The Case for Scriptural Conversion

Lee Strobel is well known as an atheist who became a "Christian." He has since that time written a number of books, some of which are listed below.

The Case for Christ
The Case for Faith
The Case for a Creator
The Case for the Real Jesus
The Case for Christianity Answer Book
The Case for Hope

Credentials? He received a degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri. According to Wikipedia, he earned "a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, becoming a journalist for the Chicago Tribune" and other papers for 14 years. "In 1980, the UPI Illinois Editors Association newspaper award program gave him a first place for public service (the Len H. Small Memorial award) for his coverage of the Pinto crash trial of Ford Motor in Winamac, Indiana."

These are mentioned to show that the man has an analytical mind. Degrees from Yale are not given to those who cannot think critically. The book, The Case for Christ, is an autobiographical account of Strobel's examination of Jesus and the Biblical record. His questions and the answers he received caused him to recognize the truth of Who Jesus is. This search for evidence has been made into a movie and released in April of this year by Pure Flix Entertainment.

Strobel describes in the book the qualifications of each person with whom he speaks. For example, he began with Craig L. Blomberg, who has a doctorate in the New Testament from Aberdeen University in Scotland. He has written a number of books, such as The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel and Can We Still Believe the Bible? He also contributed chapters to the award-winning book, Jesus Under Fire, as did some of the other men that Strobel interviewed.

So he selected men who were eminently qualified to answer his questions. That does not mean, however, that the reader will always agree with each answer or with the author himself, but the book is easy to read and very faith building.

Just to mention one piece of evidence cited is the fragment of John's gospel account that dates from as early as A.D. 100 to 150. It measures only 2½ inches by 3½ inches. One side contains three verses while the other side has two. Some believe the fragment was written sometime during the reign of Hadrian, who reigned from A.D. 117-136. Over all, there are about 5,000 plus Bible manuscripts and fragments, some of which are quite early, compared to other ancient works. Some works can be found in 10 or fewer manuscripts. Homer's The Iliad has 650, but they date more than 1,000 years after he wrote them (65).

Salvation

The point of all these references is to show that both Strobel and those he interviewed are highly intelligent and knowledgeable men with respect to the Bible. Therefore, it is a surprise that so little analytical ability is used in understanding what the Bible teaches about salvation. After Strobel considers all of the interviews he conducted and all of the evidence he had gathered together, he is faced with the question—"Now what?" He feels compelled to become a Christian.

Since Acts contains the accounts of many becoming Christians, one would think that he might go there to seek for answers, but he did not. He says he opened a Bible to John 1:12, a verse he had looked at while his search was ongoing. This verse does not describe the way one becomes a Christian; it is part of what many scholars call John's "Prologue." In this opening to the gospel, John introduces both John the Baptizer and Jesus.

This prologue describes Jesus as Deity from the get-go: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). John the Baptizer and his work of bearing witness of the Light (Jesus, see verse 4) is described in verses 6-8. The writer then resumes his description of Jesus:

That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:9-13, the emphasis is on verse 12).

This is John 1:12 in its context, but Strobel swiftly divorces it from its fellow verses and tries to make it a pattern for salvation, which it obviously is not. Someone who can research Christian evidences the way he does ought to know better than to isolate a verse like this. He also ought to know better than to use the NIV. Apparently, he has never researched translations the way he did the subject matter in his book. The NIV (as does the ESV) erroneously switches the second and third clauses in the sentence, thus making it say: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." The KJV, the NKJ, the very literal ASV, and the NAS all properly translate the verse in the same sequence it appears in the Greek. The order in which the inspired manuscript was written has received first, given the right to become second, and believing third. Nevertheless, Strobel writes:

The key verbs in the verse spell out with mathematical precision what it takes to go beyond mere mental assent to Jesus' deity and enter into an ongoing relationship with him by becoming adopted into God's family: believe + receive = become (289).

First, he had to find a translation that put those verbs in that "mathematical" order, since that is not the way they are written. But then he changed the order again. The NIV had receive, believe, and become; Strobel must have used the commutative property of mathematics, thus exchanging receive and believe. When he discusses how to be saved later, he will give the order as believe, receive, and become even though the order in the Greek is receive, become, and believe. So much time on this point would not be spent except that the rearrangement of the verbs is crucial to his argument, but they are not found in that order in the Greek or any translation.

Second, one has to take the verse out of context to come up with such an assertion. Third, even if taken out of context, it still doesn't say what he claims for it. If one receives and believes, he still only has the right to become a child of God. The first question one should ask is, "How do I receive (become a Christian)?" This passage does not answer that question because that is not its purpose. The book of Acts explains the way that someone becomes a child of God. Strobel simply handles the Scriptures in a shoddy manner. Apparently, he read a Baptist tract (since they usually cite John 1:12) instead of the Scriptures.

In the context, John is making a summary of certain matters. Jesus' own people, the Jews, by and large rejected Him (although not all, since John was born Jewish). But some received Him (as opposed to rejecting Him). Those have the right to become children of God—yes, those who believe in Him. But nothing is said here of how that would occur. John explains it (somewhat) in chapter 3:1-5 when he talks about the new birth. But it will be preached in its entirety from the Day of Pentecost onward.

The "Done" Religion

Strobel goes on to explain what he thinks receive means. He says that all other religions are based on the "do" plan, meaning that the people had "to do something." He cites as examples working off karma, making pilgrimages, and using a Tibetan prayer wheel. He says that Christianity is based on the "done" plan—that is, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins (290).

However, salvation is only "done" in God making it available for us. All that it took to provide salvation for the whole world has already been accomplished, but that only speaks to its availability—not its reception on the part of those lost in sin. Yes, it is true that salvation cannot be earned, and it is true that it is offered by God's amazing grace. It is false, however, that it comes by a "sincere prayer of repentance" (290).

Jesus did speak about repentance: "…unless you repent you shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). Does that not sound like a person must do something? Did Strobel not say that Christianity is a "done" religion? If it were so, then why must a person repent? John the Baptizer associates repentance with doing something: "Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…" (Matt. 3:7-8). Bearing fruits requires action—and more than just repeating a prayer of repentance.

But why do denominationalists like Strobel never go to the great day of Pentecost to examine the first sermon preached after Jesus ascended into Heaven? He flew all over the country to speak to Bible experts on various topics; why could he not read and give as much attention to Acts 2 as he did to those issues? Peter preached that Jesus died but rose again—and that He was on the right hand of God (Acts 2:33-36). His message was sufficient to arouse guilt in them for what they had done. They asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (v. 37). Why did Peter not respond by saying, "Do? You misunderstand; Christianity is a 'done' religion!"

Instead he told them they needed to repent and be baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (v. 38), which amounted to them doing something. Notice that Peter did not tell them to offer "a sincere prayer of repentance." This is not the way that God arranged for people to be saved. Uttering a "sinner's prayer" leaves a person just as unsaved as he was before he intoned those words. How do we know that?

Saul of Tarsus was the chief persecutor of Christians. When Jesus appeared to him, it turned his whole world upside down. He fasted and prayed for three days (Acts 9:9, 11). But "a sincere prayer of repentance" did not save him. It is hard to imagine anyone more devout or more sincere. But when Ananias came to him, he asked, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). First, notice that he was still lost. No one's sins can be washed away unless they still have them. Had he already been forgiven, he would have had no sins to wash away. Second, there was something Paul had to do—the same thing as those on Pentecost—be baptized. In fact, Paul had been told to go into Damascus and it would be told him what he must do (Acts 9:6).

Again, Christianity is a "done" religion only in terms of God's having prepared redemption for us. We must still do something to receive it. And, in fact, God expects us to do much more than respond initially to His offer; we must live faithfully. Revelation 22:14 says: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city" (emph. added, GWS; cf. Matthew 7:21-23). Those who have a right to salvation and a right to the tree of life are those who have "done" His commandments. All should be as diligent in searching the Scriptures to see what they teach concerning salvation as they are in coming to know it is the Truth.