The Lord Jesus Christ is perfectly capable of taking care of Himself, and ultimately needs no defending from—or by—we mere humans. His truth would stand even if no one on earth believed it. Nevertheless, we who believe must defend Him against the atheists and agnostics and Muslims and etc. who are attacking the historicity of Jesus Christ the divine man/God who walked on this earth 2,000 years ago.

The attacks have come from many quarters in recent years and have gotten much popular press. They include Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great, Bart Ehrman’s well-written and runaway bestseller Misquoting Jesus (written by a former highly educated Christian-turned agnostic), Dan Brown’s popular but laughably ludicrous The Da Vinci Code, Bill Moyers’ books What Jesus Really Meant and What Paul Really Meant, the “discovery” of the Gnostic so-called “Gospel of Judas,” which has liberal scholars all a-twitter, James Cameron’s phony “Tomb of Jesus,” and so on.

What’s the answer, and more importantly, how can Christians equip themselves properly, instead of just saying “I believe the Bible!” when the very foundations of the Bible and Jesus Himself are under attack?

Never fear: Lee Strobel has done it again. The author of The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith and The Case for a Creator has turned his considerable investigative talents toward responding to the ferocious attacks on the Lord Himself. The former atheist and hard-hitting investigative reporter, now a born-again-Christian, published The Case for the Real Jesus earlier this year. As with his earlier works, he sought out the absolute best experts in several fields and asked the tough questions on a quest to discover the real Jesus. The results in this book are stunning. It’s Strobel’s best work yet.

What sets this book apart is that Strobel plays much more of the devil’s advocate (heh—in this case, literally) than in previous books by really digging into the atheistic and etc. objections. And when he interviews his experts, he challenges them several different ways to “prove it!”

One of the best sections is Strobel’s interview with Michael Licona, one of the world’s foremost New Testament scholars. During the two-chapter interview recorded by Strobel, Licona uses five pieces of minimal historical evidence that even most ultra liberal, atheist and agnostic scholars agree on to make the case that Jesus Christ rose from the dead—that He was/is who we believe Him to be:

1. Jesus was killed by crucifixion
2. Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose from the dead and appeared to them in the flesh
3. Saul’s conversion from church persecutor to the Christian champion, Paul
4. Jesus’ half-brother, James, converted from skeptic during Jesus’ ministry to believer and leader after His resurrection
5. The tomb was empty

Again, a large majority of historians, including liberal, atheist or agnostic scholars, accept those central facts AS undeniable facts, says Licona. And he definitely would know.

And that’s just a small taster of what’s in this book. It’s intensely scholarly, thought-provoking, challenging and, ultimately, edifying. If you truly know who you worship and why, you won’t have your faith knocked flat by the latest attack from an Ehrman or Hitchins, or from a breathless media frenzy over a “lost” gospel. However, if you are ignorant about what you believe, you can and will be knocked flat and will question what you believe, because you will not know better.

Don’t be an ignorant Christian (as in “lacking knowledge and understanding”). Arm yourself with knowledge, as we are commanded to do. As the apostle Peter wrote (2 Peter 1:3-11):

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

“Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

In 1 Peter 3, the apostle says: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

“Add to your faith…knowledge…” Or, to quote the old cartoon show, “Knowing is half the battle.”

Get Strobel’s book, read it, absorb it, and, above all else, absorb your scripture—which is the final (and only) authority. You won’t be disappointed.

Written by Truman

One Response to “THE Christian book to read in early 2008”

1. ~J~ says:

   December 31, 2007 at 1:04 pm

   Thank you for this post, Truman. I’ll order the book right away. Since I’ve been talking to some atheists maybe this will give me the reasons I haven’t thought of yet, or more appropriately, haven’t had revealed to me yet.