"The Case for Christ"

Ding

People who leave the WTS have to decide what to do with Jesus and the Bible.

For an interesting read defending the Bible's accounts of Jesus from an evangelical perspective, I recommend Lee Strobel's 1998 book The Case for Christ.

Strobel is a former atheist who used to be a journalist for the Chicago Tribune.

He later become a Protestant pastor.

No, I don't get any money from sales of the book; in fact, you can probably get a copy free through your local library system.

In order to help you decide whether or not you'd be interested in this book, here are the titles of the chapters:

Part 1: Examining the Record

Chapter 1: The Eyewitness Evidence: Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?

Chapter 2: Testing the Eyewitness Evidence: Do the Biographies of Jesus Stand Up to Scrutiny?

Chapter 3: The Documentary Evidence: Were Jesus' Biographies Reliably Preserved for Us?

Chapter 4: The Corroborating Evidence: Is There Credible Evidence for Jesus Outside His Biographies?

Chapter 5: The Scientific Evidence: Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?

Chapter 6: The Rebuttal Evidence: Is the Jesus of History the Same as the Jesus of Faith?

Part 2: Analyzing Jesus

Chapter 7: The Identity Evidence: Was Jesus Really Convinced the He Was the Son of God?

Chapter 8: The Psychological Evidence: Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to be the Son of God?

Chapter 9: The Profile Evidence: Did Jesus Fulfill the Attributes of God?

Chapter 10: The Fingerprint Evidence: Did Jesus -- and Jesus Alone -- Match the Identity of the Messiah?

Part 3: Researching the Resurrection

Chapter 11: The Medical Evidence: Was Jesus' Death a Sham and His Resurrection a Hoax?

Chapter 12: The Evidence of the Missing Body: Was Jesus' Body Really Absent from His Tomb?

Chapter 13: The Evidence of Appearances: Was Jesus Seen Alive After His Death on the Cross?

Chapter 14: Are There Any Supporting Facts That Point to the Resurrection?

Conclusion: The Verdict of History: What Does the Evidence Establish -- and What Does It Mean Today?

Lee has written an entire series of "The Case For..." books. As a former journalist that specialized in legal case coverage (he has a Masters of Studies in Law from Yale), he presents his "case" from a legal practitioner 's perspective...the books are interesting reading for believers and non-believers both.

tec

It sounds interesting.

Tammy

Qcmbr

What happened to?:

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

garyneal

You recommended this book to me before. I may check it out.

agonus

I'm still waiting to see what Jesus and the Bible decide to do with ME.

It's a new year. We'll see what happens.

leavingwt

I've purchased this book and it's on my list of books to read.

designs

Take a little course in the Judaism of the 3 Centuries surrounding the time of Jesus of Nazareth and compare teachings and ideas.

Few of his ideas were original and the Love and Charity Sermons had been taught in Synagogues for centuries prior and after. His ideas on the Resurrection are narrow and punishing compared to the Rabbinic thoughts on a more encompassing and compassionate outcome in the Resurrection. In Judaism's theology and philosophy humans are taken care of much better by God in the afterlife. Even in the Gospels Martha explains this to Jesus, her brother is already guaranteed a place in Gan Eden. Others are already pictured in Paradise like Abraham, Moses so you have to ask if Jesus is superfluous to getting there.

The NT Editors, Greek and Roman Bishops, did their best to put together a good story but the errors and omissions are stunning. And when the Bishops do add their little jibes they are doozies- 'His blood be upon us' found in Matthew, oh my gawd, or as one Rabbi put it incredulous- 'you would have people believe we called the curse of Cain on ourselves' Rabbi Ausubel.

Just incredible.

moshe

The NT Editors, Greek and Roman Bishops, did their best to put together a good story but the errors and omissions are stunning. And when the Bishops do add their little jibes they are doozies-

A serious study of Judaism shows up many flaws in the gospel accounts- of course I never noticed them when I was a JW, but then I had never talked to a Jew, a Rabbi or studied Jewish history until I studied for my conversion 10 years ago. It would be like me trying to write Moby Dick 100 years after the last whaling schooner had harpooned a whale and pass it off as the eyewitness "truth".

Mary

I read 'The Case for Christ' a few years ago. While the writing was at least well thought out, to me, it didn't really offer any sort of 'case' beyond having to have 'faith' that he was the Son of God. While it is certainly true that people have changed their lives for the better because of their faith in Jesus, I believe the same can be said for followers of other religious figures as well.