Lee Strobel

This past Wednesday night, Christ's Church was the place to be, as Lee Strobel, the famous Christian writer of many books, most notably The Case for Christ, came to talk about his faith journey and his book. Personally, I have found this particular book to really resonate with my understanding of the authenticity of Christianity. Mr. Strobel gave a compelling talk about what he called the "Four E's," which I'll list below:

1. Execution - This states that it is an undisputed fact that Jesus was, indeed, executed.  He did die.
2. Early Accounts - This asserts that there wasn't enough time to elapse for legends to develop. Lee stated that Jesus is agreed to have been crucified around the year 30 A.D. In contrast, I Corinthians 15:3-6 is generally agreed to have been written about the year 54-55 A.D.  Written by Paul, it is agreed to be an early creed of the Church, and is expressed in this manner... "For what I received I passed on to you as of first imporrance:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen aseep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." (NIV)
3. Empty Tomb - Here Lee offers three arguments, or "proofs" if you will.  They are (a) the Jerusalem Factor, which is the site of Jesus' tomb, which was known to Christians and non-Christians alike, (b) the Criterion of Embarrassment, in that women were the first to discover the empty tomb, which lends to its authenticity, and (c) Enemy Attestation, in which the argument at the time is that the disciples stole the body.
4. Eyewitnesses - Where Jesus appeared to more than 515 people, of which there are nine early ancient sources which confirm this.

I really enjoyed hearing him talk about his life and the path he's been traveling. If I've at all piqued your interest, I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of this fascinating book!

Lee and me!