The case against Christ

We love Jesus.  Because of this love we overflow with good tidings and service for our neighbors. We can wait for opportunities to speak of Christ or create those opportunities by demonstrating his love to us and through us.  Conversations about our faith can range from being a testimony of the hope that is within us or a defense of the validity of our beliefs.  There are many arguments against the truthfulness of the Bible and the foundation of our faith.

The foundation of our faith is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is the good news that has brought life to scores of men and women through faith.  There are many who deny that the gospel is historical truth and they do so with numerous and sometimes compelling arguments.  For many, blind faith that believes because the Bible says so is not good enough.  Charles Foster is one of these people and so he sets out to write a book presenting both the case for and against the Christ.

Charles was created and molded for this work.  As a lawyer he makes a living arguing for and against evidence in a court of law.  In his book The Jesus Inquest he takes every valid argument against the gospels, the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus, and the beliefs of the early church regarding the gospel and presents them in a very convincing manner.  The format is done in such a way as I would expect it to be done in a court of law.  First he presents the arguments and evidence against the Christ and then he responds the those arguments from a Christian perspective.  In the end, you are the juror and you decide which side has the better case.

This book did not put me in a place where I can say that I believe in Jesus beyond a reasonable doubt.  What it did is present to me many arguments that created reasonable doubt and then reasons why those doubts weren't very reasonable.  (did that make sense?)  If I learned anything by reading this book it is this:  there are many ways to try to discredit the truth of the gospel and that left purely to reason I would not be a believer.  I know the gospel is true because it has been made true for me not because I could win an argument with an unbeliever and for that I am thankful for the revelation God has given me of who He is in Christ.  

If you love apologetics or you find yourself at a loss for words when confronted with someone who can present a solid case against what you believe to be true about the gospel then this book is for you.  Every valid argument I have ever heard and many that I have never even considered are contained within.  It was nearly exhaustive.  If are interested in a purely existential argument regarding the historicity of the gospel message then you will enjoy this book.

 I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of their BookSneeze program.