Book Review: The Case for Christ Student Edition {BookLook Bloggers}

The Case for Christ Student Edition by Lee Strobel with Jane Vogel

ISBN: 9780310745648

Paperback, 128 pages

Publisher: Zondervan

Retail: $9.99

About the book: 

Who was Jesus? A good man? A lunatic? God?

There's little question that Jesus actually lived. But miracles? Rising from the dead? Some of the stories you hear about him sound like just that- stories. A reasonable person would never believe them, let alone claim that he's the only way to God! But a reasonable person would also make sure that he or she understood the facts before jumping to conclusions. That's why Lee Strobel- an award-winning journalist with a knack for asking tough questions- decided to investigate Jesus for himself. Join him as he retraces his journey from skepticism to faith. You'll consult expert testimony as you sift through the truths that history, science, psychiatry, literature, and religion reveal. Like Strobel, you'll be amazed at the evidence. The facts are in. What will your verdict be?

About the authors:

Lee Strobel was the award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, and is the bestselling author of The Case for Faith, The Case for Christ, and The Case for a Creator. Visit Lee's website at www.leestrobel.com 

Jane Vogel, a writer who has been involved with youth ministry for over twenty years, wrote The Case for Christ Student Edition and The Case for Faith Student Edition with Lee Strobel. She lives with her husband, Steve, and their two children in Winfield, Illinois.

My thoughts:

I will preface this by stating that I have read Strobel's original The Case for Christ and I find it to be much better than this student edition. While I will try not to compare the two and review this one of its own merit, it probably won't happen that way. It is important to know that I have, of course, a bias towards the original.

This book is extremely short. It is a very quick read. That's both good and bad. It allows one to get it all in real quick. But it doesn't really give much substance to mull over and ponder. There are a lot of 'points' throughout, in the writing itself (the paragraphs) as well as side notes (in little boxes and such on their own) but I don't see them as substantial. 

The tone is quick, like "hurry up and read this, don't think too long, just read!" That's just my take on it, of course. It's too fast-paced. And that sentiment is coming from a person who listens to audio books at 1.5-2x the normal speed! And another thing about the tone- it borders on disrespectful (?) in my opinion. It could simply be a more 'casual' tone. An example is when referring to Dr. Ben Witherington, "who has a whole string of degrees and memberships in societies..." Apparently those degrees are no longer of importance- just take their word for it because they have degrees. Even teens should be able to distinguish when a degree of a specific field is pertinent to the subject at hand. 

The good thing about this book are that Strobel (with Vogel) leave in the 'important' parts of the interviews conducted. We get the gist of their conversations in this book, without all the details (I rather liked the details myself).

I will end this review with one last bit. My son read the original The Case for Christ when he was 13 years old (almost 14) and he found it to be a very well-done book. I asked if it was too much and he said no. With this topic, really how can you have too much? It dispels the disbelief. It bares it all. This book however, written for teens will most likely solidify their belief, if they are already believers, but it is lacking what was in the original.

All-in-all, if one is looking for a 'refresher' on the case for Christ, who is a believer or on the edge of being a believer, this book will be good. For someone who is not a believer and is truly skeptical, I don't see how this little book will do much but annoy. It doesn't have enough to convince a true skeptic. It is missing what the original book had, in many ways.

***Disclaimer: I received this book free from BookLook Bloggers for the purpose of this review. All opinions stated are my own or those of my family members. No compensation was given. See Disclosure/Policies.***