The Case Against the Case For Christ: A New Testament Scholar Refutes the Reverend Lee Strobel

322 Pages·2014·1.84 MB·English

by  Robert M. Price

The Case Against The Case for Christ:
A New Testament Scholar Refutes
Lee Strobel

ROBERT M. PRICE

2010
American Atheist Press Cranford, New Jersey ISBN10: 1-57884-005-8
ISBN13: 978-1-57884-005-2

American Atheist Press P.O. Box 158
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Copyright © 2010 by American Atheist Press, all rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
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Published February 2010
Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data Price, Robert M., 1954-The case against the case for Christ: a
New Testament scholar refutes Lee Strobel / Robert M. Price.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57884-005-2 (alk, paper)
ISBN-10: 1-57884-005-8 (alk paper) 1. Strobel, Lee, 1952-Case for Christ. 2.
Christianity—Controversial literature. 3. Jesus Christ—Person and offices. 4.
Jesus Christ—Historicity. I. Title.
BT203.S7737 2010
232.9’08–dc22
2009054035

Dedicated To
My Generous Friend
David F. Parks

Ebook versions by John F. Felix, [email protected]
Contents
INTRODUCTION My Own Investigation
PART ONE EXAMINING THE WRECKAGE
Chapter One The Utter Lack of Eyewitness Evidence The Gospels
Are Not Biographies
Enter Craig L. Blomberg
Good Question, Bad Answer
The Gospels: Blind Dates
The Conz
After-Apostle Agendas
Dear and Glorious Paramedic
Synoptic Claim Bake
Every Mother’s Son
Chapter Two Testing the Evidence of the Gospels Do the Gospels
Stand Up to Scrutiny?
The Intention Test: The “Intentional Fallacy”?
Despising Prophesying
1. The Intention Test and the Intentional Fallacy
2. The Ability Test: Orality — Or Reality?
We’re the Telephone Company: We Don’t Care. We Don’t Have
to.
3. The Character Test: Your Cheatin’ Art
To the Death!
4. The Consistency Test: Harmonizing and Homogenizing
5. The Bias Test: A Biased Test?
6. The Cover-up Test: “Except to Be Exposed”
7. The Corroboration Test: Imaginary Confirmation
The Adverse Witness Test: Mumbling beneath the Muzzle?
Chapter Three The Manuscript Evidence Do We Have What the
Evangelists Originally Wrote?
Bruce Metzger, Reader’s Digest Version
A Note on a Scrap
Chapter Four No Corroborating Evidence No Reporters Covered
the Jesus Beat
Flubbed Opportunities
Is No News Good News?
Darkest Africanus
Pilate the Pussycat?
Bragging Rites?
Chapter Five The Stones Keep Mum How Biblical Archaeology
Digs Up a World without Jesus
No Nazareth
Acts and Accuracy
Taking Leave of Your Census
Ascent of the Christ, Descent of the Dove
Sanhedrin Sitcom
Three Deaths
Perils of Pauline Conversion
Apples Don’t Corroborate Oranges
Chapter Six A Butt Load of Evidence The Jesus Seminar and
Mainstream Biblical Research
1. We must separate the Jesus of history from the Christ of faith.
2. The Synoptic Gospels are closer to the historical Jesus than the
Gospel of John.
3. Mark was written before Matthew and Luke and was the basis
for both.
4. The hypothetical source “Q” explained Matthew’s and Luke’s
common tradition not found in Mark.
5. The non-eschatological Jesus who speaks in aphorisms and
parables must be liberated from the eschatological Jesus, whom
the Church constructed.
6. The contrast between the oral culture of Jesus and the print
culture of later times (Jesus only spoke in short, memorable, oft-
repeated phrases, never longer discourse).
7. The Gospels are now assumed to be narratives in which the
memory of Jesus is embellished by mythic elements that express
the Church’s faith in him, and by plausible fictions that enhance
the telling of the Gospel story for the first-century listeners who
knew about divine men and miracle workers firsthand.
Alien Assumptions
I Belong to Apollonius
History versus Mystery
Out of the Prayer Closet
PART TWO USING JESUS AS A VENTRILOQUIST’S DUMMY
Chapter Seven The Identity Crisis Did Jesus Memorize the Nicene
Creed?
Chapter Eight The Psychology of Heresy Must Apologists Be
Crazy When They Say Jesus Believed He Was God?
Chapter Nine The Piffle Evidence Could a Finite Jesus
Correspond in any Way to an Infinite God?
Ladies and Gentlemen … He — re’s DAV-ey!
Goofy Gospel Exegesis
A Hell of a Thing
The Inconvenience of Slavery
Chapter Ten The Finger-Paint Evidence A Mess of Messianic
Prophecy
Dim Intimations of the Obvious
Chapter Eleven Dead Man Walking The Swoon Theory
Black Sheep of Apologetics
Straw Man Theory
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Chapter Twelve The Evidence of the Empty Argument Was Jesus’
Body Ever Even in a Tomb?
Holy Ghost Evangelist
The Man from Best Disciple Town
Multiple Attestation?
Shall We Join the Ladies?
Mark’s Passion Source
X Marks the Spot
Chapter Thirteen The Appearance of Evidence Was Jesus Seen in
Line at Burger King (of Kings)?
Can I Get a Witness?
Finding Five Hundred
Making Jacob into James?
Making Saul into Paul?
Giving ’em Hell, then Heaven
Apparent Appearances
Chapter Fourteen The Circumcision Evidence Is a Supernatural
Resurrection the Best Explanation for Folks no Longer Trimming
their Sons’ Foreskins?
CONCLUSION The Failure of Apologetics
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Scripture Index
Subject Index
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