On my commute, and when my family travels, we like to listen to audio books. Our recent trip to Seattle started with a legal thriller, and on the trip home we prepared for Easter by listening to The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. We didn’t finish the book on that leg of the journey, but I finished it that next week while I was commuting.

A quick summary for those of you who are not familiar: In the late 1970s, Lee Strobel was an avowed atheist raising a family and working as a journalist in Chicago. His world was shaken when his wife became a Christian. Strobel was angry that his wife was changing as a person, and worried that his marriage couldn’t withstand the tension. So he went on a quest to discredit Christianity with objective evidence, meeting with experts around the country to try and disprove the Bible. Along the way, Strobel discovered that the evidence for Christianity isn’t all legend and myth. In fact, he came to realize that it would take a bigger leap of faith to continue believing there is no god than it takes to believe. Strobel joined his wife in her newfound faith, and he eventually left journalism to be a pastor and author.

Each expert Strobel consulted is introduced to the reader with a thorough explanation of their education and expertise. As an historian, I appreciated the careful and objective way the Strobel and the experts evaluated the evidence of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. They compare the gospel accounts to each other and other historical sources. They examine the translations of the Bible and how it has been handled over the years. They discuss arguments that skeptics have made over the years and how those arguments line up with the evidence.

The Case for Christ is not really about Strobel’s personal story. That is covered in the introduction, but the body of the book is dense with philosophy, history, and arguments of logic. If you have seen the movie of the same name, which tells Strobel’s personal story, you might be surprised to find that the book is very different. In the movie, the personal story is the main point and the investigation into the historical Christ is just a plot point. The book provides the in-depth research, and the personal story is just the motivation for the quest for information.

If you prefer fiction, check out the movie and take a pass on this book. But if you like to read nonfiction and enjoy arguments and philosophical debates, then this is a good one. It will lead you to a series of excellent resources as well. I haven’t read a lot of dense philosophy since graduating from College, but I enjoyed a taste of it again. It was also nice to see Christianity hold up to intellectual scrutiny. We’re too often reluctant to consider our beliefs as an exercise in both faith and facts. But God is real and alive, not some myth of ancient history, and he holds up to intellectual scrutiny!