{"id":12865,"date":"2020-04-10T10:09:23","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T15:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=12865"},"modified":"2020-04-15T18:26:40","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T23:26:40","slug":"book-review-the-case-for-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=12865","title":{"rendered":"Book Review | The Case for Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.test\/content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/51flb2aW9KL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12866\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/51flb2aW9KL.jpg 500w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/51flb2aW9KL-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/51flb2aW9KL-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/51flb2aW9KL-465x465.jpg 465w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Easter-Journalist-Investigates-Resurrection-ebook\/dp\/B000SESHY4\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=the+case+for+easter&amp;qid=1586531294&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\">The Case for Easter<\/a><\/em> by Lee Strobel is an excellent read anytime&#8230;but particularly right now over Easter Weekend.  The book is available for $1.99 on Kindle right now if you click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Easter-Journalist-Investigates-Resurrection-ebook\/dp\/B000SESHY4\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=the+case+for+easter&amp;qid=1586531294&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1\">here<\/a>.  I&#8217;m writing this post on Good Friday.  Good Friday is a time to reflect and remember what took place on that day over 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ willingly subjected himself to death by crucifixion in order to pay the penalty for our sin debt&#8230;for my sin debt.  The Good part about that is that it was only the beginning of what would transpire over the course of three days leading up to Matthew 28:5-6, <em>But the angel said to the women, \u201cDo not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay<\/em>, where we see that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.  Have you ever had questions about the crucifixion or the resurrection?   This book is a great read and super helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lee Strobel started his career as a Yale Law educated investigative reporter for The Chicago Tribune.  He was also an atheist.  Have you ever heard his story?  His testimony of investigating the resurrection with the purpose of overturning it&#8230;that led to him ultimately placing his faith in Jesus Christ&#8230;can be found in the book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation\/dp\/0310226465\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1586531169&amp;sr=1-2\"><em>The Case for Christ<\/em><\/a>.  The book was also recently made into a movie which can be found for free on Netflix <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/80158084\">HERE<\/a>.  Our family watched the movie the other night and it was really helpful!  Even if you have been a Christian for a while, it&#8217;s so good to consider other perspectives and questions that you may or may not have wrestled with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another great spot to check out Lee&#8217;s testimony and hear more of his story is on this week&#8217;s<em> <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/episode-74-lee-strobel\/id1279929826?i=1000470613565\"><em>Linch with a Leader Podcast<\/em><\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/northstarchurch.org\/\">Northstar Church Pastor Mike Linch<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cThis is a known medical condition called hematidrosis. It\u2019s not very common, but it is associated with a high degree of psychological stress. p. 14\n<\/li><li>\u201cWhat this did was set up the skin to be extremely fragile so that when Jesus was flogged by the Roman soldier the next day, his skin would be very, very sensitive.\u201d p. 15<\/li><li>\u201cThe pain was absolutely unbearable,\u201d he continued. \u201cIn fact, it was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally, excruciating means \u2018out of the cross.\u2019 Think of that: they needed to create a new word because there was nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion. p. 19<\/li><li>\u201cThis fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 22, which foretold the crucifixion hundreds of years before it took place and says, \u2018My bones are out of joint.\u2019\u201d p. 19<\/li><li>\u201cOnce a person is hanging in the vertical position,\u201d he replied, \u201ccrucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. p. 20<\/li><li>\u201cSo when you ask what motivated him,\u201d he concluded, \u201cwell . . . I suppose the answer can be summed up in one word\u2014and that would be love.\u201d p. 20<\/li><li>The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:17 that the resurrection is at the very core of the Christian faith: \u201cIf Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.\u201d p. 32<\/li><li>Theologian Gerald O\u2019Collins put it this way: \u201cIn a profound sense, Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all.\u201d1 p. 32<\/li><li>The resurrection is the supreme vindication of Jesus\u2019 divine identity and his inspired teaching. It\u2019s the proof of his triumph over sin and death. It\u2019s the foreshadowing of the resurrection of his followers. It\u2019s the basis of Christian hope. It\u2019s the miracle of all miracles. p. 32<\/li><li>For one thing, the burial is mentioned by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3\u20137, where he passes on a very early creed of the church.\u201d p. 36<\/li><li>\u201cThis creed is incredibly early and therefore trustworthy material,\u201d Craig said. \u201cEssentially, it\u2019s a four-line formula. The first line refers to the crucifixion, the second to the burial, the third to the resurrection, and the fourth to Jesus\u2019 appearances. As you can see, the second line affirms that Jesus was buried.\u201d p. 37<\/li><li>With that Craig added this clincher: \u201cAs long as the existence of God is even possible, it\u2019s possible that he acted in history by raising Jesus from the dead.\u201d p. 56<\/li><li>Cambridge-educated Sir Norman Anderson, who lectured at Princeton University, was offered a professorship for life at Harvard University, and served as dean of the Faculty of Laws at the University of London. His conclusion, after a lifetime of analyzing this issue from a legal perspective, was summed up in one sentence: \u201cThe empty tomb, then, forms a veritable rock on which all rationalistic theories of the resurrection dash themselves in vain.\u201d9 p. 57<\/li><li>With that Habermas picked up a book and read the conclusion of scholar John Drane: The earliest evidence we have for the resurrection almost certainly goes back to the time immediately after the resurrection event is alleged to have taken place. This is the evidence contained in the early sermons in the Acts of the Apostles. . . . [T]here can be no doubt that in the first few chapters of Acts its author has preserved material from very early sources. p. 73<\/li><li>John 1:12 says, \u201cYet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.\u201d Essentially, then, the formula for becoming adopted into God\u2019s family is: Believe + Receive = Become. p. 88<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel is an excellent read anytime&#8230;but particularly right now over Easter Weekend. The book is available for $1.99 on Kindle right now if you click here. I&#8217;m writing this post on Good Friday. Good Friday is a time to reflect and remember what took place on that day over [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,16,28,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-family","category-integrity","category-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/51flb2aW9KL.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}