| Lee Strobel | |
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| Born | January 25, 1952 Arlington Heights, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Legal editor, writer, journalist, clergy |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Period | Current |
| Genres | Science and Religion Historicity of the Gospels |
| Subjects | Christian apologetics |
| Notable award(s) | Illinois' top honors for investigative reporting and public service journalism from United Press International, Gold Medallion Book Award |
| Spouse(s) | Leslie Strobel |
| Children | Kyle Strobel, Alison Strobel |
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www.leestrobel.com |
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Lee Patrick Strobel (b. January 25, 1952 in Arlington Heights, Illinois) is an author, journalist and clergyman. He has written several books, including four which received ECPA Christian Book Awards (1994, 1999, 2001, 2005)[1] and a series which addresses challenges to a Biblically inerrant view of Christianity.[2] Strobel also hosted a television program called Faith Under Fire on PAX TV,[3] and runs a video apologetics web site. Strobel has been interviewed on numerous national television programs, including ABC's 20/20, Fox News and CNN.[4]
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Strobel received a journalism degree from University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School,[5] becoming a journalist for The Chicago Tribune and other newspapers for 14 years. He states that he was an atheist and began investigating the Biblical claims about Christ after his wife's conversion. As a result of the evidence he discovered in his investigation, he chose to become a Christian.[6] [7]
Strobel was a teaching pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, from 1987 to 2000, and of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California from 2000 to 2002, before shifting his focus to writing and producing his TV show.[8] He continues to speak periodically at both churches and has been a board member of the Willow Creek Association. In 2007, Strobel was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Southern Evangelical Seminary in recognition of his contributions to Christian apologetics.[9] His daughter Allison is a novelist.[8]
The Case for a Creator consists of interviews with intelligent design advocates and Christian apologists who argue for the existence of a creator. Critics of the book accuse it of bias, which they assert is contrary to the book's own claims of being neutral and scientifically rigorous.[10][11]
The advocates interviewed in the chapters and their topic(s) of discussion are as follows:
Strobel says that he wrote Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary to help advance lay people's understanding and to increase the effectiveness of evangelistic efforts, and says insights drawn from his own experiences as a former atheist on why people avoid Christianity.[12]
Strobel describes The Case for Christ as a retracing and expansion of him becoming a Christian. It summarizes Strobel's interviews with 13 evangelical Christian scholars — Craig Blomberg, Bruce Metzger, Edwin Yamauchi, John McRay, Gregory Boyd, Ben Witherington III, Gary Collins, D.A. Carson, Louis Lapides, Alexander Metherell, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, and J. P. Moreland — defending their view of the historical reliability of the New Testament.
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity offers replies to doubts of Christianity, including the problem of evil, the contradiction between miracles and science, whether God is worthy of worship if he kills innocent children, whether Jesus is the only way to God, and the church's history of oppression and violence.[13]
The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ presents a number of counter-arguments to challenges to the evangelical Christian view. Strobel addresses differences between the portrayal of Jesus in the non-canonical gospels versus the four canonical gospels, whether the church has changed this depiction over time, new explanations that challenge Jesus' resurrection, the proposed origins of the Jesus story in pagan religions, whether Jesus fulfills messianic prophecies, and whether contemporary people should have the freedom to believe what they want about Jesus.[14]
Experiencing the Passion of Jesus was co-written with Garry Poole as a discussion guide for Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ.[15]