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Book Review of The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ

Barbllm avatar reviewed on + 241 more book reviews


If you were to ask the average person Who was Jesus Christ you might be surprised at the answers. Some believe he was God, others the Son of God, still others believe he was only a teacher. Some dont believe he ever existed. Of late, a lot of media attention has been directed to Jesus (the Mel Gibson film primarily comes to mind) and many wonder if the picture of Jesus painted by the gospel accounts is anywhere close to the truth.

Journalist Lee Strobel investigates the claims currently being made about Jesus and his life. Are the alternative gospels (the gospels of Judas and Thomas, the document Q) really truthful, and did the early church suppress them? Were the biblical texts tampered with by the early church? Has the resurrection of Christthe foundation of Christianitybeen disproving by any current archaeological findings? Is the life of Jesus based on earlier mythological beliefs?

Strobel uses the same format as in his other The Case For books: he interviews experts in their respective fields and poses skeptical questions to them in order to get the answers. He also invites discussion and debate about the answers via a series of summary questions at the end of each chapter. He also includes additional recommendations at the end of each chapter for further reading. While I dont always agree with the conclusions that Strobel or the experts reach, I find his books interesting reading.