Award-winning investigative journalist Lee Strobel spent the first 30 years of his life as an atheist. In fact, he believed religion was a cult, so when his wife came home one day and told him she had become a Christian, Strobel thought his marriage was over.
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“I’m trained in journalism and law … and was legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, an atheist, a skeptic,” Strobel told Shannon Bream in an episode of her “Living the Bream” podcast. “And everything was going along pretty well until my wife, who was an agnostic, met a Christian who shared her faith with her and took her to church. And then my wife gave me the worst news an atheist husband could get. She said, ‘I’ve just become a follower of Jesus.’
In order to save the marriage and “rescue” his wife, Strobel set out to disprove Christianity—specifically the resurrection of Jesus, calling it “the foundation of everything." But the opposite happened.
“I spent two years of my life [investigating], until November the 8th of 1981, when I sat down to reach a verdict, and I, as I reviewed all the evidence, I said to myself, ‘You know, in light of the avalanche of evidence that points so powerfully toward the truth of Christianity, I realize [it] would take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a Christian,’” he explained. “So, the scales just kind of tip decisively in favor of faith.”
Read Also: Lee Strobel's Hopeful Message Basis of New Film 'The Case for Heaven'
Strobel’s conversion inspired him to write “The Case for Christ,” which details his experience and the evidence he discovered during his investigation. The book has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and was even recreated into a feature film.
Since then, the “New York Times” best-selling author has published more than 40 other books, including his latest: “Is God Real?: Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life,” and an entire series devoted to examining some of the cornerstones of the Christian faith, from grace and hope, to miracles, creation and heaven.
“When the topic is heaven, questions proliferate,” Strobel explained in a recent social media post. “The image of a new heaven and a new earth stimulates our imagination, piques our curiosity, spurs us to search the Scriptures, and makes us hunger all the more for that day when the Lord ‘will wipe every tear’ from our eyes and ‘there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.’”
In 2022, Strobel’s “The Case for Heaven” was released as a documentary that investigates near-death experiences (including his own!) and presents evidence for Heaven and Hell. In the film, the author uses the same evidence-based and systematic approach he used in “The Case for Christ” to build a case for an afterlife and present a message of hope to millions of people.
"Jesus went to the Cross, He died to pay for the penalty that we deserve for the sins that we've committed and He offers forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift of His grace,” Strobel said in a 2022 interview, “When we receive that gift, we become a child of God, adopted into His family ... and we can be assured when we pass from this world, we'll spend eternity in the presence of God."
Stream “The Case for Heaven” today on Great American Pure Flix and be encouraged!
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