The Case For Christ

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had always done-to intervene and set them back on the right track. But there was a difference this time. This was the last time. This was the last chance. Did Jesus believe he was the Son of God, the anointed one of God? The answer is yes. Did he see himself as the Son of Man? The answer is yes. Did he see himself as the final Messiah? Yes, that's the way he viewed himself Did he believe that anybody less than God could save the world? No, I don't believe he did. And here's where the paradox gets as quizzical as it can possibly get: the way God was going to save the world was by his Son dying. The most human of all human acts-to die. Now, God, in his divine nature, doesn't die. So how was God going to get this done? How was God going to be the Savior of the human race? He had to come as a human being to accomplish that task. And Jesus believed he was the one to do it. Jesus said in Mark 10:45, 'I did not come to be served but to serve and give my life as a ransom in place of the many.' This is either the highest form of megalomania or it's the example of somebody who really believes, as he said, 'I and the Father are one.' In other words, 'I have the authority to speak for the Father; I have the power to act for the Father; if you reject me, you've rejected the Father.' Even if you eliminated the fourth gospel and just read the synoptics, this would still be the conclusion you would come to. And it is the conclusion that Jesus would have led us to if we had a Bible study and asked him this question. We have to ask, Why is there no other first-century Jew who has millions of followers today? Why isn't there a John the Baptist movement? Why, of all first-century figures, including the Roman emperors, is Jesus still worshiped today, while the others have crumbled into the dust of history? It's because this Jesus-the historical Jesus-is also the living Lord. That's why. It's because he's still around, while the others are long gone." IN THE VERY PLACE OF GOD Like Witherington, many other scholars have painstakingly picked apart the earliest evidence for Jesus and reached the same conclusions. Wrote Craig, "Here is a man who thought of himself as the Son of God in a unique sense, who claimed to act and speak with divine authority, who held himself to be a worker of
miracles, and who believed that people's eternal destiny hinged on whether or not they believed in him." Then he added a remark that's especially startling: "The clues sufficient for a high Christological self-understanding of Jesus are present even in the attenuated twenty percent of Jesus' sayings recognized by the members of the Jesus Seminar as authentic." The evidence for concluding that Jesus intended to stand in the very place of God is "absolutely convincing," concurred theologian Royce Gordon Gruenler. So extraordinary is Jesus' assertion, said Craig, that inevitably the issue of his sanity has to come up. He notes that after James Dunn completed his own epic study of this issue, Dunn was compelled to comment, "One last question cannot be ignored: Was Jesus mad?" At the airport in Lexington, waiting for my flight back to Chicago, I dropped coins into a pay phone and called for an appointment to interview one of the country's leading experts on psychology. It was time to find out. Deliberations Questions for Reflection or Group Study 1. What, do you think, are some reasons why Jesus was evasive in disclosing who he was to the public? Can you imagine some ways in which an early proclamation of his deity could have harmed his mission? 2. What are some of the difficulties we face in determining what historical figures thought about themselves? What clues would you find most helpful in trying to determine this? Why did the clues offered by Witherington convince or fail to persuade you that Jesus thought he was God and the Messiah? 3. Jesus taught his disciples to use the term "Abba," or "Dearest Father," in addressing God. What does this tell you about Jesus' relationship with the Father? Is that kind of relationship attractive to you? Why or why not? For Further Evidence More Resources on This Topic Craig, William Lane. "The Self-Understanding of Jesus." In Reasonable Faith, by William Lane Craig, 233-54. Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1994.
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The Case For Christ By: Lee Strobel
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CONTENTS Introduction: Reopening th
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assistance; Chad Meister and Bob an
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"Check out the evidence yourself,"
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make mistakes. Looking through thos
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ooks, college professors, family me
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and yanked the trigger. The gun roa
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Blomberg's books include Jesus and
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granted that exception, the rest of
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that gave meaning to a period of hi
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crowd of journalists that once corn
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merely emphasizing that 'he was a f
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Holocaust. But it has been the Jewi
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was written before Paul was put to
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which is cited by Christians as the
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they couldn't find one. They questi
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going to be returning during their
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actually, scrolls of papyrus-were r
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3. THE CHARACTER TEST This test loo
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about Mark and Luke saying that Jes
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ever met him yet because of their i
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"In addition, we can learn through
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us the full story about Jesus? I lo
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But the most eye-popping cache of d
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Theological Seminary and both a mas
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"Quite so," he replied. "And this i
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Papyrus number two contains large p
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the fidelity with which this materi
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author of I John was inspired to wr
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sources for the history of Jesus. T
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'hurch had already determined. You
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text-what has all this done to your
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4: THE CORROBORATING EVIDENCE Is th
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the case against Harry Aleman? The
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"Now," I said a little pointedly, "
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feats and was a teacher of such peo
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the Baptist was more important beca
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Pliny the Younger became governor o
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a Jewish mob by executing Jesus, ot
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Page 82 and 83: asked. Yamauchi pondered the questi
Page 84 and 85: and the truth will make you free."
