By Kush K.

Lee Strobel's book, despite its high sounding title, miserably fails to make a case for the historicity of Jesus Christ. Strobel, without doubt, is a dramatic writer. Unfortunately, drama cannot substitute for substance, logic and consistency. Drama is not evidence.

Strobel is a former legal affairs journalist. Strobel's background makes it harder for me to believe that his earnestness about his case for Christ is real. What is real is his immaculate understanding of his main audience (hordes of believing Christians) who are predisposed to accept any “evidence” that confirms their belief in Jesus Christ as a historical character. Strobel deftly exploits this predisposition of his audience to the fullest. To those who are not similarly predisposed, but eager to sincerely hear his case, Strobel's brilliance fails to dazzle. In fact, the lack of substance in his “case” is disappointing, even annoying.

PREPPING HIS AUDIENCE — STROBEL'S INTRODUCTION

Strobel cleverly uses the introduction of his book primarily to prep his audience. He starts out by informing his audience that he was an atheist. [Message: “Unlike many of you, I am not predisposed to believing.”] It was the sudden conversion of his wife to evangelical Christianity that changed Strobel's life. The wife's conversion impelled Strobel to take Christianity seriously and to inquire the historicity of the Gospel accounts. Immediately he puts his audience into a great, positive mood by claiming that Christianity had no negative effects on his wife. Strobel's initial fears regarding her wife's conversion, such as her turning into a “sexually repressed prude,” were groundless. Much to Strobel's relief, Mrs. Strobel maintained her “upwardly mobile lifestyle.” Not only that, to Strobel's utter amazement, Mrs. Strobel miraculously developed “integrity” of character and “personal confidence.” To the believing audience the message is clear: Jesus Christ has to be real to cause such “fundamental changes in her character.” To the unbelievers the subtle message is: “No further proof is necessary. But since I said I will give you evidence for the historical reality of Jesus Christ, I shall condescend.”

To further prep his audience Strobel asserts, “we can't have absolute proof about anything in life.” That is a specious statement. Who is asking for “absolute proof?” All that is being asked is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. By making this “absolute proof” statement, Strobel is once again sending a subtle message to his audience: “There is sufficient 'proof' for the Jesus story. But the skeptics are not going to believe even if 'absolute proof' were offered.” Strobel continues this technique through out his book of sending subliminal manipulative messages to his ingratiated audience.

THE EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE

That is the title of Strobel's first chapter. When I read that title I thought Strobel is going to do what no one has done: Present eyewitnesses accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. So what is Strobel up to? Well, through an irrelevant contemporary story of a black youth named Leo Carter, who witnesses murder and in the process almost gets killed, Strobel is dramatizing the importance of eyewitness testimony. Thank you Mr. Strobel for the dramatic story of Leo, or we would not know the central importance of an eyewitnesses testimony. Strobel writes: “I knew just as Leo Carter's testimony clinched the convictions of three brutal murderers, eyewitness accounts from the mists of distant time could help resolve the most important spiritual issue of all.” Leo Carter's story as an eyewitness to multiple murders is real life drama. I begin to shift in my chair with excitement at the possibility of meeting the Leo Carters of “distant time.” Strobel punctures the balloon of my excitement. Instead of bringing eyewitnesses to the witness box to get “solid answers,” who does he bring? Hold your breath! It is Craig Blomberg, the author of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.

So much so for the eyewitnesses!

To clear the mist hanging over Strobel's opening chapter, let us imagine that Strobel is in the courtroom before the judge. He just finished relating Leo Carter's story. This is what happens next.

Judge: “Mr. Strobel now produce your eyewitnesses please.”
Silence.
Judge: “Mr. Strobel, I heard your irrelevant story about the black kid, now will you produce the eyewitnesses for your case, please.”
Silence.
Judge: “One last time, Mr. Strobel, do you have an eyewitness?”
Strobel: “Your honor, I have an expert who can testify...”
Judge: “Mr. Strobel, by the story of the black kid you gave me the impression you had eyewitnesses —don't you even have one eyewitness?”
Strobel: “I have an expert, actually several scholarly, sincere, Christian experts, who are willing to testify.”
Judge: “So, you concede you have no eyewitness for Jesus Christ?”
Strobel: “Your honor, I will offer you expert testimony that shall convince you and the jury of the authenticity of the Jesus story.”

That summarizes what Strobel's book is about. From here on all that Strobel does is talk to Christian experts who according to him are scholars of distinction and know their subject well. So much so that Strobel does not see the necessity to talk to any neutral or “non Christian” sources. Strobel's case is exclusively based on interviews he conducts with Christian “experts.” This one sided opinion is presented as “testimony.” And woe unto you if you do not believe this testimony. Case closed.

Strobel completely aligns himself with the religious mindset and the book is nothing but a reinforcement of “accepted” Christian belief and scholarship. Not only his “case” has no eyewitnesses he has nothing to offer by way of new research or unbiased answers.

