The Case for Christ Quotes

“We have to ask, Why is there no other first-century Jew who has millions of followers today? Why isn’t there a John the Baptist movement? Why, of all first-century figures, including the Roman emperors, is Jesus still worshiped today, while the others have crumbled into the dust of history?”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

“The Jews proposed the ridiculous story that the guards had fallen asleep. Obviously, they were grasping at straws. But the point is this: they started with the assumption that the tomb was vacant! Why? Because they knew it was!”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

“But your love goes beyond that. You can know all these things about your wife and not be in love with her and put your trust in her, but you do. So the decision goes beyond the evidence, yet it is there also on the basis of the evidence. So it is with falling in love with Jesus. To have a relationship with Jesus Christ goes beyond just knowing the historical facts about him, yet it's rooted in the historical facts about him.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

“He hadn’t changed since I had seen him a few years earlier. With his close-cropped black beard, angular features, and riveting gaze, Craig still looks the role of a serious scholar. He speaks in cogent sentences, never losing his train of thought, always working through an answer methodically, point by point, fact by fact.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

“Ah, but let’s consider Communion for a moment,” he replied. “What’s odd is that these early followers of Jesus didn’t get together to celebrate his teachings or how wonderful he was. They came together regularly to have a celebration meal for one reason: to remember that Jesus had been publicly slaughtered in a grotesque and humiliating way. “Think about this in modern terms. If a group of people loved John F. Kennedy, they might meet regularly to remember his confrontation with Russia, his promotion of civil rights, and his charismatic personality. But they’re not going to celebrate the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald murdered him!”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“Historians usually operate with the burden of proof on the historian to prove falsity or unreliability, since people are generally not compulsive liars. Without that assumption we’d know very little about ancient history.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“if the gospels had been identical to each other, word for word, this would have raised charges that the authors had conspired among themselves to coordinate their stories in advance, and that would have cast doubt on them.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

“Also, the Old Testament paints a portrait of God by using such titles and descriptions as Alpha and Omega, Lord, Savior, King, Judge, Light, Rock, Redeemer, Shepherd, Creator, giver of life, forgiver of sin, and speaker with divine authority. It’s fascinating to note that in the New Testament each and every one is applied to Jesus.6 Jesus said it all in John 14:7: “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” Loose translation: “When you look at the sketch of God from the Old Testament, you will see a likeness of me.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“I raised my hand to stop him. “Whoa—here’s where skeptics have a field day,” I told him. “The gospels tell us he began to sweat blood at this point. Now, c’mon, isn’t that just a product of some overactive imaginations? Doesn’t that call into question the accuracy of the gospel writers?” Unfazed, Metherell shook his head. “Not at all,” he replied. “This is a known medical condition called hematidrosis. It’s not very common, but it is associated with a high degree of psychological stress.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“But of the many things he did, one of the most striking to me is his forgiving of sin.” “Really?” I said, shifting in my chair, which was perpendicular to his, in order to face him more directly. “How so?” “The point is, if you do something against me, I have the right to forgive you. However, if you do something against me and somebody else comes along and says, ‘I forgive you,’ what kind of cheek is that? The only person who can say that sort of thing meaningfully is God himself, because sin, even if it is against other people, is first and foremost a defiance of God and his laws. “When David sinned by committing adultery and arranging the death of the woman’s husband, he ultimately says to God in Psalm 51, ‘Against you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight.’ He recognized that although he had wronged people, in the end he had sinned against the God who made him in his image, and God needed to forgive him.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“He was loving but didn’t let his compassion immobilize him; he didn’t have a bloated ego, even though he was often surrounded by adoring crowds; he maintained balance despite an often demanding lifestyle; he always knew what he was doing and where he was going; he cared deeply about people, including women and children, who weren’t seen as being important back then; he was able to accept people while not merely winking at their sin; he responded to individuals based on where they were at and what they uniquely needed.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“—Jesús, en forma intencional, se dejó caer en las manos del que lo traicionó, no se resistió al arresto, no se defendió en el juicio: resulta claro que estaba dispuesto a someterse a lo que usted describió como una forma de tortura humillante y agonizante. Y yo quisiera saber por qué. ¿Qué puede haber motivado a una persona a que acepte soportar ese tipo de castigo? Alexander Metherell, esta vez el hombre, no el doctor, buscó las palabras justas. —Francamente no creo que una persona común pudiera haberlo hecho —respondió por fin—. Sin embargo, Jesús sabía lo que le esperaba y estuvo dispuesto a padecerlo porque esa era la única forma de redimirnos: haciendo de sustituto nuestro y pagando la pena de muerte que merecemos por nuestra rebelión contra Dios. Esa fue toda su misión al venir a la tierra. Habiendo dicho eso, aun podía percibir que la mente de Mether-ell, racional, lógica y organizada sin tregua continuaba desmenuzando mi pregunta hasta llegar a la respuesta más básica e irreducible. —Por lo tanto, cuando usted me pregunta qué lo motivó —concluyó—, bien… supongo que la respuesta se puede resumir en una sola palabra; y esa sería amor.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

