Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Christ, is a former newspaper reporter. So am I. He is a former atheist turned Christian. I am a former Christian turned atheist. This book purports to be an account of his skeptical investigation into the truth about Christianity. According to a cover blurb, it tells of Strobel's "spiritual journey from atheism to faith."
The reader is led to believe that Strobel began his investigation as a hard-core skeptic whose reportorial objectivity enabled him to rationally evaluate the evidence he found during a two-year search for the "real story" about Jesus. The book is a favorite among evangelical Christians. It is among the references most frequently cited on Internet forums where believers confront nonbelievers. To hear the Christians tell it, the book is a must-read for anyone skeptical about the gospel stories.
As we shall see later, Strobel was anything but skeptical when he began working on The Case for Christ. His journalistic credentials seem in order, and his legal training (graduate degree from Yale Law School) adds to his credibility. This is not, however, the true story of Strobel's own search for the truth. It is a cataloguing of the views of other Christians who have the academic and publication credits to intimidate those with less evidence of intellectual prowess. What Strobel fails to include in this book is any evidence that he understands the scientific method of testing hypotheses or theories. He ostensibly treats evangelical claims as though they were being contested in a court of law. Even by that standard, he fails, but even if his evidence would prevail in court, it is scientifically worthless.
We'll examine The Case for Christ chapter by chapter. From the book's Table of Contents: