|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apologetics Ministries | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
A Depth (Pre-)Defense of "The Case for the Real Jesus" I already know what's coming, so this time I figured....why not deliver a pre-emptive strike? Bad rebuttals to popular works like Lee Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus are inevitable. Skeptics seldom if ever want to do real homework, so they sit down with a book like CFRJ and produce reader-response criticisms based on whatever they happened to read last week. And inevitably, I like to answer them. But in recent years, I've sort of gotten bored with answering the same tired arguments from that crowd, so this time, we're launching a pre-emptive strike. The following are "depth defenses" of Strobel's main conclusions in CFRJ. In essence these are the sort of things you'd also find out by pursuing his lists for further reading. It can't all fit in a mass-market book -- that's not what it is meant for -- but in the end, you don't refute CFRJ unless you refute all of this as well. So, for all you Skeptics salivating (unrighteously) over what you think will be an "answer" to CFRJ -- don't forget to eat your beef AND your vegetables too. Our defense will coordinate with Strobel's interviews only, not introductory material. Most of this will simply be links to other material we have written or read. I also do not assume that I will be able to cover every contrived line of argument some critic may decide to use -- we'll keep up with those in any individual response we find, listed below. Nor are there comments on every page; I'm looking for things I expect critics to target. I may add to this list as needed. Below you will also find a review of the book by our guest writer, "Wildcat". Challenge #1: A Radically Different Jesus in Different Ancient Documents
More:
Challenge #2: Trusting the NT Text
Challenge #3: New Resurrection Theories
Challenge #4: Pagan Copycat Theories It's hard to imagine any critic wanting to defend this sort of thing, but they do! Our hub page for this subject is here, where you'll find articles on all the "pagan copycat" deities mentioned in the book. I've highlighted in bold on that page the ones Strobel mentions as well as others that may be helpful. We have a depth review of Harpur's Pagan Christ here and a review of Freke and Gandy's Jesus Mysteries here. Other than that:
More:
Challenge #5: Fulfillment of Prophecy by Jesus A critical essay for understanding how the NT used the OT is found here. Much of this chapter cannot be answered without this background information. I have not written much on this topical area. A guest author of mine wrote this, which deals with several of the prophecies in question and uses Brown as a source. Here are some other resources:
More:
Modern defenses: Challenge #6: The Tolerance Trap This chapter goes outside my scope of study, having to do with epistemology; that said, it's hard to say more than Copan has on this subject! But here's some good stuff:
Reviews
This latest addition to Lee Strobel's "case" series may be best described as an updated edition of the first book in the series, even though Strobel probably did not intend it to be so. I say this because many of the issues (though not all of them) touched upon in this volume overlap substantially with those found in "The Case for Christ". Strobel explains in the introduction that the motivation for the penning of this book stemmed from the most recent sensationalist claims about the historical Jesus together with the numerous extra-canonical texts being used by some scholars to replace the canonical gospels, doubts about the accurate transmission of the New Testament text (particularly in light of the popularity of Bart Ehrman's works on the subject), the naturalistic alternatives commonly touted to Jesus' resurrection in popular, Islamic, and even scholarly literature, pagan copycat theories, the denial (especially by Jewish anti-missionaries) that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies, and finally the problems caused by postmodern thought and moral relativism in regards to the church. In the opening chapter, Strobel interviews Craig Evans, where the historical credibility of the most prominently cited extra-canonical gospels is examined (e.g. The Gospels of Thomas, Judas, Peter, and Secret Mark), as well as some claims made in the popular literature, such as those found in MIchael Baigent's The Jesus Papers. In chapter 2 Strobel interviews Daniel Wallace in regards to the fidelity (or lack thereof) of New Testament textual transmission. Particular attention is paid in this chapter to claims made by NT textual scholar Bart Ehrman, whose books (especially Misquoting Jesus) are now commonly being used to cast doubt upon the veracity of today's NT text as the result of the countless variants in the manuscript traditions as well as the presence of scribal changes (some of which were deliberate). The 3rd chapter is devoted to an interview with Mike Licona, in which Licona is given space to lay out his "Minimal Facts" approach to confirming the veracity of Jesus' resurrection, followed by a second part where Licona answers a number of objections that Strobel throws at him based on what's found in the literature by critical NT scholars, atheists, and even Muslims. This section contains a very helpful discussion regarding the Jesus Family Tomb and the numerous problems that exist in regards to associating