The Case for Christ Page #3

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- That's not funny.

- Not meant to be.

(door opens and closes)

[]

Thank you.

[]

[]

YOUNG LESLIE:

I love you, Lee Strobel.

You and only you.

[]

LEE:
I feel like I can

get through to her before

she gets too deep,

but I remember,

you went through something

like this,

uh, with your daughter...

With Lori, right?

Yes, yes, I did.

It's a conundrum.

You see, in times of crisis,

we humans tend to seek meaning,

don't we?

You've read Bertrand Russell,

of course.

Yeah, of course.

I mean, not since college,

but...

There's no way that Leslie

would read that right now.

Yeah, my daughter wouldn't,

either,

but I kept picking away

at the delusion

until she finally came around.

But I gotta tell you, Lee,

doesn't come without a price.

How do you mean?

Whatever this is for Leslie,

maybe it's not

such a terrible thing.

I mean, if it

brings her comfort,

are you sure it's not something

you can live with?

Yes, I'm sure.

I'm not gonna lose

my wife and my kids

to some thing

that I can't even

reason with. No.

I can't even pretend

to go along with this, Ray.

I mean, you of all people

should understand that.

I do.

And I know that Leslie

is a reasonable woman,

so I think that reason

is probably the best approach.

And, as always, it comes down

to facts and truth.

Now, you present her

with the facts,

and I'm sure she will find

her way back to the truth.

Meanwhile, my collection

is at your disposal.

Take your time.

(sighs)

Appreciate it, Ray.

Oh, Lee, one more thing.

I'll be praying for you.

- That's not even funny.

- (Ray laughing)

LEE:
Kenny,

let me ask you something.

Uh, you're into all this

God nonsense.

Wow, you sure know how

to charm a source.

So, a bunch of Bible thumpers

got to Leslie.

Um...

I'm afraid she joined your cult.

So, if somebody...

somebody wanted to do

an investigation

into Christianity...

Oh, like a hit piece.

Well, uh...

you know, if that's

where the evidence leads.

(chuckles)

Seems to me you got yourself

a catch-22.

What's that?

Let's say you debunk

Christianity.

How's Leslie gonna live

with the man who destroyed

the very thing that now

gives her life meaning?

(stammers) I...

Because I should be the thing

that gives her life meaning.

And then what if Leslie's right

and you prove your theory

of science and reason wrong?

How are you gonna live

with yourself?

I'm willing to take that chance.

Okay. You're a journalist.

Check it out.

Where would you start?

Unless you want to do two years

of seminary, I'd say go

straight for the jugular.

The entire Christian faith

hinges on the resurrection

of Jesus.

If it didn't happen,

it's a house of cards.

He's reduced to

a misunderstood rabbi at best.

At worst, he's a lunatic

who was martyred.

For a guy who thinks I'm trying

to assassinate Christianity,

you sure you want

to hand me that gun?

I'm pretty sure

you're not gonna be able

- to pull the trigger.

- All right.

Who's the big authority

on the Resurrection?

Dr. Gary Habermas.

He debated Antony Flew.

That guy's one of my heroes.

He's in Wisconsin, by the way.

Big debate this weekend.

- Wisconsin?

- Mm-hmm.

Who would go to Wisconsin?

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REPORTER (over radio):

spike in gang violence,

especially in the communities

of Wrigleyville,

Lincoln Park, and Englewood,

as evidenced...

Dr. Habermas,

if Christians want to hold on

to their belief in a giant

cosmic imaginary friend...

- (light laughter)

- that's all well and good,

but don't try to stand

your historical technique

up against a tsunami

of legitimate scholarship.

- You will drown.

- (laughter)

HABERMAS:
Well, thank you

for the warning, Dr. Singer,

but are you not aware

that Gerd Ludemann,

one of the most famous atheist

New Testament scholars,

now believes

that the earliest known report

of the Resurrection

was formed no more than

three years after the Cross?

Now, these are your colleagues,

sir, not mine.

Something you'd like

to ask me, Mr. Strobel?

Yeah, well, I-l...

so I read your book,

and there's something

that stuck out to me.

How can anyone talk about

historical evidence

for the Resurrection

when the Resurrection,

by nature, is a miracle?

Right? We all know miracles

can't be proven scientifically.

Correct, but we don't have

to prove a miracle

to prove a resurrection.

(chuckling):
Okay. Love to

hear you explain that one.

No, you just have to show

that Jesus died

and he was seen afterwards.

Right, but the very people

who claim

that they saw him

are religious zealots.

So, in my line of work,

we call those "biased sources."

Well, I'm not interested

in bias either, Mr. Strobel.

You see, I care about the facts

for professional

and-and personal reasons.

Right, so where are the facts,

Dr. Habermas?

The Resurrection narrative is

more legend than it is history.

Really? Well, not according

to historical records.

Did you know that we have

a report of the Resurrection

with specific eyewitnesses

that dates all the way back

within months

of the Resurrection itself?

That source also adds

that 500 separate people

saw Jesus at the same time.

We're not talking decades

or centuries

after the Cross, Mr. Strobel.

It's months.

Hey, you a coffee drinker?

Uh, sure.

ALISON:
I should be able

to reach the faucet.

When am I gonna be taller?

(chuckling):

Before you know it.

- Ooh.

- What's wrong, Mommy?

Nothing's wrong.

It's just the little one

saying hello.

LEE:

Okay, so 500 witnesses,

but that's still just one

historical source: the Bible.

Wrong. There are at least nine

ancient sources

both inside and outside

the Bible

confirming that disciples

and others

encountered Jesus

after the Crucifixion.

But-but they were already

followers of Jesus.

Well, not all of them.

Think of Saul of Tarsus.

He originally was a persecutor

of Christians.

He hunted them down

and killed them.

Yet he died the Apostle Paul,

proclaiming that Jesus

was the Son of God.

But-but let's not

kid ourselves here.

People die for lies

all the time.

900 people died drinking

poison Kool-Aid at Jonestown.

True, and there are

other examples like that

throughout history,

but here's the difference.

People don't

willingly drink poison

for something

that they know is a lie.

Fair point.

If the early Church martyrs

knew that the Resurrection

was a hoax,

then why would they

willingly die for it?

- Would you?

- Um, I want to go back

to something

that you said earlier.

You said that, uh...

that this was personal to you.

Why is that?

I lost my wife Debbie to cancer.

I'm sorry about that.

It was the worst thing

that will ever happen to me.

(takes deep breath)

But in my time of loss, it...

it made me confront my beliefs.

That is where I found

my true comfort.

Because I know that I am gonna

see my wife again someday.

And... forgive me,

but as a man who...

who claims to value

hard evidence,

don't you find

that that sort of, um,

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