The Case for Faith Student Edition: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
By Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel
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About this ebook
Prepare yourself for an eye-opening, no-punches-pulled investigation into eight of the toughest objections to Christianity. The answers will prove whether or not Jesus is who he says he is and if heaven is for real, leading you to a life-changing decision in your current case for or against Christianity.
Like you, as a student, Lee Strobel asked the same tough questions you face about God, about Jesus, about science, and about Christianity. Why is there suffering? Doesn’t science disprove miracles? What about hell—and the millions who’ve never heard of Jesus? Is heaven for real? Is God unjust?
So what convinced Lee Strobel—an atheist investigative journalist turned faith-filled Christian—that Jesus is real?
Join Lee in this fascinating journey of discovery. If you’re an atheist or just aren’t sure about Jesus, these stories will turn your whole world upside down. If you’re already a Christian, you’ll gain powerful insights that will reshape your understanding of the Bible and affect your life of faith like never before.
Lee Strobel
Lee Strobel, former award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, is a New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Lee earned a journalism degree at the University of Missouri and was awarded a Ford Foundation fellowship to study at Yale Law School, where he received a Master of Studies in Law degree. He was a journalist for fourteen years at the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, winning Illinois’ top honors for investigative reporting (which he shared with a team he led) and public service journalism from United Press International. Lee also taught First Amendment Law at Roosevelt University. A former atheist, he served as a teaching pastor at three of America’s largest churches. Lee and his wife, Leslie, have been married for more than fifty years and live in Texas. Their daughter, Alison, and son, Kyle, are also authors. Website: www.leestrobel.com
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Reviews for The Case for Faith Student Edition
23 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5What an incredible unworthy follow up to The Case for Christ. The problem is, of course, that Strobel is not a great theologian. His approach to doctrine is very man-focused rather than Christ-focused.Now, when you are investigating the historical evidence to the Bible, the details of your theology don't matter all that much. Because of that, The Case for Christ is a great work in apologetics. But that is not at all the approach of this work. Instead of looking at actual hard evidence, Strobel instead turns to philosophy to answer tough questions like, "If God is good, then why is there evil in the world."Fair question, but Strobel, being very pragmatic and man-focused, turns to like-minded philosophers for his answers. So instead of biblically-based responses (even if we don't want to hear them), we have a bunch of people trying to twist their brains to defend God's actions in history. We have one philosopher trying to claim that hell exists because it is less dehumanizing than simple annihilation (p. 253), that all children who die go to heaven because they are not old enough to know better (p. 169), and that human free will is the driving force in the universe (throughout).The problem, of course, is having a wrong understanding of God in the first place. When you are Strobel, and you come to this book with the belief that God is helpless against free will, then you have a God who either cannot or will not help. That is not the God of the Bible. The true God is sovereign over all things. He is moving the tides of history by His will. He allows evil for a time, but He moves all thing for His glory and for the good of His children. He is guiding this world to a place that we cannot even imagine right now, and yet every moment will be seen in the end as purposeful and for the good. He is merciful to allow evil for a time, for we are sinful, and if He were to avenge evil fully in this moment, then He would destroy us as well. But in mercy He has given us time, for He is long suffering. He has given us this very day that we might repent and believe in Him and be saved.The book is not all bad. Ravi Zacharias has a very fine interview. But on the whole, this is an exercise in bad philosophy trying to remake God in our own image instead of ourselves being conformed to the image of Jesus. I'll stick with Strobel's more historic-based books in the future.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Strobel does it once again in this amazing book defending the Christian faith!!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A bit of preaching to the choir, a bit of dissing other religions. Not much to see here.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5A simplified theology book with pat answers that aren't really answers at all.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As in his other books, Strobel tackles some of the tough objections to the Christian religion--this time objections that would lead to a lack of faith. These include the problems of human suffering and human evolution. Strobel does this by talking to people, he interviews Christian authorities on these matters and then shares his refections. It might not convince anyone who isn't already convinced, but it does offer a personal approach to intellectual problems which at least helps make the book more intersting to read. And I think it does show that to be a Christian you don't have to check your brain at the door.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Have you got questions about Christianity? Former athiest attempts to break down those barriers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Refer to my thoughts concerning Case for Christ.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5He's actually willing to take on some tough questions. That's to his credit. However ... he has no tough answers to go along with them. In the end, it always seems to come down to personal convictions, inner transformations, and ineffable experiences of being "sure."
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Good try at convincing us that there is a God and his son is Jesus, but every time a hard question is asked, the straw-men come dancing in and fail to impress me.
