The Case for Christ Page #10

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but he loved you, son.

(sniffles)

He really loved you.

Okay?

(footsteps departing)

[]

(crying softly)

(sobs)

REPORTER (over radio): 80

nations were represented...

LEE:

I'm going camping,

and I'm bringing an apple...

- (baby crying)

- a banana...

and a chinchilla.

I'm going camping,

and I'm gonna bring an apple...

- (Lee shushing)

- a banana, uh...

- ls he okay?

- Mm-hmm.

ALISON:

whatever you said and...

- A chinchilla.

- A chinchilla...

REPORTER:
savagely beaten

in a prison fight

- at Cook County Jail today.

- And a donkey. -Sweetie,

- hold on, hold on, hold on.

- Sources inside the prison

say Hicks was targeted

by gang members

as a result of recent news

identifying him

as a police informant.

It is believed

that the prison guards

did little to protect Hicks,

a fate not uncommon

for cop shooters.

Hicks was immediately taken

to Mercy Hospital,

where he's in serious condition.

Elsewhere in Chicago,

the wind is expected to kick up

this evening over the lake

and continue...

(radio shuts off)

(machines whirring, beeping)

(indistinct radio communication)

How's... how's he doing?

Been in and out.

Mostly out.

Mr. Hicks?

Mr. Hicks, it's Lee Strobel.

Just wanted to say that, um...

that it's my fault.

(sniffles)

I...

I'm... I missed the...

the truth.

I'm-I'm sorry.

I just... l- | didn't see it.

(sniffles)

HICKS (softly):

You didn't want to see it.

What's that?

You didn't want to see it.

LEE:
I've hit a brick Wall.

I have read through

every book you've given me.

I've gone through

every argument.

I've followed every lead.

At some point, young man,

you're going to have

to plant your flag

on a mountain of uncertainty,

where not every question

is answered.

The human mind

will never get to the bottom

of every mystery in the cosmos.

Believing in God,

not believing in God...

Either way,

still takes a leap of faith.

So you're saying,

even in our disbelief,

that we still take

a leap of faith.

More or less.

Me, well, I've come

to my own conclusion.

You're gonna have to do

the same thing for yourself.

What are you doing here?

I thought you were banished.

(chuckles)

Hey.

What's the matter?

You people and your God.

You just... you know,

you talk in circles.

You offer... you offer

just enough evidence

but never enough

to be conclusive.

Then you fill in

all the gaps with,

"Oh, well, yeah,

you just gotta have faith."

It's a bunch of nonsense.

You're really irritating,

you know that?

(Lee groans)

Don't start with me, Kenny.

You don't waste a lick of time

bragging to all of us

how great a reporter you are.

So, why can't you put up

or shut up on this story?

What are you even talking about?

Here's where the chili

meets the cheese, my friend.

One of my heroes

was C.S. Lewis,

a man who began as a skeptic,

much like yourself.

At the end of his journey,

you know what he said?

He said,

if Christianity is false,

it's of zero importance.

But if it's true,

there's nothing more important

in the entire universe.

So, you want your wife back?

Well, hey, guess what,

people in hell want ice water.

Not everybody gets

everything they want.

(slams table)

Stop blaming me

and the Church and God,

and do your job.

Stack up the evidence,

follow the facts,

and write the story,

win or lose.

Good night.

[]

LESLIE:

Father, please...

please soften Lee's heart.

Put a new spirit in him.

Remove from him

his heart of stone,

and give him a heart of flesh.

[]

LEE:
The only way to truth

is through facts.

KENNY:

The entire Christian faith

hinges on the resurrection

of Jesus.

If it didn't happen,

it's a house of cards.

HABERMAS:

No, you just have to show

that Jesus died

and he was seen afterwards.

LEE:

How can we be sure

of the reliability

of those manuscripts?

MARQUEZ:

Archaeologists have recovered

5,843 Greek

New Testament manuscripts.

Nothing else in history

even comes close.

METHERELL:

Would you trust the Journal

- of the American Medical Association?

- LEE:
Yes.

METHERELL:
Jesus Christ

died on that cross.

LEE:
You're not telling me

what I hoped to hear today.

LESLIE:

What if it is true?

Wouldn't you want to know that?

CRAIG:
The first recorded

account tells us

that he was buried in a tomb.

The empty tomb

is based on evidence.

Isn't evidence your trade?

LESLIE:

Faith is the evidence

of things we can't actually see.

CRAIG:

Any careful historian will see

that the core account

is consistent

even if a... a few

of the secondary details

are told from different

perspectives.

HABERMAS:
500 separate people

saw Jesus at the same time.

WATERS:
That would be

an even bigger miracle

than the Resurrection itself.

CRAIG:
The disciples reported

what actually happened.

LEE:
People with

zero motivation to lie.

CRAIG:
Do you really want

to know the truth?

When is enough evidence

enough evidence?

LESLIE:
I felt something

that is maybe more real

than anything

I've ever felt in my life.

METHERELL:
This is not

a condition anyone could fake.

RAY:
Still takes a leap of faith.

LEE:

But why would he do it?

MARQUEZ:

It's really very simple.

Love.

[]

[]

All right, God.

(gulps)

You win.

(door opens)

- Hey-

- Hey-

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm fine.

How's he doing?

Good.

All right.

Come over here.

I want to talk to you

for a second.

Are you...

are you sure you're okay?

So, I have not been, um...

completely honest with you

over the last few months.

That's a really scary way

- to start a conversation.

- I... Just-just-just...

hang with me here, okay?

When you became a Christian,

- I freaked out. I mean...

- Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I was scared, um...

And I felt like

that I needed to, um...

to save you.

And so I decided to set out

to prove this was all a big con.

And so that's what

I've been doing all this time.

Your research?

Yeah. I-I mean, look at this.

It's... this is all...

all that stuff.

That's why I've been

so distracted.

That's why I went to California.

I just had to prove

this whole thing wrong.

But I couldn't.

The evidence for your faith...

it's more overwhelming

than I could've ever imagined.

But it wasn't

just the evidence, okay?

It was you.

You never stopped loving me.

You never gave up on me.

And I think, because of that,

God didn't, either.

(Leslie chuckles)

Wh... (laughs)

What?

I mean, I don't...

I don't think God

gave up on you, either,

but what... (laughing):

what are you saying?

(chuckling):

Uh... I can't even fathom

that I'm gonna say

these words out loud.

I believe.

Oh, hey, hey.

Okay.

Let me show you something.

Show you...

(sniffles)

"But as many as received Him,

to them He gave the right

to become children of God."

LEE:

Mm-hmm.

"To those who believe

in His name."

And what does that mean?

(chuckles)

That... means...

Believe...

plus receive...

equals become.

(inhales deeply)

Okay. Um...

So, then, how do I...

how do I receive?

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