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Facing the facts as he saw them [Lee Strobel on Christianity, Da Vinci Code, & more]
Minneapolis Star Tribune ^
| May 19, 2006
| Pamela Miller
Posted on 05/20/2006 3:44:21 AM PDT by rhema
If you want to debate Christianity with Lee Strobel, you'd better do your homework. The California author brings to conversations the same friendly, fervent tenacity and intelligence that marked his former career as a big-city journalist and his current one as author of 17 books, including "The Case for Faith" and "The Case for Christ." Strobel, who calls himself a multidenominational Christian, has been a hit in the evangelical world, partly because his personal story is so dramatic. In 1981, the Chicago Tribune legal affairs editor jettisoned his adamant atheism and converted to Christianity.
In his work since as an author, speaker and teaching pastor, he's embraced what he calls an investigative approach to Christianity, citing research and experts that he says prove Jesus' life and death were precisely as the New Testament describes. Critics say he ignores academic and philosophical evidence and arguments that are skeptical about Christianity, but the intelligence and passion he exudes are undeniable.
We talked to Strobel recently while he was in the Twin Cities.
Q Talk about your latest book.
A "Exploring the Da Vinci Code" [with Gary Poole, 2006, Zondervan Press] says, essentially, good for Dan Brown for raising spiritual curiosity. The book and movie have inspired a lot of conversation. But historically, it's nonsense -- 10 percent truth, 90 percent fiction. We take a look at the book and the facts.
Q How did you come to Christianity?
A I grew up in Chicago in a nominally Christian household. I had the usual questions -- How can there be a loving God and a hell? How can Jesus be the only way? If Darwinism is true, isn't God out of a job?
In the fall of 1979, my wife, Leslie, became a Christian. I was dismayed -- I thought she'd turn
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: bookreview; bornagain; davincicode; leestrobel; strobel
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To: Dark Skies
It's the first stance that causes concern, not the part that you cited.
In sum, those who are content to be believers so long as they have satisfying answers at hand.
41
posted on
05/20/2006 3:47:13 PM PDT
by
xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It. Supporting our Troops Means Praying for them to Win!)
To: xzins
To: Dark Skies
43
posted on
05/20/2006 3:58:02 PM PDT
by
xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It. Supporting our Troops Means Praying for them to Win!)
To: DJ MacWoW
you sound like a cultish "thinker"...you've been programmed by your church to believe that ultimate piece of fiction (the bible) can not be questioned, even when your bible is proved wrong by science, whether it be through carbon dating, evolution or astronomy (as you recall the bible taught geocentricity, i.e. that the sun and planets revolve around the earth)...i'd bet your church still wishes they could burn the naysayers at the stake as they did the knights templar
...gimme a break, jesus walked on water, and you actually believe that?!
To: MaDuce
Heh, that was very inventive!!
45
posted on
05/20/2006 6:12:34 PM PDT
by
SuziQ
To: colt fan man; GarySpFc
All of your post was assumption. And all of it wrong.........but very funny. Too bad you didn't have a real answer for my response.
Btw, where are your scientific facts that you promised GarySpFc in post 25?
46
posted on
05/20/2006 6:44:31 PM PDT
by
DJ MacWoW
(If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
To: colt fan man
Obviously you don't have a clue as to what you're talking about. We could start with archaeological finds that prove specific people and places and events as recorded in the Bible. We're still waiting for your "facts".
47
posted on
05/20/2006 7:03:57 PM PDT
by
swmobuffalo
(The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist.)
To: colt fan man
you sound like a cultish "thinker"...you've been programmed by your church to believe that ultimate piece of fiction (the bible) can not be questioned, even when your bible is proved wrong by science, whether it be through carbon dating, evolution or astronomy (as you recall the bible taught geocentricity, i.e. that the sun and planets revolve around the earth)...i'd bet your church still wishes they could burn the naysayers at the stake as they did the knights templar
There is a profound difference between what the Bible says, and the rumors you quote in the above paragraph. Now, where is the scientific facts you promised which refutes the Bible?
48
posted on
05/20/2006 8:30:34 PM PDT
by
GarySpFc
(Jesus on Immigration, John 10:1)
To: rhema
I know Lee Strobel. He was one of the pastors on staff at Saddleback Church when I attended there. Good man.
49
posted on
05/20/2006 8:31:53 PM PDT
by
Not A Snowbird
(Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
To: colt fan man
the bible has constantly been proven wrong over the centuries on many scientific fronts Hogwash.
50
posted on
05/20/2006 8:33:50 PM PDT
by
Not A Snowbird
(Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
To: SandyInSeattle
Oh, no - did you HAVE to go and bring up "Saddleback"?!
; )
To: clawrence3
LOL! Yeah, I've done it now.
52
posted on
05/22/2006 12:56:57 PM PDT
by
Not A Snowbird
(Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
To: GarySpFc
True, but that wasn't my point. Everyone seems to think of Jesus being married as a burning issue rather than as the total non-issue it actually is.
Whether or not he was or wasn't married has absolutely no bearing on his divinity. Period. OTOH, the Da Vinci code is about as accurate Bellesile's (sp?) treatise on gun ownership during Colonial times...
To: Frumious Bandersnatch
Whether or not he was or wasn't married has absolutely no bearing on his divinity. Period.
For Jesus, the situation is unique, for he is both God and man, and sovereign Lord over all creation. Rather than being married to any one individual human being, he has taken the entire church as his bride (see Ephesians 5:23-32) and enjoys with each member of his church a spiritual and emotional unity that will last for eternity. It is due to the marriage relationship between Jesus and his church that he states after the resurrection men and women will not marry, but be like the angels in heaven. Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25
54
posted on
05/27/2006 9:39:01 AM PDT
by
GarySpFc
(Jesus on Immigration, John 10:1)
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