all first born children could have happened, Jesus and slavery, and comparing the historical accounts to that of Mormonism. Strobel also has a great writing style and starts each new chapter with a law problem, that he encountered, that shows the necessity to examine the historicity of the NT from that angle, and then describes the person and the credentials of the one addressing that particular question. The book also comes with a good Summary and Index at the end. However, there are some reservations I feel I should mention. First being, Strobel should have balanced the book more. He should have let the opposing side have more of their say. Especially if he is so confident in the historicity of the NT. A second point, the book did not address whether all books of the NT are as historically accurate as others. For example, it didn't address problems that some people have with Revelation, with Hebrews and other such books. It also concentrated too much on the historical proof that the resurrection did happen and not enough on the historicity of the NT as a whole. There is also nothing mentioned about the supposed miracles the apostles did. Which is needed to elevate the books they wrote from just history to infallible. I also would have liked Strobel to spend more time on the supposed "obvious" predictions of Jesus in the OT. I feel this chapter was the weakest out of all of them and was more of an "appeal to authority" argumentation than anything else. However, with the above in mind, Strobel does an excellent job of demonstrating that the most, and only, reasonable historical conclusion one can make about the resurrection of Jesus and the historicity of some of the NT books is that Jesus did rise from the dead and the NT is, by far, the most historically reliable book we have.
Rating:
Summary: A Rational and Interrogated Faith
Review: First off, let me lat my cards on the table: I am not Protestant, but a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I am not biased to give a gushy, lovey-dovey review of the book. However, despite my denominational differences, I found this book quite a pleasant read.
Each generation or so has a champion that articulates truth, and I think Lee Strobel has become one for Christians everywhere. He pulled a Malcolm Muggeridge, namely he started to investigate Christianity and was later converted to that which he was investigating. C. S. Lewis, himself a recovering atheist, once said, "A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--'Bibles laid open,
millions of surprises,' as Herbert says, 'fine nets and sratagems.' God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous." (Surprised by Joy, Chapter 12) Strobel tackles fourteen ferocious questions dealing with the veracity and divinity of Jesus as the Christ. These fourteen questions fall into three broad categories: I--Examining the Record, to wit the Bible; II--Analyzing Jesus, or the corpus delicti; III--Researching the Resurrection. For each of the fourteen questions, Strobel interviewed a scholar with expertise in the specific area. Strobel interrogated the scholars with the type of hardball (but not vacuous doubting)
questions you would expect a tough Chicago Tribune reporter to ask. Despite what Gov. Jesse Ventura thinks, there are strong-minded answers to these sharp and prickly questions. Open-mindedness is a sword that cuts both ways--there is such a thing as BLIND DOUBT that is an opposite to BLIND FAITH. What impressed me the most was that many of the theologians had a hard science background. Drs. Carl Sagan and Steven Hawking, contrawise, do not have any theological or religious
degrees. Mr. Strobel has flawless prose, and you can see past the ink and type and see clearly his ideas and the ideas of his interviewees. The book is logical, ordered, orderly, and absolutely unmuddled. This is a serious book for the serious skeptic and the person who just wonders. ONE PERSONAL INDULGENCE: In Chapter 5, John McRay, Ph.D., made a comment about my denomination, specifically that the Book of Mormon has no archeological evidence to support it. This is sheer and utter nonsense. For example, Immanuel Tov, Dead Sea Scroll Czar, pointed out in a colloquium that the famous Copper Scroll is similar to the gold plates that the Book of Mormon was written on. Secondarily, the Book of Mormon mentions a place on the Arabian peninsula called "Nahom,' and a place called "Nahem" was found in Arabia. You do the math. Moreover, there are other evidences beside archeology to support the Book of Mormon, as there are other evidences besides archeology to support Christianity. See Hugh W. Nibley's "Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaradites" for a primer on the evidence and data.
Rating:
Summary: The True Jesus
Review: Having read The Case For Christ several times now, I strongly recommend this book for both the non-Christian and Christian alike. This book is constructed by the research and testimonies of leading scholars throughout the United States and attempts to establish the "Jesus of Faith" as the true historical Jesus that walked on the earth two thousand years ago. The Case For Christ is very well-written and original in its form. Former journalist Lee Strobel records his interviews in a very conversational way, asking common questions and raising doubts to be tackled by these scholars. For the Christian, this book will undoubtedly strengthen his or her faith, building up an intellectual foundation for "why we believe in Jesus." For the non-Christian, I encourage that this book be read with an open-mind, grounded in an honest desire for the truth of who this Jesus was-and what, if anything, makes him so special. I have heard the objection that this book is biased because the only scholars that were interviewed were conservative Christian scholars. No liberal or secular scholars were interviewed. I believe this is a legimate point, but I also think that Lee Strobel's purpose for this book was to present a defense of the Christ of the historic Christian faith. In other words the question is "How do these Christian scholars answer the common objections to the historical Christian faith?" For a more in-depth and balanced study on this subject, the books "Will the Real Jesus, Please Stand Up?" and "Jesus Resurrecion: Fact or Figment?" present well-balanced essays from both sides. Overall, The Case For Christ was an easy-read and is a very good general historical apologetics book. It is both scholarly and readable at the same time, providing an introduction to the most relevant issues surrounding the life of Jesus. Pick it up! It might change your life!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Compact yet extremly resourceful. Strobel's journalistic back ground and skills are aptly put to use. Very easy to read and follow even for people who are not Chirstian Apologist.
The evidence is clear and concise, mined from people who with extensive academic credentials that are all verifiable. A main criticism is that Strobel does not interview Critics of Christianity. Those people are missing the point and purpose of Strobel's book. The author is not trying to do a complete and exhaustive study, interviewing every single angle. He is recounting his own spiritual journey and the evidence that convinced him. For those who crave more evidence, they leave this book with a thirst for more knowledge and an idea where to start from. I would highly recomend this book for any non-christian who wants to read a well written apologetic stance of orthodox christianity without the drudgery of theological treatises. It also good for a lay person with a desire to know more about the firm historical basis that their faith is based on.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but DRY
Review: If you can trudge through all this info, its great. Its just really a tough read i found. There's a lot of other great apologetic books out there that are a faster read.
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