The case of christ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The case of christ - Essay Example From this movement has come the Christian apologetics who, according to The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, are a group of people that â€Å"use logic and evidence to defend Christianity and promote the truth of the Bible†(Slick, 2011). Perhaps one of the most influential books from the Christian Apologetics movement is The Case for Christ which proposes a myriad of evidence that supports the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Lee Stobel and Jane Vogel, authors of the Student Version of The Case for Christ, provide a summary of who Jesus Christ was. At the very core of the argument is that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God (Strobel and Vogel, 23). His role on Earth was to save the sinners which was accomplished by sacrificing himself and dying on the cross for everyone’s sins. One of the important aspects of this that the authors take on is the fact that Jesus did not explicitly state that he was God: â€Å"Some of Jesus’ statements a s they are recorded in the Bible don’t seem to be clear claims that Jesus is God†(Strobel and Vogel, 23). However, Strobel provides several scriptures that support the claim that Jesus believed he was God and through conversations with disciples, followers, and others stated as much. Some of the evidence included Matthew 16: 15-17 where Jesus asks Peter who he (Peter) thinks Jesus is and Peter replies â€Å"You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God†(Strobel and Vogel, 23). Strobel present very convincing evidence that Jesus was in fact the Messiah by way of presenting Isaiah 53 which is in essence a prophecy of who the Messiah would be. Strobel claims that Jesus matched the prophecy and that many of these aspects could not be manipulated by Jesus in order to make them match such as birthplace, family, the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, and the guards that gambled over Jesus’ clothes when he was dying on the cross(Strobel and Vogel, 44-4 6). Since Isaiah 53 was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the argument that Jesus was indeed the Messiah is extremely convincing. The next step in presenting the case for Christ is to delve into the reliability of the Gospels which are the books of the Bible that detail Jesus Christ and his life. Strobel presents evidence that indicates that these books are quite reliable. The biggest piece of evidence is the differences between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Although many people would say these contradictions make the books less reliable, Strobel disagrees stating that â€Å"the idea is that if the writers were lying, they’d make sure to get their stories straight—and they’d agree in every detail. What seems to be a contradiction is often the same event viewed from different perspectives†(Strobel and Vogel, 54). Additionally, Strobel brings up an interesting point about the timeline of Christ’s death and the teachings of Paul. Accor ding to Strobel, the timeline suggests that Paul came to learn about Christ dying on the cross for the world’s sins and his resurrection within 2-5 years of it occurring. Strobel makes the argument that the fact Christianity was already teaching this aspect about Christ suggests that â€Å"that’s far too fast for legend to have developed and wiped out a core of historical truth†(Strobel and Vogel, 60). This is compelling evidence since it is widely thought that the time