Is this deception or what? Why not tell the reader at the outset, “Look I have nothing new to offer. I concede there are NO eyewitnesses for my case for Christ. But I can offer you the expert opinion of Christian scholars who know what they are talking about.” Such forthright statements are not made because such an admittance does not sell books and allow their authors to bank on their audience credulity.

THE PROBLEM

Religions ask the right fundamental questions about life. But it does not follow the answers provided are right. Keeping firm this religious tradition, Strobel raises all the right questions:

“But what eyewitness accounts do we possess? Do we have the testimony of anyone who personally interacted with Jesus, who listened to his teachings, who saw his miracles, who witnessed his death, and who perhaps even encountered him after his alleged resurrection? Do we have any records from first-century "journalists" who interviewed eyewitnesses, asked tough questions, and faithfully recorded what they scrupulously determined to be true? Equally important, how well would these accounts withstand the scrutiny of skeptics?” (Chapter 1, pp. 23)

You could not ask it better. The problem: The standard of his answers do not match the quality of his questions. When the chaff is separated, Strobel's provides the standard Christian answers that fail to withstand the scrutiny of skeptics. As we saw Strobel fails to produce eyewitness testimony. But never does he acknowledges that in plain English. He keeps pretending as though eyewitness accounts exists, and have been found, and have been scrutinized by scholarly experts. As a former legal affairs writer I am sure he know what “hearsay” means.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER EVIDENCE?

So what if Strobel fails to produce any direct eyewitness testimony. What about other evidence? Once again Strobel convincingly displays his experience as a legal affairs journalist. Strobel writes:

“In this quest for truth, I've used my experience as a legal affairs journalist to look at numerous categories of proof — eyewitness evidence, documentary evidence, corroborating evidence, rebuttal evidence, scientific evidence, psychological evidence, and, yes, even fingerprint evidence (that sounds intriguing, doesn't it?).” (Introduction, pp. 17)

Indeed Strobel is a master of intrigue and drama. Once again, the unwary reader is given the impression that in his quest for evidence Strobel has uncovered irrefutable evidence in all these categories. There is no truth to that impression. It is hard for me to believe that Strobel actually believes that he has uncovered convincing evidence in all the categories he enumerates. As a legal affairs journalist he knows the quality of his evidence. But Strobel is selling a book not truth. He knows if he can fudge and hide behind expert Christian scholars of repute and “character,” he will succeed in persuading his predisposed audience. Cleverly, he never claims that his evidence proves anything. He leaves the final judgment “to you, the juror.” He urges us to be of “open mind” once again sending that subliminal message to his captive audience of believers: “If the skeptics do not believe this incredible evidence I have presented, it is because skeptics are prejudiced and do not have an open mind.”

The shoe is on the other foot, Mr. Strobel.

ULTIMATE QUESTION THAT CHRISTIANS CANNOT ANSWER

The Christian theology is based on a theistic God who is in control of the universe and intervenes actively in human affairs. This God has a plan for salvation. He executed that plan through Jesus Christ, his only begotten son. In short, Jesus Christ was sent on earth to fulfill God's plan of salvation through his suffering and death. This is the bedrock of Christianity.

I ask this to Christians and have never received a satisfactory answer: If God is in control and the coming of Jesus Christ was all planned, then how come God forgot to leave eyewitness accounts of such an important event?

Why are we even discussing this? We are discussing this because evidence for the historicity of Jesus is so meager that it is hard to believe that the all-knowing God will not leave any convincing evidence for the benefit of the coming generations. If this is true then on the Jesus story depends the salvation of the world. Then how come we are deprived of any significant historical evidence? The Christians, of course, retort by saying that there is enough evidence out there which proves that the Gospel account of the life of Jesus Christ are accurate. The facts, unfortunately, are other wise. There is not a single eyewitness account. There is no archeological evidence. No corroborative evidence. All we have are a few fragments that even when put together reveal nothing.

At best the historical evidence for Jesus is so meager that it is non-existent. Now why would an all-knowing God do such a poor job of leaving solid historical evidence? I do not understand that.

One perverted answer is that God wants to test your belief. If he left irrefutable evidence then there will be no necessity of belief. This is a circular argument: “Heads I win, tails you lose.” If this belief premise is accepted then God must love selectively. It contradicts, “For God so loved the world...” assertion. If God has love, and if he is in control of this universe, then why will he be testing only the capacity to believe? Why not test the ability to think and reason and the capacity for logic?

As I said, no Christian has been able to provide a satisfactory answer to this contradiction in Christian theology. The omniscient, omnipotent God fails to provide reasonable and reliable historical evidence for a supposedly life changing episode in the history of humankind. He leaves it to the likes of Strobel to explain to us in the 21st century, the historicity of his only son. Very strange. Something is not right here.

MORE?

I have not made the attempt to go through, page by page, of the rest of Strobel's account because this has been brilliantly done by Jeffrey J. Lowder.

The reader can also see Earl Doherty's dedicated work.

Another short but very lucid review is provided by Richard Packham

By Kush K.