Week 1: Introduction — The Question Behind the Questions
Free — no cardRead the Introduction of The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. Key passage: Romans 1:20; Hebrews 11:1.
Before Strobel examines any single objection, he frames the entire book around a pivotal encounter — take time this week to sit with his opening argument about the nature of doubt and why it deserves a serious answer.
1.Strobel opens by recounting an interview with Charles Templeton — once Billy Graham's evangelistic partner, who eventually abandoned the Christian faith. What reason did Templeton give for his departure, and what did his emotional response in that interview reveal to Strobel about the staying power of these doubts?
2.Strobel distinguishes between 'doubt as a symptom of a rebellious will' and 'doubt as an honest intellectual struggle.' Do you think that distinction is valid? Which kind of doubt do you most often experience — or observe in people around you?
3.The book is structured around eight 'rocks of doubt.' Before reading further, which of the eight objections listed in the introduction do you find most personally troubling or most frequently raised by people you know?
a.Has any of these objections ever seriously shaken your own faith? Describe what that felt like.
b.Do you tend to avoid these questions or lean into them? What does your pattern tell you about yourself?