A REVIEW OF LEE STROBEL'S THE CASE FOR CHRIST

From: Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?A_REVIEW_OF_LE?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?E_STROBEL'S_TH?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?E_CASE_FOR_CHR?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?IST?= Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 10:25:13 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_01B8_01C3FF77.7B93C9E0"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.3314.1001 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_01B8_01C3FF77.7B93C9E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: =?iso-8859-1?B?aHR0cDovL3BhZ2VzLmM=?= =?iso-8859-1?B?YS5pbnRlci5uZXQvfm8=?= =?iso-8859-1?B?Ymxpby9DVFZFeGNlcnA=?= =?iso-8859-1?B?dHNJbnRyby5odG0=?= A REVIEW OF LEE STROBEL'S THE CASE FOR CHRIST

In Association with The Jesus Puzzle web site: http://www.magi.com/~oblio= /jesus.html=20 and http://human.st/jesuspuzzle =
Earl Doherty

Age of=20 Reason = Publications

Age of Reason Home = Page=20
The Jesus Puzzle Home = Page=20

CHALLENGING THE VERDICT
A=20 Cross-Examination of Lee Strobel=92s The Case For = Christ=20

Introduction

My critique of Lee Strobel=92s The Case for = Christ=20 began life as a book review designed for The Jesus Puzzle web = site. When=20 it grew beyond the bounds of a normal review and was well received by = many=20 readers, a version in book form was not long in coming, published under = my own=20 imprint, Age of Reason Publications. In the course of the book = production, the=20 original website version underwent a fair amount of revision and = improvement,=20 with the addition of a Final Summation, much expanded Notes, and a = comprehensive=20 Index.=20

Because of that improvement in quantity and quality, = and in=20 order, hopefully, to benefit the resources of a fledgling Age of Reason=20 organization, I have removed the earlier version from the site and would = encourage interested readers to acquire the book, either directly from = myself through this = website=20 or from Amazon.com.=20 In place of the original website review, I am posting multiple excerpts = here=20 from the book version (see below), which not only make interesting = reading in=20 themselves, but will convey the quality and merits of the overall = content of the=20 book.=20

Age of Reason Publications=92 stated goal, of = promoting the=20 application of rational thought to society=92s laws, ethics and beliefs, = is well=20 served by Challenging the Verdict. The book is designed to = demonstrate the unreliability of the Gospels as historical documents, = and the=20 insecurity of basing Christianity=92s essential doctrines and its view = of the=20 beginnings of the faith on a very narrow and orthodox reading of one = small=20 portion of the documentary record. Regardless of the consequences to=20 long-established traditions and comforts, our society=92s picture of the = past and=20 of the nature of reality, foundations on which it bases so much of its = beliefs=20 and conduct, must be governed by principles of rationality and = scientific=20 investigation. Challenging the Verdict is offered as a = much-needed=20 step in that direction.=20

The book is styled as a courtroom cross-examination = before=20 judge and jury of each of Lee Strobel's scholarly witnesses. I have = taken direct=20 quotations from those witnesses and set up my own dialogue with their = words,=20 offering objections and counter-interpretation of the evidence. = Occasionally I=20 have shortened those direct-word passages, or altered the order in which = they=20 appear in Strobel's book, but I have scrupulously taken care not to = distort or=20 misrepresent the opinions being put forward by his witnesses, much less = to put=20 words into their mouths. I allot to the defense only those words and = statements=20 they have made in The Case for Christ.=20

Skip to Exce= rpts from=20 the book (below)=20

* =20 * *

From reviews of Challenging the Verdict on Amazon.com:=20

"Another resounding triumph of reason over faith is presented in Earl = Doherty=92s excellent book, =91Challenging the Verdict=92. . . = Complaints of other=20 reviewers notwithstanding, the format (=91cross-examining=92 Strobel=92s = =91witnesses=92=20 in a courtroom setting) is perfectly reasonable=97and makes for fun = reading!=20

"Want to get rid of superstition in your life? Want to free yourself = from=20 2000 year old fantasies about a man walking out of his tomb, about being = God and=20 the only avenue to salvation, while everyone who doesn=92t believe in = him gets to=20 go to some eternal punishment you wouldn=92t wish on your worst enemy? = These are=20 only some of the ideas defended by Strobel and his scholars which = Doherty puts=20 in his sights and demolishes, as he dismantles the reliability of the = Gospels=20 and their dogmas."=20

"I was also struck by the extra-biblical comments Doherty sprinkles=20 throughout the book, espousing rationalist views. His comments on the = whole=20 blood sacrifice basis of Christian salvation, the section on hell (which = ought=20 to discredit any belief in that horrific doctrine) and his little homily = at the=20 end of the Final Summation are some of the most insightful things I=92ve = read in=20 support of rationality, something Strobel=92s book is very short on.=20

For the full texts of all Amazon reviews, both positive and = negative=20 (including some comments of my own in reply):=20

Click=20 here=20

* =20 * *=20

Excerpts from Challenging the=20 Verdict

In this selection each of the = chapters is=20 represented, beginning with the "Opening Remarks" that introduce Part = One. They=20 are divided into three files, corresponding to the three Parts of the = book. The=20 reader may use the following Index to these excerpts, with links to each = individual selection, or simply proceed to the first, and then follow = the link=20 at the end of each Part.=20

Part One - = Is the=20 Gospel Record Reliable?
   Excerpt from Intr= oduction=20 to Part One: Opening Remarks
   Excerpt from Chapter = One:=20 The Gospels and Their Authors=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Craig Blomberg and "The Eyewitness Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapter = Two:=20 Under the Spotlight=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Craig Blomberg and "Testing the Eyewitness = Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapte= r=20 Three: Manuscripts and the Canon=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Bruce Metzger and "The Documentary Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapter= =20 Four: Jesus Outside the Gospels=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Edwin Yamauchi and "The Corroborating = Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapter= =20 Five: Evaluating the Gospel Historians=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. John McRay and "The Scientific Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapter = Six:=20 Placing Jesus in Context=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Gregory Boyd and "The Rebuttal Evidence"=20

Part Two - = What Was=20 the Nature of Jesus?
   Excerpt from Chapte= r=20 Seven: Jesus=92 View of Himself=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Ben Witherington III and "The Identity = Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapte= r=20 Eight: Jesus=92 State of Mind=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Gary R. Collins and "The Psychological = Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapter= =20 Nine: Jesus as God the Son=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Donald A. Carson and "The Profile Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Chapter = Ten:=20 Jesus as Fulfillment of Prophecy=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Mr. Louis Lapides and "The Fingerprint Evidence"=20

Part = Three - Did=20 Jesus Rise from the Dead?
   Excerpt from Cha= pter=20 Eleven: Suffering and Death on the Cross=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Alexander Metherell and "The Medical = Evidence"=20
   Excerpt from Cha= pter=20 Twelve: Burial and an Empty Tomb=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. William Lane Craig and "The Evidence of the = Missing=20 Body"
   Excerpt from C= hapter=20 Thirteen: Appearing in the Flesh=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. Gary Habermas and "The Evidence of = Appearances"=20
   Excerpt from C= hapter=20 Fourteen: Looking at the Effects=20
           &nb= sp;           =20 A Cross-Examination of Dr. J. P. Moreland and "The Circumstantial = Evidence"=20
   Concluding with a sp= ecial=20 excerpt from the end of Chapter Eleven=20

Challenging the Verdict: Available through this = website=20 and from Amazon.com=20

Age=20 of Reason Home Page
The Jesus Puzzle Home = Page=20

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