Solutions April 2017 | Page 12

Our General Editor, Kelinda Crawford, asked author Lee Strobel and screen- writer/producer Brian Bird: Q: How well will The Case for Christ “reach across the aisle” to people skeptical of Christianity? Strobel: This is a “safe” movie for Christians to bring their non-believ- ing friends to see with them. There’s no “cringe factor” or “cheesiness” in the film. It’s a high-quality production with winners of the Academy Award, Tony Award and other acting honors. So I’m hoping Christians will take a risk and invite their spiritually curious neighbors, colleagues, and family members to see this film with them. I believe they’ll be captivated by the love story, the tale of a troubled re- lationship between a father and son, and the account of a spiritual investi- gation. My prayer is that thousands of spiritual journeys will be launched as a result of people seeing this movie. Q: Brian, why make The Case for Christ now, for this generation of moviegoers? Are Millennials interested in apologetics? Bird: I actually believe every gener- ation is hungry for answers to their deepest existential questions: Is there a God and does meaning exist in the universe? Any seeker of truth, no mat- 12 Solutions ter what their age, would be remiss not to at least consider the evidence for Christ if they are being intellectual- ly honest in their search for answers. The reason I believe that The Case for Christ film is so relevant for today is that I would safely guess MOST believ- ers in Christ don’t have a good handle on the evidence for their faith, and they definitely don’t know how to ar- ticulate what they believe. For them, this film will be an inoculation against doubt, but also a terrific appetizer of the avalanche of historical evidence for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and for the veracity of the an- cient manuscript stream — evidence that very few Christians have studied themselves. Lee Strobel, the con- firmed atheist, realized after his deep- dive into the evidence that it would take more faith to stay in his atheism than it would to believe in Christ, and this film will also reinforce that truth for believers and skeptics alike. Plus, I think it turned out to be a really pow- erful and entertaining movie! Q: Lee, I’ve heard you say that, that it would have taken more faith to main- tain your atheism than to become a Christian. Can you explain that? Strobel: I spent nearly two years of my life investigating the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. I found that his death by crucifixion is historically indis-