The Case for Christ, Strobel, Book Review Dennis Mitton 2013 I recentl watche! a !

isc"ssion at Cal #ol between a rather fa$o"s ske%tic an! a rather fa$o"s s%irit"alist& The to%ic was reli'ion an! ("ant"$ %h sics& )fter the !isc"ssion, $e$bers of the a"!ience were invite! to ask ("estions& *ne scr"ff '" stoo! "%, intro!"ce! hi$self as a teacher of ("ant"$ %h sics at the school, an! $a!e the observation that, tho"'h he knew the $eanin' of all the wor!s the s%irit"alist "se!, he ha!n+t the sli'htest i!ea of what he was talkin' abo"t& )n! he was %rett s"re that the s%irit"al '" !i!n+t either an! invite! hi$ to atten! a co"%le classes& B"t not knowin' what o"+re talkin' or writin' abo"t hasn+t sto%%e! an one fro$ sellin' a few $illion books to %eo%le who ver ass"re!l !o not know what the wor!s reall $ean& Strobel has !one so$ethin' si$ilar with The Case for Christ& ,e sets o"t with a 'reat i!ea& I act"all bo"'ht the book base! on the %re$ise that this '" - an awar! winnin' .o"rnalist - sets o"t to interview the s$artest an! $ost acco$%lishe! aca!e$ics to fin! o"t who the real /es"s was& B"t this sho"l! onl be #art *ne of three& In #art *ne, Strobel onl interviews s"%%orters of evan'elical ortho!o0 who, witho"t so $"ch as a wince, wave off an thin' that !oesn+t fit neatl into their s ste$atic theolo' & 1o $atter how s$all, no chink in the ar$or is allowe!& 1o crack of the !oor& I wish there were a #art Two where he interviews aca!e$ics with the sa$e cre!entials who ar'"e for a !ifferent concl"sion, an! a #art Three where he co$%ares the two& B"t, for obvio"s reasons, it+s $ '"ess that we+ll onl see this vol"$e& The stor an! the ar'"$ents are ."st too one si!e!& ) case in %oint is the ("estion of the ti$eline of the cr"cifi0ion& Mark tells "s in his 'os%el that /es"s was cr"cifie! at the si0th ho"r - abo"t nine in the $ornin'& /ohn, tho"'h, writin' several ears later, tells "s that /es"s stoo! before #ilate for ("estionin' at noon& Christians have s%ent a lot of ink tr in' to e0%lain this inconsistenc b"t the $ost obvio"s e0%lanation is $ost likel 2 /ohn bent the narrative a bit to $ake a better stor & /ohn+s rea!ers wo"l! "n!erstan! that his narrative %"ts /es"s before #ilate at the sa$e ti$e that the #assover 3a$b was bein' sacrifice! - a no! to confir$ation of /es"s as the 3a$b of 4o!& There is 'oo! evi!ence that as Christian writers over the ne0t few cent"ries wrote their stories the narrative was e0%an!e!& Ma be there is 'oo! reason for this5 Ma be not5 B"t it sho"l! be a!!resse! with so$ethin' other than the wave of a han! in a book %"r%ortin' to !elve !ee%l into these iss"es& I wish, too, that Strobel wo"l! have !evelo%e! an investi'ative $etric %rior to interviewin'& In other wor!s, ask an! answer the ("estion of what constit"tes real evi!ence beforehan!& 6vi!ence for the e0istence of the historical /es"s !oesn+t in an wa necessaril lea! to an acce%tance of his !ivinit & ,e refers in cha%ter

hea!in's to $o!ern events that he re%orte! on an! how the evi!ence fo"n! was "se! to ar'"e the case settin' "% the non sequitur that we sho"l! $eas"re a clai$ to !ivinit in the sa$e wa we fi'"re o"t who st"ck their han! in the cookie .ar& I tire! ("ickl of the for$at& There+s %lent of 'oo! infor$ation here b"t Strobel was force! into so$e sill contrivances to $aintain the interview for$at& )n! his writin' is $"ch like, well, .o"rnalis$, which !oesn+t e0actl translate into flowin' %rose& The book has been a consistent seller a$on' Christians lookin' for answers to shore "% their faith& If o" start with faith, o"+ll likel en.o the book an! fin! $"ch of it "sef"l& I starte! witho"t faith an! finishe! in the sa$e wa & 7nconvince! an! "n$ove!&