Page 86 and 87: question of whether the New Testame
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Page 90 and 91: People thought Josephus was wrong,
Page 92 and 93: to thirty-two countries, fifty-four
Page 94 and 95: Still, there were some matters I ne
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Page 98 and 99: thought might challenge him. So the
Page 100 and 101: McRay tossed me the article in whic
Page 102 and 103: For Further Evidence More Resources
Page 104 and 105: commentator Paul Harvey likes to sa
Page 106 and 107: to me, 'Well, Greg, it looks like t
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Page 112 and 113: proximity to the event, the less ch
Page 114 and 115: athed in its blood and guts. Then t
Page 116 and 117: it fits well with the Gnostic mind-
Page 118 and 119: But your love goes beyond that. You
Page 120 and 121: elying on the news media in reporti
Page 122 and 123: Theological Seminary, where I found
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Page 132 and 133: Marshall, I. Howard. The Origins of
Page 134 and 135: 146 THE CASE FOR CHRIST Shock; Can
Page 136 and 137: Granted, as we look back through hi
Page 138 and 139: feeling intoxicated, just as if the
Page 140 and 141: I laughed. "I told you it was an in
Page 142 and 143: it's quite another to embody the ch
Page 144 and 145: Now, Jesus claims to be God. But do
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Page 148 and 149: type of thing. That's getting Close
Page 150 and 151: "If you're going to quote Colossian
Page 152 and 153: eternal suffering for those who rej
Page 154 and 155: e done for all to see. And no one w
Page 156 and 157: followed by the 'new man.' Trouble
Page 158 and 159: himself and being born into humble
Page 160 and 161: validate the credentials of the aut
Page 162 and 163: I shook my head, saddened at the th
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Page 166 and 167: though he had done no violence, nor
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Page 170 and 171: would respond. 1. The Coincidence A
Page 172 and 173: issued a decree for the Jewish peop
Page 174 and 175: For Further Evidence More Resources
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that day and went on to the cross-w
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tension on the muscles would be eas
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to the cross by ropes.' Won't you c
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A QUESTION FOR THE HEART Convincing
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McDowell, Josh. The Resurrection Fa
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gaze, Craig still looks the role of
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Bible in my lap and quickly reviewe
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the Jews would gather the bones of
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the disciples faking one, this woul
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contradiction says, 'This cannot be
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"Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, 'For
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Essentially, he said a major argume
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the empty tomb. In other words, the
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But I had heard the tapes of the de
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a car, drive to Lynchburg, and make
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"When I was young, I was reading a
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convinced," he insisted indignantly
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willing to be interviewed. Now, sto
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people in the gospels and Acts-some
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MARKS MISSING CONCLUSION When I fir
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central proclamation of the earlies
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Christians-how did they get talked
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death in 1995. And do you know what
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Ask Timothy McVeigh. He may have th
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eaten, imprisoned. And finally, mos
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Muhammad's conversion to Islam as b
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they could be in right standing wit
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together to celebrate his teachings
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and the amazing emergence and growt
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willing to lay down your life for a
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IS THERE CREDIBLE EVIDENCE FOR JESU
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DID JESUS-AND JESUS ALONE-MATCH THE
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evidence that Jesus is the unique S
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Evidence? By November 8, 1981, my l
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cross of Jesus to bridge that gulf.
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case for Christ is conclusive. The
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Boyd, Gregory A. Cynic Sage or Son
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Gruenler-Royce Gordon Cruenler, New
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O'Collins-Gerald O'Collins, The Eas
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NOTES INTRODUCTION: REOPENING THE I
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Press, 1996), 196-97. 10. Paul L. M
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1. Leland H. Gregory 111, "Fop Ten
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The Case For Christ

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