{"id":4628,"date":"2011-12-12T19:57:13","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T00:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=4628"},"modified":"2011-12-12T19:57:13","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T00:57:13","slug":"book-review-the-case-for-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=4628","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Case for Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?attachment_id=4629\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4629\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4629\" title=\"case-for-christmas\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/case-for-christmas.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"281\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/case-for-christmas.jpg 281w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/case-for-christmas-210x300.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 281px) 100vw, 281px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, I had some free time, so I picked up <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Christmas-Journalist-Investigates-Identity\/dp\/0310254760\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323734479&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Case for Christmas<\/em><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.leestrobel.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lee Strobel<\/a>.\u00a0 Strobel is well-known for several books including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation\/dp\/0310209307\/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Case for Christ<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Faith-Journalist-Investigates-Christianity\/dp\/0310234697\/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Case for Faith<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 He is an atheist that became a Christian after doing some investigating of the claims of Christ.\u00a0 He was a very successful investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune before he became a Christian.\u00a0 Strobel has served as a pastor at both Willow Creek and Saddleback Churches.\u00a0 He is now focusing on writing full-time in an effort to convince other skeptics about the reality of a relationship with Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Just like everything else I&#8217;ve read from Strobel, <em>The Case for Christmas<\/em> was a great read that appealed to both my heart and my mind.<\/p>\n<p>Below I have pasted some things that I highlighted while reading this on my iPad Kindle app&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eyewitness testimony is powerful.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cChristianity was likewise based on certain historical claims that God uniquely entered into space and time in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so the very ideology that Christians were trying to promote required as careful historical work as possible.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>One prominent archaeologist carefully examined Luke\u2019s references to thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands, finding not a single mistake.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cArchaeology has not produced anything that is unequivocally a contradiction to the Bible.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>As Australian archaeologist Clifford Wilson said: \u201cThose who know the facts now recognize that the New Testament must be accepted as a remarkably accurate source book.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWe have better historical documentation for Jesus than for the founder of any other ancient religion,\u201d Dr. Edwin Yamauchi told me during my visit to Miami University of Ohio.<\/li>\n<li>Someone estimated that the probability of just eight prophecies being fulfilled is one chance in one hundred million billion.<\/li>\n<li>Christians believe that Jesus wasn\u2019t born into this world merely to identify with us, console us, or even lead us. His assignment from the outset, they claim, was to die for us\u2014to actually lay down his life as a spiritual payment for the wrongdoing we\u2019ve done, so that we can be released from the penalty we owe. It\u2019s his-life-for-ours, with the result being, as the old Christmas carol \u201cHark! The Herald Angels\u201d says, \u201cGod and sinners, reconciled.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Through a series of circumstances, including the reading of this book, you\u2019ve maneuvered your way through the hoopla and glitter and distractions of the holiday season, and now you\u2019ve finally come into the presence of the baby who was born to change your life and rewrite your eternal destination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Strobel listed an awesome set of books for further reading at the end of his book.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve taken the time to convert them to links so you can order them right away and start reading.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blomberg, Craig. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Historical-Reliability-Gospels-Craig-Blomberg\/dp\/0830828079\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737808&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">The Historical Reliability of the Gospels<\/a>. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1987.<\/li>\n<li>Brown, Michael L. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Answering-Jewish-Objections-Jesus-Historical\/dp\/080106063X\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737789&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Messianic Prophecy Objections<\/a>. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2003.<\/li>\n<li>Bruce, F. F. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/New-Testament-Documents-They-Reliable\/dp\/0802822193\/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737763&amp;sr=8-4\" target=\"_blank\">The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? <\/a>Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2003.<\/li>\n<li>Craig, William Lane. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reasonable-Faith-3rd-Christian-Apologetics\/dp\/1433501155\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737746&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Reasonable Faith<\/a>. Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1994.<\/li>\n<li>Copan, Paul, ed. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Will-Real-Jesus-Please-Stand\/dp\/0801021758\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737724&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?<\/a> A Debate Between William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1998.<\/li>\n<li>Habermas, Gary. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Historical-Jesus-Ancient-Evidence-Christ\/dp\/0899007325\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737706&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">The Historical Jesus<\/a>. Joplin, Mo.: College Press, 1996.<\/li>\n<li>Strobel, Lee. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Christ-Journalists-Personal-Investigation\/dp\/0310209307\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737613&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">The Case for Christ<\/a>. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1998. Also available in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Christ--Student-Lee-Strobel\/dp\/0310246083\/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737613&amp;sr=8-4\" target=\"_blank\">student edition<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Strobel, Lee. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Faith-Journalist-Investigates-Christianity\/dp\/0310234697\/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737613&amp;sr=8-5\" target=\"_blank\">The Case for Faith<\/a>. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2000. Also available in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Faith--Student-Lee-Strobel\/dp\/031024188X\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737669&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">student edition<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Wilkins, Michael J., and J. P. Moreland, eds. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jesus-Under-Fire-Scholarship-Historical\/dp\/0310211395\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323737686&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">Jesus Under Fire<\/a>. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1995.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday, I had some free time, so I picked up The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel.\u00a0 Strobel is well-known for several books including The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith.\u00a0 He is an atheist that became a Christian after doing some investigating of the claims of Christ.\u00a0 He was a very successful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4628","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=4628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}