The Big Challenge

Lee Strobel was an atheist and legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. It was his agnostic wife’s conversion to Christianity that prompted him to use his legal training and journalistic experience to systematically study the Bible, ancient history and archeology, and interview dozens of scholars in those fields. After a couple of years of intense study he came to the unexpected conclusion that Jesus is the unique Son of God. It wasn’t the outcome he was necessarily seeking, but the conclusion he believes the evidence persuasively warranted.

He has since written several books about the evidence and interviews that help persuade him: God’s Outrageous Claims, The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, and The Case for a Creator.

I am all for searching for the truth—and I do not believe it is relative. But here’s the big question with which Lee was confronted, and the one that faces me: “Am I willing to set aside my preconceptions and let the evidence take me wherever it will?” I did (and continue to attempt that, although it is at times a painful process), and continue to come to the same conclusion Lee did.

I challenge my atheist friends to do the same—to give an honest look at the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, and the evidence supporting them as accurate and reliable. Give all sides a "fair hearing" before casting your verdict. Are you willing to set aside your preconceptions and let the evidence take you wherever it will?