The Case For Christ

Another motif in The Case for Christ is the importance of credentialing. Each of Strobel’s main chapters features a lengthy interview with an expert in theology who usually weighs in on their field of study. Strobel goes to great lengths to seek out specialists in their fields, like Dr. Alexander Metherell—a doctor who has extensively researched the crucifixion—and Dr. John McRay—a historian and archaeologists who specializes in Middle Eastern archaeology. But Strobel also exhaustively credentials each expert, too. He lists their degrees and conferring institutions, their fields of study, their publications, areas of expertise, and any other relevant information. He even gives readers a physical description along with reassuring attributes, like Dr. Ben Witherington III’s Southern “hospitality” (177) or Dr. Bruce Metzger’s “quick mind” (75).

As Strobel explains in his story about Harry Aleman and Louis Almeida, testimony is only as strong as its witness. In that case, Almeida’s testimony against Aleman was compromised. Not only did he have reason to finger Aleman for murder (Almeida had been offered “leniency” (96) in his sentence if he cooperated), Almeida was a criminal himself. Almeida’s criminal history and motivation for helping “tarnish[ed] his credibility”(96)—after all, he has already lied, stolen, and broken the law. But the reverse is true, too. The more credentialed a person, the more believable their testimony. That is why Strobel works so hard to make sure his experts are beyond reproach. Not only does he want to prove to readers that each one is extremely qualified to weigh in on Christianity’s authenticity, he also wants to make sure readers trust what they say. To put it another way, who is a reader more likely to trust: a small-town pastor or a professor of theology with a degree from Cambridge?

This process is also important because in many cases, Strobel’s expert testimony is the only evidence he has to substantiate certain positions. With a few exceptions (like Dr. Edwin Yamauchi’s history books or John McRay’s archaeological maps), most of the experts rely on evidence within the Bible itself to prove their points. For example, Dr. Gary Habermas’s assertions about Jesus’s resurrection are founded mostly on the creed found in 1 Corinthians with other evidence from the Bible. He rarely cites outside sources, mainly because the resurrection is a biblical issue. But that makes Habermas’s credibility even more important. If readers have any reason to doubt his honesty and truthfulness, it compromises the rest of his testimony. That is why credentialing is so important—and so pervasive—in The Case for Christ; it substantiates Strobel’s evidence and helps readers trust Strobel’s overall conclusions.