178: Is God Real? with Lee Strobel

Real Talk with Rachael Podcast

This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I'm speaking once again with Lee Strobel. Lee is a New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. He earned a journalism degree at the University of Missouri and was awarded a Ford Foundation fellowship to study at Yale Law School, where he received a Master of Studies in Law degree. He was a journalist for fourteen years at the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, winning Illinois’ top honors for investigative reporting (which he shared with a team he led) and public service journalism from United Press International. Lee also taught First Amendment Law at Roosevelt University. A former atheist, he served as a teaching pastor at three of America’s largest churches. Today he’s founding director of the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University. Lee and his wife, Leslie, have been married for more than fifty years and live in Texas. Their daughter, Alison, and son, Kyle, are also authors.

Key Points from Our Conversation:

• Lee wrote Is God Real? at the request of his publisher after realizing how many Google searches have been performed on the topic.
• People are deconstructing or leaving Christianity due to increased skepticism and less popularity among younger generations.
• Evidence for the resurrection is the key tenant of the Christian faith. We can have confidence in this evidence based on execution, early reports, empty tomb, and eyewitnesses
• Many people will point to suffering as a case against a good, loving God, but true love involves free will. We as imperfect humans have allowed evil and suffering to exist, but in His goodness, He fixes the things He had no part in breaking.
• It can be easy to feel as though God is too hidden, but often it's not that He isn't instructing us, it's that He's saying something we'd rather not hear.
• A majority of Christians tend to rely on their personal experiences as validation of His existence, which is a valid expression of faith. However, we need to know the evidence as we will be challenged by those who have had different experiences.
• The "apologetic pyramid" involves looking logically through the evidence that points to Christianity from three different world views - theism, atheism, and polytheism. Only Christianity passes the test of logic and livability.

Let’s Get Real Practical:

As we move into the new year, I'm pausing, processing, and praying about where the Lord wants to take the show in 2024. In the meantime, please take some time to process and pray through 2023 with my latest Talk Therapy series.

Resources:

Ep. 144: The Case for Heaven with Lee Strobel

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