Award-winning reporter and author Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) once again uses his investigative skills to address the primary objections to Christianity. As a former atheist, Strobel understands the rational resistance to faith. He even names the eight most convincing arguments against Christian faith: 1) If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?
2) If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they're true?
3) If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?
4) If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?
5) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?
6) If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?
7) If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
8) If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?
These are mighty tough questions, and Strobel fields them well. Rather than write a weighty dissertation about the merits of faith, he brings us along on his quest as we meet leaders in the Christian community, such as Peter Kreeft and William Lane Craig. We also encounter his everyday friends and acquaintances that serendipitously fill in the holes in each of the eight arguments against faith. The use of dialogue from personal interviews and a scene-by-scene active narrative makes this an easy and engaging read. However, easy does not mean breezy. This is a book of substance and merit, one that will help Christians defend their faith, especially during the hardest of times, when they have to defend their faith to themselves in moments of doubt. --Gail Hudson
From Booklist
Ex-newspaperman Strobel's Christian apologetics read like feature interviews in the religion pages rather than a theological treatise. To knock down what he calls "the Big Eight" roadblocks to faith, he questions experts about them rather than logically bulldozing his way to solutions. He grills Catholic lay philosopher Peter Kreeft about the problem of evil, Indian-born evangelist Ravi Zacharias about Christian exclusivism, historian John Woodbridge about oppression in the name of Christ, and other authorities about the truth of miracles, God's callousness in the Hebrew Bible, the justice of Hell, the challenge of evolution, and the struggle with persistent doubt. Each conversation is pointed and engaging, so much so that Strobel's occasional melodramatic note (did he really speak "in a voice laden with sarcasm" to any of these, his fellow believers?) seems ridiculous. Kreeft and Woodbridge are Strobel's least doctrinaire interlocutors. The others, staunch evangelicals all, may interest fewer readers, though Zacharias on the exclusivisms of the other major religions touches on matters Americans too rarely hear discussed. Ray Olson
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Book Description
This eagerly anticipated audio sequel to Lee Strobels best-selling The Case for Christ finds the author investigating the nettlesome issues and doubts of the heart that threaten faith. Eight major topics are addressed including doubt, the problem of pain, and the existence of evil. Read by Lee Strobel.
From the Publisher
A Seasoned Journalist Chases Down the Leads in the Biggest News Story in History
From the Author
Lee Strobel, with a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale, was an award-winning journalist for 13 years at the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers. He was a spiritual skeptic until 1981. Today he serves as teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago. He is the best-selling author of Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary, What Jesus Would Say, and The Case for Christ
From the Back Cover
In his #1 best-seller The Case for Christ, legally trained investigative reporter Lee Strobel examined the claims of Christ, reaching the hard-won verdict that Jesus is God's unique son. But despite the compelling historical evidence that Strobel presented, many people grapple with serious concerns about faith in God. As in a court of law, they want to shout, "Objection!" They say, "If God is love, then what about all the suffering in our world?" Or, "If Jesus is the door to heaven, then what about the millions who have never heard of him?" Or, "If God cares for everyone, then why does he eternally torture some in hell?" In The Case for Faith, Strobel turns his tenacious investigative skills to the most persistent emotional objections to belief--the eight "heart" barriers to faith. The Case for Faith is for those who may be feeling attracted to Jesus but who are faced with formidable intellectual barriers standing squarely in their path. For Christians, it will deepen their convictions and give them fresh confidence in discussing Christianity with even their most skeptical friends.
About the Author
Lee Strobel, educated at Yale Law School, was the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and a spiritual skeptic until 1981. He wrote the Gold Medallion-winning books The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith. A former teaching pastor at two of Americas largest churches, he and his wife live in California.
Case for Faith FROM OUR EDITORS
The bestselling author of The Case for Christ takes an unflinching look at the toughest questions and most troubling doubts a believer might have. He discusses topics like the presence of evil, the challenge of science, the hypocrisy of the church, and the place of hell. By examining these issues without fear or trembling, Strobel ultimately provides an airtight case.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In his #1 best-seller The Case for Christ, legally trained investigative reporter Lee Strobel examined the claims of Christ, reaching the hard-won verdict that Jesus is God's unique son.
But despite the compelling historical evidence that Strobel presented, many people grapple with serious concerns about faith in God. As in a court of law, they want to shout, "Objection!" They say, "If God is love, then what about all the suffering in our world?" Or, "If Jesus is the door to heaven, then what about the millions who have never heard of him?" Or, "If God cares for everyone, then why does he eternally torture some in hell?"
In The Case for Faith, Strobel turns his tenacious investigative skills to the most persistent emotional objections to beliefthe eight "heart" barriers to faith. The Case for Faith is for those who may be feeling attracted toward Jesus, but who are faced with formidable intellectual barriers standing squarely in their path. For Christians, it will deepen their convictions and give them fresh confidence in discussing Christianity with even their most skeptical friends.
SYNOPSIS
This eagerly anticipated sequel to Lee Strobelᄑs best-selling book finds the author investigating the nettlesome issues and doubts of the heart that threaten anyoneᄑs faith, even if he or she believes the evidences of Strobelᄑs first book, The Case for Christ.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Lee Strobel asks the questions a tough-minded skeptic would ask. Every inquirer should have it. (Phillip E. Johnson, law professor, University of California at Berkeley)
Lee Strobel has given believers and skeptics alike a gift in this book. He does not avoid asking the most difficult questions imaginable, and refuses to provide simplistic answers that do more harm than good. Yet his style of writing makes the book surprisingly accessible and winsome. I found it both helpful and captivating. (Gerald L. Sittser, professor of religion, Whitworth College, and author of A Grace Disguised and The Will of God as a Way of Life)