The Case for Faith

Month 4 of my 12 Month Challenge.
I read the book The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel.
This book is from a former atheist that doesn’t settle for the “Just have faith” phrase a lot of Christians try to pass on, unsuccessfully I might add.
Lee Strobel goes through the toughest objections to Christianity such as Evolution explains life so God isn’t needed, a loving God would never torture people in Hell, and I still have doubts so I can’t be a Christian.
There were 8 objections in all that he went and got answers for. He decided to get all the questions first and then make the decsion whether or not to have faith.

The most crazy thing about this book is that it starts off with an interview with Charles Templeton. Most people have heard of Billy Ghram the Christian evangelist but one thing that us younger people may not know is that when he started he was the lesser evangelist to Charles Templeton. And then in 1957 Templeton declared that he was Agnostic.

I found the book very practical. I always knew I didn’t have to leave my brain at the door to be a Christian but I had no basis to defend that belief with someone who thought opposite of Christianity.
In a way now I’m even more confused. Why in the world, if there is this good evidence out there, do people attack Christianity like we don’t have a leg to stand on. Critics of Christianity will enter debates against Christianity with this sincere belief that they can demolish their oppenets bringing the same arguments to the table that have already been dealt with. If the Christian looses the debate horribly to these questions that were already dealt with in this book, I’m sorry to say that they didn’t look hard enough.
The Case for Faith is written in layman’s terms, and Lee Strobel went to prominent defenders of the faith who have written their own books on the subjects they talked about. So you could read even more on Jesus’ resurrection and the evidence for it, why there is suffering in the world alongside the exsistance of God, and how Christians can claim that Jesus is the only way to God. There are plenty of resources out there to defend the Christian faith well, not poorly with everyone laughing at the lame defense. The Chrsitian faith is defended properly. And this book as well as making a good read, makes a good reference.

Things I learned in this book:
1. Just because the Bible recorded atrocities doesn’t mean it approves of them.
2. When the Bible has been proven true over and over again the burden of proof for the rest of it its content rests on the critic and not the Bible.
3. Christianity isn’t the only religion that claims exclusivity.
4. To say there is no truth is making a truth claim. Because truth means anything contrary to it is false.
5. Miracles are only impossible if God does not exist.
6. The information that one person needs to believe in God varies widely.
7. Hell is not fire and brimstone, that is furgative. Hell is complete separation from God which is as bad as fire and brimstone.
8. The reason Christ is not accepted by the world is because he violates our power and autonomy.