it with the Jesus of the New Testament. In Chapter 4 Strobel interviews Edwin Yamauchi regarding the pagan copycat arguments commonly touted by popular skeptics. Also contained in the beginning of this chapter is an additional section where Strobel asks Licona about alleged ancient parallels to Jesus' resurrection. The next chapter contains an interview with Messianic Jew Michael Brown regarding objections to the Messianic prophecies. In this chapter Brown is first asked to lay out a summary-case for how the Messianic prophecies necessitate that Jesus is in fact the Messiah, followed by his answers to a battery of common objections that Strobel poses. This chapter is predictably cursory, though specific space is devoted to Isaiah 7:14, 53, and Psalm 22. Finally, in chapter 6 Paul Copan is interviewed where focus is made on the havoc caused by postmodernism and moral relativism on the church. The strengths of Strobel's latest book outnumber its weaknesses. The material regarding the credibility (or lack thereof) of the most prominently-cited non-canonical texts is more than sufficient in dismantling claims that they provide us with new insight on the historical Jesus. The interview with Daniel Wallace will certainly provide a much-needed corrective to anybody confused enough by Ehrman's writings to doubt that the NT has been substantially preserved. One can learn the effective "Minimal Facts" approach of Habermas and Licona in establishing the historicity of the resurrection, as well as receive from a Hebrew scholar an excellent (albeit brief) exposition on why Jesus must in fact be the Jewish Messiah. The serious holes in the "pagan copycat" thesis are more than adequately exposed, as are those inherent within the concept of moral relativism. However, in a book that contains such a broad scope, it is impossible to cover all of the pertinent issues associated with each topic, let alone counter every potential objection. If I had to quibble over certain aspects of this book, one would be that the section on Evans' positive case for the canonical gospels in chapter 1 could have been expanded and some of the problems dealt with in at least somewhat more detail. While nearly 30 pages is devoted to dismantling the radical claims made by those wishing to promote extra-canonical gospels/documents to the level of the canonical gospels, or even beyond them, the positive case for the canonical gospels is limited to only a few pages. It seems that more rigor could have been applied in questioning Evans' arguments for establishing the canonical gospels' essential historicity. Also, I must admit to some disappointment on the issue of mass hallucinations in the interview with Licona. Regarding the Christian claim that hallucinations shared simultaneously by numerous individuals are essentially impossible, skeptics have written responses generally through traversing two avenues (the "historical approach" as well as the "scientific approach" - see the link). Given the prevalence of such responses in the skeptical literature, I'm surprised that this was not addressed. Then, the Messianic prophecy section couldn't help but be very cursory, with specific detail/objections only being applied to 3 relevant OT texts (and even in these cases comprehensive treatments could not be performed). Of course, a solid defense of the Christian case would inevitably require much more space than what Strobel could possibly devote to a single section of his book, and so I think he and Brown did very well with what little space that they did have. I thus bring it up here not to complain about it being a weakness of the book itself, but as a simple reminder to the reader that becoming properly informed on such complex issues only comes through the study of more extensive treatments (such as those by Michael Brown himself, see below). As with the author's previous books, Strobel once again manages to put together a volume that is great for introductory purposes on these important issues. Somebody reading about these issues for the first time will come away equipped in dealing with a solid variety of apologetic issues, and equally importantly will have answers to questions about the most recent sensationalist claims about the historical Jesus as well as those of the most controversial extra-canonical Gospels like the Gospels of Judas, Thomas, etc. This is particularly crucial given that these sensationalist claims tend to run rampant in the media. Then, of course, Strobel helpfully points to a number of resources at the end of each section where these issues are explored in more depth and detail. In fact, this book in essence offers the basic nuclei of such works as Craig Evans' Fabricating Jesus, Wallace's chapter of Reinventing Jesus regarding textual criticism, and Mike Licona and Gary Habermas' The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. The chapter on Messianic prophecies is enough to offer a nice segue (but merely a segue) into the detailed "Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus" series by Michael Brown, particularly (though not limited to) volume 3. Hence the seasoned apologist will find little to nothing new in this book, but it remains a delightfully entertaining read due to Strobel's very animated and gripping writing style. This book is highly recommended for those that need more education on such vital issues. Review by another reader: here Responses to Critiques Go Home! |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
