Seven stars
Loving a good theoretical discussion and analysis, I turned to this short piece by Lee Strobel. He seeks to explain Christmas and the core of Christianity, using his journalistic perspective by looking for hard proof. While perhaps not the best piece for the holiday season, I felt my mind sharpened and my analytical mind stimulated with Strobel's piece. Using research and analysis, Strobel seeks to explain the core sentiments of Christianity and provide it to the layperson. Doing so effectively, Strobel keeps me intrigued throughout this brief analysis.
While Lee Strobel has long made it clear that he is not entirely sold on the idea of Christ and Christmas, he chose to delve deeper to better understand things for himself (and perhaps the reader of this book). He speaks with biblical scholars, archeologists, and those in the field of Christian study to understand the truths, symbols, and themes on which Christians ground their beliefs. He keeps things clear and somewhat concise, while also offering up some strong arguments and biblical quotes to provide the foundation of his arguments.
While this is not a long or thoroughly detailed book, Strobel gives a hearty try in this superficial primer. How did the Gospels come to say what they did? Should we believe the quotes attributed to Jesus throughout? Could there be more symbolic sentiments, rather than literal interpretations for the reader and believer to to digest? Strobel seeks to explore this and many other views in this piece that sums it up quite well.
While I am not sold or newly converted it was nice to see some analysis, rather than rote acceptance. Religion is a thorny issue and I will be the first to agree that it can create more arguments than coming together. Still, it was nice to see Strobel explore these topics in short chapters, packed full of great sentiments and ideas. I am happy to have taken a short time to read this and let my mind open a little more. It does not solve all Christmas solutions, but does leave me thinking, the greatest gift this holiday season!
Kudos, Mr. Strobel, for this thought-provoking book.
No comments:
Post a Comment