The Case for Faith

This was my first introduction to Strobel's "Case for..." series. In this book, Stobel travels the USA interviewing experts in Christian Evangelical faith on common objections.

While his work is highly readable and educational about Evangelical beliefs, his arguments for faith and against non belief lack quality and smack of intellectual dishonesty. His claims of objectivity (he at one point was a practicing journalist), well roundedness (he was once an atheist and therefore able to represent the other side), and hard hitting fact finding (again, he is a retired journalist who spends allot of time self inflating to his readers) is absolutely farcical.

His version of hard hitting journalism lets him write books debunking non-belief without ever once interviewing a person of this persuasion. Strobel would have us believe that he is able to best characterize the other camp objectively on his own - not that he has a vested interest in defending his faith. Because of this, his work allows for obvious gaping holes in argument that any somewhat seasoned skeptic would challenge.

Beyond this highly problematic structure to interrogating faith and non belief, he aligns himself with some questionable sources. Especially in the later published "The Case for a Creator," Strobel finds himself arm-in-arm with those who are more than willing to resort to lies, half truths, and the espousing of FUD in order to make advances in the faith wars. (see Discovery Institute and the infamous Wedge document that was leaked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy).

Regardless, the most important feature of Strobel's work is what he does not speak of and what he portrays with single sidedness. With this in mind, I found it highly useful to read Strobel while reading critiques at the same time. For example, Paul Doland's excellent critique (http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/paul_doland/strobel.html) rounds off Strobel's "Case for Faith" and helps Strobel live up to his own standards.

In all, as a person who does not have much experience with faith, Strobel's work leaves me wondering what his agenda really is. There seems to be much more going on under the surface of Strobel's seemingly benevolent fact finding spiritual missions.

A lot of people I know believes somehow there's a god but don't believe in the God in Christianity because they are a lot of doubts in mind. This book addresses a number of the common doubts:
1) if there's God, how come there's suffering
2) how can miracles contradicts science if they are true
3) God isn't needed if evolution can explain life
4) He kills innocent children, so he is not worthy of worship
5) isn't it offensive to other religions to claim Jesus is the only way to God?
6) How come a loving God would create a hell to torture people?
7) How come church's history is full of oppression and violence?
8) Can one still be a Christian if one still have doubts?

For me, actually, I have asked only question no. 1, 6 and 8.....
um.....the answers in this book would definitely fail to clear every doubt. But I do think that the answers to no. 1 and 8 are quite good. Some of the points suggested are inspiring. A good resource for both believers and non-believers.