From college classrooms to bestselling books to the Internet, the historic picture of Jesus is under an intellectual onslaught. This fierce attack on the traditional portrait of Jesus has confused spiritual seekers and created doubt among many Christians---but can these radical new claims and revisionist theories stand up to sober scrutiny?
Has modern scholarship debunked the traditional Christ? Has the church suppressed the truth about Jesus to advance its own agenda? What if the real Jesus is far different from the atoning Savior worshipped through the centuries?
In Defense of Jesus, the follow up to the bestselling book Case for Christ, former award-winning legal editor Lee Strobel explores such hot-button questions as:
- Did the church suppress ancient non-biblical documents that paint a more accurate picture of Jesus than the four Gospels?
- Did the church distort the truth about Jesus by tampering with early New Testament texts?
- Do new insights and explanations disprove the resurrection?
- Have fresh arguments disqualified Jesus from being the Messiah?
- Did Christianity steal its core ideas from earlier mythology?
Evaluate the arguments and evidence being advanced by prominent atheists, liberal theologians, Muslim scholars, and others. Sift through expert testimony. Then reach your own verdict with In Defense of Jesus.
| Introduction: Searching for the Real Jesus |
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Challenge #1 "Scholars Are Uncovering a Radically Different Jesus in Ancient Documents Just as Credible as the Four Gospels" |
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Challenge #2 "The Bible's Portrait of Jesus Can't Be Trusted Because the Church Tampered with the Text" |
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68 | (38) |
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Challenge #3 Part 1: "New Explanations Have Refuted Jesus' Resurrection" |
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106 | (28) |
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Challenge #3 Part 2: The Cross-Examination |
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134 | (31) |
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Challenge #4 "Christianity's Beliefs about Jesus Were Copied from Pagan Religions" |
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165 | (34) |
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Challenge #5 "Jesus Was an Imposter Who Failed to Fulfill the Messianic Prophecies" |
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199 | (41) |
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Challenge #6 "People Should Be Free to Pick and Choose What to Believe about Jesus" |
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240 | (37) |
| Conclusion: Discovering the Real Jesus |
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277 | (10) |
| Appendix A A Summary of Evidence from The Case for Christ |
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| Appendix B Helpful Websites to Investigate the Real Jesus |
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294 | (1) |
| Notes |
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| Acknowledgments |
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| Index |
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| Meet Lee Strobel |
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Lee Strobel, former award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, is a New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold almost twenty million copies worldwide. Lee earned a journalism degree at the University of Missouri and received a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School. He was a journalist for fourteen years at the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, winning Illinois top honors for investigative reporting (which he shared with a team he led) and public service journalism from United Press International. A former atheist, he served as a teaching pastor at three of Americas largest churches. Lee and his wife, Leslie, have been married for more than fifty years and live in Texas. Their daughter, Alison, and son, Kyle, are also authors. Website: www.leestrobel.com
