The Case for Christ

I finally read a book that I have wanted to read for years. 

Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ

It was even better than I had hoped. 

Strobel, with a law degree from Yale Law school and an award-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune, was an atheist.  When his wife suddenly converted to Christianity, Strobel expected her to become some prude who lost all sense of fun.  Instead he was pleasantly surprised that she became a better wife with fundamental changes in her integrity, character and confidence.  Skeptical, he began to investigate Christianity using his top journalistic skills.  He researched, read, and interviewed the experts. He analyzed history, explored archaeology and read the Bible looking for holes and contradictions.  He's trying to make "the case for Christ".

The chapters of this book include:
Part 1- Examining the Record

• Can the biographies (Gospels) of Jesus be trusted?
• Do the biographies of Jesus stand up to scrutiny?
• Were Jesus' biographies reliably preserved for us?
• Is there credible evidence for Jesus OUTSIDE of His biographies?
• Does Archeology confirm or contradict Jesus outside His biographies?
• Is the Jesus of history the same as the Jesus of faith?

Part 2- Analyzing Jesus

• Was Jesus really convinced that He was the Son of God?
• Was Jesus crazy when He claimed to be the Son of God?
• Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God?
• Did Jesus- and Jesus alone- match the identify of the Messiah?

Part 3- Researching the Resurrection:

• Was Jesus' death a sham and His Resurrection a hoax?
• Was Jesus' body really absent from His tomb?
• Was Jesus seen alive after His death on the cross?
• Are there any supporting facts that point to the resurrection?

Whether you are a believer already or not, I highly recommend reading this book.  Each chapter begins with a story, and he brings the interviews to life.  It is an easy and exciting read that reveals a ton of information.  I learned

• why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were most probably written by Matthew Mark, Luke and John
• That Paul incorporated creeds and hymns into his letters- dating back within TWO to FIVE YEARS after Christ's Resurrection!!
• That there are more than FIVE THOUSAND New Testament Greek manuscripts in existence today.  The next greatest amount of manuscripts is Homer's Iliad and there are fewer than 650 Greek manuscripts today- and most are dated from the 2nd and 3rd century- 1000 years after written.
• That Josephus- a first century well-known and accepted Jewish (not Christian!!) historian- wrote about Jesus in two different documents.  "Josephus corroborates important information about Jesus: that he was the martyred leader of the church in Jerusalem and that he was a wise teacher who had established a wide and lasting following, despite the fact that he had been crucified under Pilate at the instigation of some of the Jewish leaders" (pg. 80). 
• "We have better historical documentation for Jesus than for the founder of any other ancient religion" (pg. 86).
• Buddha's (6th century BC) teachings weren't written until the 1st Century AD. 
• Muhammad's (570-632 AD) sayings weren't written until 767- more than a full century later. 
• EVEN WITHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT and other Christian writings but looking at non-Christian sources such as Josephus and more we would know a complete outline of Jesus' life.  (pg. 87)

And on and on.  I was completely fascinated by this book and wore out my highlighter.  I know I will reference this book again and again.  Check it out!