Christian author, Lee Strobel, was in Birmingham last year. I met him and heard his fascinating story of abandoning atheism for a life of faith.
Strobel, a journalist and legal reporter for “The Chicago Tribune,” was an unbeliever when his wife came to faith. She did was Peter admonished in his first letter, “letting her light shine” rather than nagging him for his unbelief! Stroebel was struck by the changes in her life and began a journalistic investigation into the gospel record, resulting in his conversion as related in his books including “The Case for Christ,” and others.
He studied three main ideas.
The first is the death of Jesus.
There’s really no argument that Jesus didn’t die in Jerusalem. The Journal of the American Medical Association published “On The Physical Death of Jesus Christ.” The authors postulated that Jesus likely died from a combination of “hypovolemic shock, exhaustion asphyxia and possibly acute heart failure.” This means a significant blood loss, shock and the inability to breathe. The Roman spear thrust into his side confirmed his death.
The second idea is the empty tomb.
Stroebel argued that if the body of Jesus were available, the Romans or the religious authorities would’ve produced it to disprove the Jesus movement. These rulers insisted his disciples stole the body from the tomb. But this is provably false since scores of his followers went on to die brutal deaths based on their personal knowledge. Who would invite a brutal death for something they knew to be a lie?
And the third idea is the early reports of the resurrection.
Strobel said that legends generally take a century or more to develop, such as the legend of Paul Bunyan or the legend of Wyatt Earp. However, within three years of his own conversion, Saul of Tarsus, later to be known as Paul, met two resurrection eyewitnesses in Jerusalem, Peter and James. He learned that the church already had a gospel creed based on eyewitness accounts. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received . . .” (1 Corinthians 15).
Then Paul added his own eyewitness testimony: “Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he
also appeared to me.”
The mother church, filled with those who saw the risen Christ, insisted it be part of the gospel message they took to the world.
Strobel said what he discovered was convincing evidence in the “case for Christ.” He believes that the gospel can withstand human scrutiny, and honest evaluation can bring one to faith, just as it did for him.
The angel at the empty tomb yet invites us to “come and see.” -