“I couldn’t put it down. I read through the rest of the gospels, and I realized this wasn’t a handbook for the American Nazi Party; it was an interaction between Jesus and the Jewish community. I got to the book of Acts and—this was incredible!—they were trying to figure out how the Jews could bring the story of Jesus to the Gentiles. Talk about role reversal!” So convincing were the fulfilled prophecies that Lapides started telling people that he thought Jesus was the Messiah. At the time, this was merely an intellectual possibility to him, yet its implications were deeply troubling. “I realized that if I were to accept Jesus into my life, there would have to be some significant changes in the way I was living,” he explained. “I’d have to deal with the drugs, the sex, and so forth. I didn’t understand that God would help me make those changes; I thought I had to clean up my life on my own.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“THE JEWISHNESS OF JESUS Over and over Lapides would come upon prophecies in the Old Testament—more than four dozen major predictions in all. Isaiah revealed the manner of the Messiah’s birth (of a virgin); Micah pinpointed the place of his birth (Bethlehem); Genesis and Jeremiah specified his ancestry (a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the tribe of Judah, the house of David); the Psalms foretold his betrayal, his accusation by false witnesses, his manner of death (pierced in the hands and feet, although crucifixion hadn’t been invented yet), and his resurrection (he would not decay but would ascend on high); and on and on.3 Each one chipped away at Lapides’ skepticism until he was finally willing to take a drastic step.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“Instantly Lapides recognized the portrait: this was Jesus of Nazareth! Now he was beginning to understand the paintings he had seen in the Catholic churches he had passed as a child: the suffering Jesus, the crucified Jesus, the Jesus who he now realized had been “pierced for our transgressions” as he “bore the sin of many.” As Jews in the Old Testament sought to atone for their sins through a system of animal sacrifices, here was Jesus, the ultimate sacrificial lamb of God, who paid for sin once and for all. Here was the personification of God’s plan of redemption.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“The point is, if you do something against me, I have the right to forgive you. However, if you do something against me and somebody else comes along and says, ‘I forgive you,’ what kind of cheek is that? The only person who can say that sort of thing meaningfully is God himself, because sin, even if it is against other people, is first and foremost a defiance of God and his laws.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“LIVING AND FORGIVING LIKE GOD My initial question centered on why Carson thinks Jesus is God in the first place. “What did he say or do,” I asked, “that convinces you that he is divine?” I wasn’t sure how he would respond, although I anticipated he would focus on Jesus’ supernatural feats. I was wrong. “One could point to such things as his miracles,” Carson said as he leaned back in the comfortably upholstered chair, “but other people have done miracles, so while this may be indicative, it’s not decisive. Of course, the Resurrection was the ultimate vindication of his identity. But of the many things he did, one of the most striking to me is his forgiving of sin.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“This recently developed technology was successfully used to solve a 1997 kidnapping that occurred at a shopping mall just a few miles from my suburban Chicago home. The victim provided details about the kidnapper’s appearance to a technician, who used a computer to create an electronic likeness of the offender by choosing from different styles of noses, mouths, hairlines, and so forth. Just moments after the drawing was faxed to police agencies throughout the area, an investigator in another suburb recognized the picture as a dead-ringer for a criminal he had encountered earlier. Fortunately, this led to a quick arrest of the kidnapping suspect.2”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“To some degree, you find what you set out to find,” Collins said in response. “People who deny the existence of the supernatural will find some way, no matter how far-fetched, to explain a situation apart from the demonic. They’ll keep giving medication, keep drugging the person, but he or she doesn’t get better. There are cases that don’t respond to normal medical or psychiatric treatment.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“THE FIFTH INTERVIEW: GREGORY A. BOYD, PH.D. Boyd first clashed with the Jesus Seminar in 1996, when he wrote a devastating critique of liberal perspectives of Jesus, called Cynic Sage or Son of God? Recovering the Real Jesus in an Age of Revisionist Replies. The heavily footnoted, 416-page tome was honored by readers of Christianity Today as one of their favorite books of the year. His popular paperback Jesus under Siege continues the same themes on a more introductory level.