RelB 101 ENGLI A Case for Christ by Lee Strobel In Lee Strobels documentary, A Case for Christ, a case is made to argue the validity of Jesus of Nazareth. Through careful study and research, this case is presented using three main arguments: Examining the Record, Analyzing Jesus, and Research for the Resurrection. Through these three main points and their supporting evidence, one can conclude the existence of Jesus Christ and Him being the true prophesied Messiah. Examining the Records The New Testament is an ancient historical document composed of many authors that include disciples, historians, and eye witnesses of Jesus. Although the Gospels share the biography of Christ here on earth, just how accountable are its contents? The first argument can be related to the recreational game telephone where one person whispers the original message in another's ear and by the of the line, the message has changed completely. However as stated by J.P. Moreland, The 1st century apostles were deeply concerned to get this information correct because they saw it as sacred holy tradition. There was an extreme urgency for these eyewitness to perfect and be precise as possible when writing the scriptures, they saw it as a spiritually accounted duty and task. Also, all of the New Testament was written only a few generations after Jesus death and resurrection. In other words, the close proximity
between what actually happened to Jesus and when it was actually written is fairly close compared to hundreds of years of oral traditions finally being documented. Even if one challenges the pure existence of Jesus of Nazareth, saying he never lived, they still would have to face the objective accounts and records of the politics, critics, and the one of Josephus, a Jew of that time. The next dispute may question the validity of the the New Testament as it was copied or transcribed throughout time, claiming it was incorrectly done. However, there are over 5,000 Greek documents of the bible and 1,000 manuscripts of the New Testament that have been found. The likeliness that they were all wrong is very low. Lastly, if one chooses to argue the contradictions of the Gospels or seeing them as inharmonious, the core of all the stories are always the same. The Gospels are all written from different perspectives but in essence, all share the same story making the four harmonious. Analyzing Jesus
Next, Strobel analyzes the validity of Jesus actions, claims, character, and miracle works. Before Jesus was even born, his coming had been prophesied for hundreds of years. The Hebrew scriptures prophesied a Savior, or deliverer, to come and save the world. The case for Jesus coming and purpose is made clear in Isaiah 53:6: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus knew who he was and what he came to do; this was clear to any one who saw him. Although, claiming to be the Son of God and then forgiving peoples sins in His name, was considered blasphemous by the Jews. Yet he proved to be unlike anyone else by His performances of miracles, the knowledge he contained of the scriptures, and his teaching. Some may argue that
Jesus miracles were the work of the devil or of contemporary miracle workers; however, Jesus performed miracles without casting spells or dark powers. The opposite, He would always point back and give the glory to God. If one considers Jesus a fraud or an impostor to the real Deliverer, simply consider the mathematical possibility of a single person coming and fulfilling all 48 prophecies with complete accuracy, the odds are virtually none. Ben Withereington III explains it best when he comments, Some skeptics have said that Jesus could have engineered the fulfillment of these prophecies. Of course, Jesus could not have determined where he was going to be born. Withereingtons argument refers to the prophecy thats found in Micah 5:2 which states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. No matter how one looks at Jesus life, one can not deny his divinity and power. It is because of these evidences that His life, mission, and story are considered to be truthful and fully accurate. Researching the Resurrection For the final appeal, Strobel investigates the validity of Jesus resurrection. The first argument questions if Jesus actually died on the cross. Some skeptics have theorized that Jesus fainted on the cross (so not actually dying) and later escaped when fully being recovered; however, this theory is disproved in John 19:34 (Jesus is pierced at his side: Blood and water leaks and He most likely dies of suffocation) and by the pride, specialization, and reputation of how the Romans killed people. They surely wouldnt have let a rebel leader live. The second argument questions where the physical body of Christ went. For sure, the body did not remain in the tomb and so Jesus had to have escaped. Critics say that the disciples could have stolen the body, but like Mark Strauss says, The claim [that the Jewish leaders were making] that the body was stolen from the tomb confirms that Jesus' enemies acknowledged that the
tomb was empty. If you've got a stolen body, you must have an empty tomb. If the tomb was not empty, then Jesus' opponents would surely have gone and gotten the body and shown it as soon as the disciples began proclaiming the resurrection. Not only did Jesus resurrect on third day, but He resurrected and physically appeared to many. After Jesus death, the disciples became discouraged and lost hope in their Messiah; however, when they saw Jesus after he resurrected, their faith was strengthened and their ministry was solidify. Why else would the disciples risk their lives through a persecution for what they had not seen and in return receive no earthly compensation, only death. Jesus actually dying on the cross, the empty tomb, and the 400 eye witnesses of Jesus appearance, all verify the prophecies of the coming Messiah and proves that Jesus was truly the Son of God. The Most Interesting Argument In my opinion, all of the arguments present valid points in proving Jesus as the true Messiah; however, to me, the most important argument is the resurrection of Christ. Hypothetically speaking, Jesus could have gotten lucky and have been born in Bethlehem, studied and then faked the fulfillments of all the prophecies, performed miracles claiming Gods name in vain, but how do you explain a dead person resurrecting ones self? Even if satan had anything to do with His resurrection, you must question why and for what reason? If Jesus mission was to defeat Satan, why then would Satan help assist his own defeat. The resurrection was Satans final hope to stopping Jesus, but by Jesus living a perfect life, dying for us on calvary, and then resurrecting, proves to us that Jesus is the true prophesied Messiah. All the facts and evidence lead to no other conclusion but that Jesus is God.