Book preview
The Case for Faith Student Edition - Lee Strobel
LEE STROBEL with Jane Vogel
Resources by Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ
The Case for Christ audio
The Case for Christ—Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
The Case for Christmas
The Case for Christmas audio
The Case for a Creator
The Case for a Creator audio
The Case for a Creator—Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
The Case for Easter
The Case for Faith
The Case for Faith audio
The Case for Faith—Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
The Case for the Real Jesus
The Case for the Real Jesus—Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
Discussing the Da Vinci Code curriculum (with Gary Poole)
Discussing the Da Vinci Code discussion guide (with Gary Poole)
Experiencing the Passion of Jesus (with Garry Poole)
Exploring the Da Vinci Code (with Gary Poole)
Faith Under Fire curriculum series
God’s Outrageous Claims
Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary
Off My Case for Kids
Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch in Marriage (with Leslie Strobel)
Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch in Marriage audio
What Jesus Would Say
a2INVERT, YOUTH SPECIALTIES
The CASE for FAITH—STUDENT EDITION
Copyright 2002 by Lee Strobel
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
ePub Edition July 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-83536-3
Youth Specialties products, 300 S. Pierce St., El Cajon, CA 92020 are published by Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strobel, Lee, 1952–
The case for faith : a journalist investigates the toughest questions to Christianity / Lee Strobel and Jane Vogel.—[New] student ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-310-24188-1
1. Apologetics I. Vogel, Jane. II. Title.
BT1102 .577 2002
239.21
2001006890
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible:New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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CONTENTS
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction:Questions Worth Asking
Objection #1:
Since Evil and Suffering Exist, a Good God Cannot
Objection #2:
Miracles Contradict Science;
Therefore They Cannot Be Real
Objection #3:
Evolution Explains Life, So God Isn’t Needed
Objection #4:
It’s Intolerant to Claim Jesus Is the Only Way to God
Objection #5:
A Loving God Would Never Send People to Hell
Objection #6:
I Still Have Doubts, So I Can’t Be a Christian
Conclusion: The Power of Faith
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts
INTRODUCTION:
Questions Worth
Asking
Are you ready? Let’s roll!"
Those are the last words the GTE Airfone operator heard Todd Beamer say. After that, screams, the sounds of a scuffle, and then—silence. Fifteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside, taking Todd and the rest of the passengers and crew with it.
The fact that the plane crashed 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh instead of into its intended target somewhere in Washington, D.C., is probably due in part to Todd’s courage. Hijacked planes had already crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Flight 93 was to have been the fourth plane used as a terrorist weapon that day.
By the time Todd made his Airfone call, the hijackers aboard Flight 93 had stabbed one passenger to death and injured both pilots. They had herded the remaining passengers into two groups, one in the front of the plane and one in the rear.
We’re going to do something,
Todd told the operator, explaining his plans to jump on the hijacker guarding them.Todd believed the hijacker had a bomb strapped to his waist.I know I’m not going to get out of this,
he said.
Then he asked her to say the Lord’s Prayer with him and to tell his two children and his wife, Lisa, who was expecting their third child, that he loved them.
FAITH ON FLIGHT 93
If he gave up his life to save others, that would be Todd,
Lisa said later.
What gives a man that kind of courage?
Todd was a committed Christian, secure in his faith and his eternity,
his wife wrote in a letter after the crash. Apparently that faith held strong to the very end. According to the Airfone operator, Todd’s final words were, God help me. Jesus help me. Are you ready? Let’s roll!
OBJECTIONS TO FAITH
People live their lives and don’t leave a legacy of faith and hope and love that Todd has left,
Lisa Beamer told reporters after her husband’s death. Many would like to be known as people of courage like Todd. But Todd was also a person of faith. And that’s a different story. For some people—including me—that kind of faith can be hard to come by.
In fact, for much of my youth and adult life, I considered myself an atheist. Admittedly, I hadn’t analyzed the evidence for and against God before I concluded that he didn’t exist. It simply seemed to me that thinking people just weren’t the religious type.
Why would I waste my time checking out the Christian faith? God and miracles—come on! It didn’t take much of a dose of modern science to debunk that kind of Sunday school fantasy.
Then the unthinkable happened. My wife, Leslie, became a Christian. At first I was horrified. Then I was intrigued by the changes I started seeing in her life. Eventually I decided to check out the Christian faith. I would separate the make-believe from the reality and see what was left. After all, that’s what I did every day as a journalist—I was experienced at investigating things to see what was true.
Why not put faith to the same test yourself?
UNSETTLING QUESTIONS
My previous book, The Case for Christ, described my nearly two-year investigation of the evidence that pointed me to the verdict that God really exists and that Jesus actually is his unique Son.
But even though I had become convinced of that, I still had some nagging objections. The last thing I wanted was a faith built on wishful thinking; I needed a faith grounded in reality. Yes, I could see how the evidence points to Jesus, but what about problems like these:
• If there’s a loving God, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?
• If miracles contradict science, how can any rational person believe they’re true?
• If God really created the universe, then why does science point to evolution as the origin of life?
• If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard