The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 304 pages
• Published by: Zondervan October 1, 2000
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0310234697
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0310234692
• Book Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 10.4 ounces

Product Review
Award-winning reporter and author Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) once again uses his investigative skills to address the primary objections to Christianity. As a former atheist, Strobel understands the rational resistance to faith. He even names the eight most convincing arguments against Christian faith:

1) If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?
2) If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational human being believe that they're true?
3) If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?
4) If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?
5) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?
6) If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?
7) If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
8) If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?

These are mighty tough questions, and Strobel fields them well. Rather than write a weighty dissertation about the merits of faith, he brings us along on his quest as we meet leaders in the Christian community, such as Peter Kreeft and William Lane Craig. We also encounter his everyday friends and acquaintances that serendipitously fill in the holes in each of the eight arguments against faith. The use of dialogue from personal interviews and a scene-by-scene active narrative makes this an easy and engaging read. However, easy does not mean breezy. This is a book of substance and merit, one that will help Christians defend their faith, especially during the hardest of times, when they have to defend their faith to themselves in moments of doubt. --Gail Hudson

From Booklist
Ex-newspaperman Strobel's Christian apologetics read like feature interviews in the religion pages rather than a theological treatise. To knock down what he calls "the Big Eight" roadblocks to faith, he questions experts about them rather than logically bulldozing his way to solutions. He grills Catholic lay philosopher Peter Kreeft about the problem of evil, Indian-born evangelist Ravi Zacharias about Christian exclusivism, historian John Woodbridge about oppression in the name of Christ, and other authorities about the truth of miracles, God's callousness in the Hebrew Bible, the justice of Hell, the challenge of evolution, and the struggle with persistent doubt. Each conversation is pointed and engaging, so much so that Strobel's occasional melodramatic note (did he really speak "in a voice laden with sarcasm" to any of these, his fellow believers?) seems ridiculous. Kreeft and Woodbridge are Strobel's least doctrinaire interlocutors. The others, staunch evangelicals all, may interest fewer readers, though Zacharias on the exclusivisms of the other major religions touches on matters Americans too rarely hear discussed. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
In the same vein as "The Case for Christ" Strobel uses his investigative prowess to interview certain scholars regarding the issues of faith, evil, suffering, evolution, miracles, etc. Strobel seeks answers from some of the most renown Christian apologists, theologians and philosophers. Some of the men Strobel interviews are Norman Geisler, J.P. Moreland, Ravi Zacharias, John Woodbridge, Peter Kreeft, etc. The style in which Strobel writes makes the book very engaging and helps keep the reader's attention throughout. While the book itself does not exhaustively answer to my satisfaction every issue that was covered (which I don't think was Strobel's intention), it nonetheless gave me a desire to further research the issues. I wish the issue of faith and reason could have been detailed but perhaps Strobel had other intentions. Nevertheless, this book would be a great "starter" text for those who are desiring to get a basic handle on certain issues (i.e. the problem of evil and suffering, evolution, etc.) but it is not the kind of text for the academic researcher in those areas. Thus, this book is a must for lay people of the Christian church, and those who want to know where to begin researching the issues on a small scale. I would recommend this book to anyone involved in Christian ministries, Christian leadership positions, and especially youth ministers. Once again Lee Strobel has provided a fairly solid work. Comments (2) | | (Report this)