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“However, the story is totally different for the New Testament. McRay’s conclusions have been echoed by many other scientists, including prominent Australian archaeologist Clifford Wilson, who wrote, “Those who know the facts now recognize that the New Testament must be accepted as a remarkably accurate source book.”18”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“With Craig Blomberg having established the essential reliability of the New Testament documents, Bruce Metzger having confirmed their accurate transmittal through history, Edwin Yamauchi having demonstrated extensive corroboration by ancient historians and others, and now John McRay having shown how archaeology underscores their trustworthiness, I had to agree with Wilson. The case for Christ, while far from complete, was being constructed on solid bedrock.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“A REMARKABLY ACCURATE SOURCE BOOK” Archaeology’s repeated affirmation of the New Testament’s accuracy provides important corroboration for its reliability. This is in stark contrast with how archaeology has proved to be devastating for Mormonism.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“PUZZLE 3: SLAUGHTER AT BETHLEHEM The gospel of Matthew paints a grisly scene: Herod the Great, the king of Judea, feeling threatened by the birth of a baby who he feared would eventually seize his throne, dispatches his troops to murder all the children under the age of two in Bethlehem. Warned by an angel, however, Joseph escapes to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. Only after Herod dies do they return to settle in Nazareth, the entire episode having fulfilled three ancient prophecies about the Messiah. (See Matt. 2:13–23.)”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“McRay picked up a copy of a book by renowned archaeologist Jack Finegan, published by Princeton University Press. He leafed through it, then read Finegan’s analysis: “From the tombs . . . it can be concluded that Nazareth was a strongly Jewish settlement in the Roman period.”11”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“That seemed reasonable. Even the usually skeptical Ian Wilson, citing pre-Christian remains found in 1955 under the Church of the Annunciation in present-day Nazareth, has managed to concede, “Such findings suggest that Nazareth may have existed in Jesus’ time, but there is no doubt that it must have been a very small and insignificant place.”12”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“What these critics seem to be assuming is that Jesus is getting in his car and zipping around on an interstate, but he obviously wasn’t,” he said. Reading the text in the original language, taking into account the mountainous terrain and probable roads of the region, and considering the loose way “Decapolis” was used to refer to a confederation of ten cities that varied from time to time, McRay traced a logical route on the map that corresponded precisely with Mark’s description. “When everything is put into the appropriate context,”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“In fact, McRay reiterated what Dr. Bruce Metzger had told me about archaeologists finding a fragment of a copy of John 18 that leading papyrologists have dated to about A.D. 125. By demonstrating that copies of John existed this early and as far away as Egypt, archaeology has effectively dismantled speculation that John had been composed well into the second century, too long after Jesus’ life to be reliable.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“There have been several discoveries that have shown John to be very accurate,” McRay pointed out. “For example, John 5:1–15 records how Jesus healed an invalid by the Pool of Bethesda. John provides the detail that the pool had five porticoes. For a long time people cited this as an example of John being inaccurate, because no such place had been found. “But more recently the Pool of Bethesda has been excavated—it lies maybe forty feet below ground—and sure enough, there were five porticoes, which means colonnaded porches or walkways, exactly as John had described. And you have other discoveries—the Pool of Siloam from John 9:7, Jacob’s Well from John 4:12, the probable location of the Stone Pavement near the Jaffa Gate where Jesus appeared before Pilate in John 19:13, even Pilate’s own identity—all of which have lent historical credibility to John’s gospel.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

“Another example is Luke’s reference in Acts 17:6 to “politarchs,” which is translated as “city officials” by the NIV, in the city of Thessalonica. “For a long time people thought Luke was mistaken, because no evidence of the term ‘politarchs’ had been found in any ancient Roman documents,” McRay said. “However, an inscription on a first-century arch was later found that begins, ‘In the time of the politarchs . . .’ You can go to the British Museum and see it for yourself. And then, lo and behold, archaeologists have found more than thirty-five inscriptions that mention politarchs, several of these in Thessalonica from the same period Luke was referring to. Once again the critics were wrong and Luke was shown to be right.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus