Best of 2024: Evidence for the Existence of God (Part 1 of 2)

Summary

Focus on the Family with Jim Daly: Best of 2024 - Evidence for the Existence of God (Part 1 of 2) Summary

Release Date: December 30, 2024

In this compelling episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, hosts Jim Daly and John Fuller engage in an enlightening conversation with renowned author and former atheist, Lee Strobel. The discussion delves deep into the evidence supporting the existence of God, drawing from Lee's investigative background and his journey from atheism to faith. This summary captures the key points, insights, and conclusions from the episode, complete with notable quotes and timestamps to guide listeners through the rich dialogue.

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1. Introduction to Lee Strobel and His Journey to Faith

The episode opens with Lee Strobel reflecting on the nature of the heavenly father compared to an earthly father, highlighting the distinctiveness and perfection of God's nature.

• Lee Strobel [00:02]: "Can you imagine for just a moment what the perfect father would be like? [...] that is the picture of your heavenly father."

Jim Daly and John Fuller introduce Lee, emphasizing his transformation from a hardcore atheist and investigative journalist to a devoted Christian, underlining the authenticity and depth of his testimony.

• Jim Daly [00:43]: "I love his testimony of being an atheist journalist and then coming to Faith in Christ. It's one of the most awesome stories..."

2. Lee Strobel’s Background and Conversion

Lee shares his personal story of transitioning from atheism to Christianity, underscoring the pivotal role his wife played in his spiritual journey.

• Lee Strobel [04:13]: "I'll tell you something, I don't tell normally, but I was so mad, first word that went through my mind was divorce. [...]"

Jim Daly highlights Lee's humility and the significant changes he underwent, aligning with the biblical notion of becoming a new person in Christ.

• Lee Strobel [04:55]: "I think a second Corinthians 5:17 talks about, you know, when you come to Christ, you are a new person."

3. Exploring the Existence of God: Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives

The conversation shifts to the core topic of Lee's book, "Is God Real? Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life," where Lee outlines his investigative approach to proving God's existence.

• Lee Strobel [05:53]: "When I started my investigation, I did a couple things. [...]"

He introduces the Kalam Cosmological Argument, a cornerstone of his evidence for God, explaining its premises and implications.

• Lee Strobel [11:27]: "It's very simple. It says this, number one, whatever begins to exist has a cause. Number two, we now know the universe began to exist. Therefore the universe must have a cause behind it."

Jim Daly elaborates on how contemporary scientific discoveries, such as the Big Bang theory, corroborate the biblical account of the universe's inception.

• Jim Daly [13:42]: "It does lean and push us toward believing that there is a creator, if you're fair minded about it."

4. Fine-Tuning of the Universe and Intelligent Design

Lee presents compelling arguments about the fine-tuning of the universe, illustrating how precise constants like gravity's force are essential for life and what their improbability suggests about intelligent design.

• Lee Strobel [14:33]: "The ratio of the electromagnetic force to the gravitational force... one chance in 10,000 trillion trillion, trillion."

He uses vivid analogies to convey the improbability of such fine-tuning occurring by chance, reinforcing the necessity of a creator.

• Lee Strobel [15:31]: "Imagine a continent the size of North America piled with dimes all the way to the moon... what are the odds it would be that dime that had been spray painted red?"

Jim Daly connects these scientific insights to the broader cultural shift towards atheism, emphasizing the importance of presenting faith as grounded in historical and scientific truth.

• Jim Daly [10:12]: "That's the irony."

5. The Role of Information and Intelligence in Creation

Delving into the microscopic realm, Lee discusses the intricate information encoded within DNA, positing that such complexity inherently points to an intelligent designer.

• Lee Strobel [20:00]: "Embedded in that DNA is a four letter chemical Alphabet that spells out the precise assembly instructions for every protein out of which you're made."

He contrasts natural patterns formed by physical forces with those that display intentional design, advocating that information-rich structures necessitate an intelligent source.

• Lee Strobel [21:23]: "Whenever there's a computer code or a book or a painting on a cave wall, there is always an intelligence behind it."

6. The Resurrection of Christ: A Defining Evidence

Concluding the episode, Lee emphasizes the resurrection of Jesus as pivotal evidence for His divinity and the truth of Christianity. He shares anecdotes from his investigative interviews, including one with Hugh Hefner, illustrating how acknowledgment of the resurrection's truth leads to profound implications.

• Lee Strobel [22:21]: "If the resurrection is true, my goodness, it knocks over a series of dominoes that lead to all kind of wonderful things."

He recounts the transformation of Sir Lionel Luckoo, a highly respected lawyer, who after investigating the resurrection, declared its evidence as overwhelmingly compelling.

• Lee Strobel [24:20]: "I say unequivocally that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels a acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt."

7. Conclusion and Call to Action

The episode wraps up with acknowledgments of Lee Strobel's impactful presentation of evidence for God's existence and a reminder of the ongoing work at Focus on the Family to support and spread the Christian faith.

• John Fuller [24:35]: "Some great stories and powerful insights from Lee Strobel today..."

Listeners are encouraged to engage with Lee's work and support the ministry's mission through donations, reinforcing the transformative power of faith and evidence-based belief.

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Key Takeaways:

1. Personal Transformation: Lee Strobel's journey from atheism to Christianity underscores the profound impact of seeking truth with an open mind and heart.

2. Kalam Cosmological Argument: This philosophical argument provides a logical basis for the universe's existence, pointing to a transcendent cause.

3. Fine-Tuning and Intelligent Design: The precise constants of the universe and the intricate information in DNA suggest intentional design rather than random chance.

4. Resurrection of Christ: The resurrection serves as critical evidence for Jesus' divinity, compelling belief through its historical and philosophical implications.

5. Integration of Science and Faith: The dialogue highlights the compatibility of scientific discovery with theological belief, advocating for a faith grounded in evidence.

This episode serves as a robust foundation for understanding the intellectual and evidential basis for believing in God, making it a valuable resource for believers and seekers alike.

Transcript

[Lee Strobel]

Can you imagine for just a moment what the perfect father would be like? Just imagine. What would he be like? Oh, well, he'd be gracious. He'd be kind. He'd be your biggest cheerleader, he'd be your biggest encourager. He'd pick you up in his lap and give you a hug, say, that is the picture of your heavenly father.

[Jim Daly]

Right.

[Lee Strobel]

Your heavenly father is not just a magnified version of your earthly father. He is fundamentally different. He is the perfect father. He is the father who you long to have for eternity.

[John Fuller]

Well, that's Lee Strobel reflecting on the question of whether God is real. And Lee is here with us today on this best of 2024 episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Fuller.

[Jim Daly]

John, I always enjoy having Lee on the program, just so capable. I love his testimony of being an atheist journalist and then coming to Faith in Christ. It's one of the most awesome stories and it just builds the veracity of what scripture's about and how a life has changed. And he's down to earth about it, too, which is also great. Sometimes it's a challenge to explain our beliefs, especially when opponents are saying that God and science can't coexist. Science is winning the day. We're bombarded by that message each and every day. But when you peel it back a little bit, I've started to realize I.

[Unknown]

Think it's the opposite.

[Jim Daly]

I think so much today science is proving God actually does exist. And you hear it in small ways and sometimes in thunderous ways. But even the big bang, what does that mean? Before was nothing and all of a sudden something was. And we're going to talk about these great concepts today with Lee Strobel. He's written the book, the title Is God Real? That's the number one question of humanity. It's what everybody asks. We get a lot of marriage and parenting questions, but the number one question we get is still is God real? And this will be a great two day program.

[John Fuller]

Yeah. Lee is such an engaging person to talk with. He's a best selling author. He's been on this broadcast a number of times. We always get a big response from our listeners. He currently serves as founding director of the Lee Strobel center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University. And today, as you said, Jim, we're talking about his book is God Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life? And of course, we have that book here at the ministry. Get a copy when you call us or Check the program description for the link.

[Jim Daly]

Lee, welcome back.

[Lee Strobel]

Thanks so much. It's always great to be with you. I love hanging out with you.

[Jim Daly]

It's so fun. It's kind of like just sitting on the couch talking. Right?

[Lee Strobel]

It is.

[Jim Daly]

Which is so much fun. And you make it so easy. Thank you. Really, thank you for continuing to be a humble guy. You might say, well, I'm really not. If you talk to my wife, I.

[Lee Strobel]

Don'T know what you're all about.

[Jim Daly]

Seriously, you are one of those key Christian leaders that has really demonstrated I'm just a guy, and the Lord loves me like he loves you. And you've had a lot of notoriety, and so often Christian leaders fall in that spotlight because pride gets a hold of him. And thank you for not letting that happen.

[Lee Strobel]

That's very kind of you to say. My wife keeps me in line. You know, we've been married.

[Jim Daly]

Well, that's a truism for all of us, right?

[Lee Strobel]

And she never lets me forget that we started out as we met when we were 14 years old. We grew up together, so to speak.

[Jim Daly]

Came to Christ kind of together.

[Lee Strobel]

Came to Christ.

[Jim Daly]

She was first.

[Lee Strobel]

She was first. She kind of led me into an investigation that I discovered that Christianity is real, that God is real. But she keeps me anchored. She travels with me. She's my best friend.

[Jim Daly]

You know, Lee, for those that don't know your background, just a couple of sentences on that. You were a hardcore atheist. Everything was materialistic to you. You're a journalist, investigative journalist. So it had to be, what can I see? What can I touch? What can you prove to me? Which does give your testimony so much more veracity, so much more honesty to it, because you weren't looking for something supernatural. You were the opposite guy.

[Lee Strobel]

Exact. Through a neighbor who was a Christian nurse who became her best friend and who took her to church and answered her questions. My wife was agnostic. And I'll never forget when she gave me the bad news that she had become a Christian.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah, right. You were angry.

[Lee Strobel]

Angry. I'll tell you something, I don't tell normally, but I was so mad, first word that went through my mind was divorce. And she had just planted a flower garden in our backyard. And I was so mad, it was time for me to mow the lawn. So after she told me, I was so mad, I went outside and I mowed down her entire flower gardener.

[Jim Daly]

Remember that humble thing I said a minute ago? I'm taking that all back. I mean, that's a changed life right there. That's the kind of guy you were when you look at that. I mean again, you put all the investigation aside, the rigorous scrutiny of the resurrection of Christ and those things we're going to talk about, but who can take that away from you? You are a different person.

[Lee Strobel]

Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think a second Corinthians 5:17 talks about, you know, when you come to Christ, you are a new person. The old is gone, the new has come. And I, at the direction my life was head, I was a hedonist. I thought if there is no God, if there is no judgment, if there is no heaven, if there is no hell, if there is no ultimate accountability, best way to live is to pursue pleasure. And so I lived a very immoral, drunken, profane, narcissistic life. I mean, that's who I was.

[Jim Daly]

All right, let's get into this book. Is God Real? I mean that's a heady title to be the author of.

[Lee Strobel]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

And in that context, I mean you really do believe if a person comes with an open mind, not predetermined to battle you, but even in that case that's okay. But with that open mind, you think a fair minded person will put the pieces together if they're seeking the Lord.

[Lee Strobel]

You know, the Old Testament and Jeremiah, the New Testament, Hebrews both say if you sincerely seek God, you're going to find him.

[Jim Daly]

That's exciting.

[Lee Strobel]

Yeah, that's exciting. And I think the key is a open hearted, open minded investigation. When I started my investigation, I did a couple things. I said, number one, I'm going to do this like an umpire in a baseball game. I'm going to call a ball, a ball and a strike, a strike and just let things play out the way they should. Number two, when I have gathered the evidence, I'm going to reach a verdict. I'm not going to do this forever. When the evidence is in, I'm going to reach a verdict. And the third thing I did, and this will surprise you, I think I prayed. I was an atheist and the prayer I prayed was God. I don't believe you're there. In fact, I'm sure you're not. But if you are, I want to meet you.

[Jim Daly]

Wow, that's great.

[Lee Strobel]

I figured what have I got to lose? 15 seconds, 10 seconds of a prayer. And if God is real, then it changes everything.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah. Why do you think this question of God's existence is something humans have a pursued for so long? And I guess when I look at it, one of the most profound statements I've ever heard on that you look at all of humanity around the world and you find religion. Yeah, you find five major religions. Most of them, I'd say all but one are typically things you do to get to God. You pray five times a day, a certain direction, and you live a very kind of rigid lifestyle. And therefore you will achieve heaven. I believe Christianity is the only religion, if we use that term, that is evidence of God reaching out to us. And that always convicted me. And it seemed to be the right thing when God's the one doing it, not us trying to do it.

[Lee Strobel]

Yes, Every other religion is based on the due plan. You got to do a bunch of things to try to earn your way to God. Christianity is spelled D O N E. It's done. Jesus died on the cross. It's finished. And it is a free gift of God's grace that makes it distinctive among all the world religions. God offers forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift of grace.

[Jim Daly]

Well, and the positive construct there is that we're all looking. You know, we're coming up. These are isolated areas that maybe back when these religions were started, there wasn't a lot of exposure to Christianity. But people's hearts are turned toward God. That's the fundamental truth.

[Lee Strobel]

You know, it's funny, the reason I wrote this book is my publisher actually came to me and said, we've discovered something interesting. Our tech people. I said, what? Said, we've discovered that 200 times a second around the clock, someone on planet Earth is typing into a computer search engine. Basically, the question, Is God real?

[Jim Daly]

200 times a second.

[Lee Strobel]

200 times a second. And I thought, if there's. Then it goes with what you're saying. There's this innate desire in us to find what is our purpose? Who is our creator? Am I alone? Is there a future? Is there an afterlife? Is there more than this world that I see and touch? And so I thought, my goodness. And yet, as you say, the percentage of Americans who believe in God is now down to its lowest ever, 81%. And yet at the same time, we're seeing a lot of young people with curiosity about faith. I have a friend whose ministry is to travel the country and to speak to groups of high school and college students. He said, I've seen more teenagers come to faith in Jesus Christ in the last three years than in the previous 18 years of ministry combined.

[Jim Daly]

And why?

[Lee Strobel]

It's because I think the emptiness that people feel when you extract the belief in God from a culture, people feel that. And they say, are we without an anchor? Are we without Hope, Is this all that there is? You know, if God does not exist, if God is not real, we don't have free will. We have no afterlife, no hope for anything beyond this world. There's all these implications that flow out of that. And I think people, when a culture begins to slide in that direction, as our culture has, then people begin to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Is there any hope? Is there anything I can grasp onto that can give me something beyond this world?

[Jim Daly]

Well, and in that context, I mean, we as Christians become very fearful when we see that slide. Yet at the same time, it may be the very ingredients that God is going to use for revival.

[Lee Strobel]

Exactly.

[Jim Daly]

Right. I mean, that's the irony.

[Lee Strobel]

Exactly. Yeah, but we're seeing these things around the country, these little revivals, breaking out colleges. Yeah. And we see it. I saw One ministry had 20% more young people coming to faith last year than the previous year. So there are these good signs that are going on. And I think it's incumbent on us as followers of Christ to help young people recognize that we have a faith that is not based on make believe, wishful thinking, legend, or that kind of thing, but it's built on a solid foundation of historical and scientific truth. That is what this book is about.

[Jim Daly]

Lee, as a journalist, I mean, you set up interviews probably over your entire lifetime, even after becoming a Christian. So you're drawing from interviews that you've done over the decades. One person that caught me and you mentioned in the book, Ph.D. in philosophy, Bill Craig. Yes, and something that he called the Kalam Argument.

[Lee Strobel]

Kalam, Cosmological Argument. Sounds fancy title, but a simple argument.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah, but I love this. Is it like Occam's razor, Take everything to the extreme and is it positive or negative? And that usually indicates what is true.

[Lee Strobel]

Right.

[Jim Daly]

So in that context, column's argument, what is it?

[Lee Strobel]

It's very powerful. And I'll tell you what, Jim, if I were still an atheist, this single argument for the existence of God would convince me that God exists. This would all I need. It's very simple. It says this, number one, whatever begins to exist has a cause. Number two, we now know the universe began to exist. Therefore the universe must have a cause behind it. Now you think about that. What kind of a cause can bring a universe into existence? Well, number one, it must be transcendent because it had to be separate and apart from creation. Number two, it had to be eternal or timeless because it existed before physical time came into being. It must be immaterial. Or spirit because it existed before physical things were created. It must be powerful given the immensity of the creation event. Must be smart given the precision of the creation event. Must be personal because he had to make the decision to create. Must be creative because, my goodness, just look at the wonders of this universe. Must be caring or loving because he fashioned a habitat for us to flourish in. And then Occam's razor, the scientific principle that says don't manufacture causes to explain an effect beyond what you need. You just need one God. So there'd be just one creator. So what have we got? Transcendent, eternal spirit, powerful, smart, personal, creative, caring, unique. That is a description of the God of the Bible. And you go, this is such an airtight argument that no skeptic has been able to shoot it down. And Bill Craig, who is popularized, two PhDs, one of the top philosophers in the world, he's done debates with major philosophers around the world on this topic. And it is a powerful argument that again, just became particularly potent in the last few decades because it used to be that until now, scientists thought the universe always existed. But Christians always opposed that and said, no, no, no, wait a minute. According to the Bible, it began to exist at some point in the past. And that's exactly what science tells us.

[Jim Daly]

And it is both interesting and it should not be alarming that the deeper science goes, the more that we see of God's nature and God's universe.

[Lee Strobel]

Exactly.

[Jim Daly]

It does lean and push us toward believing that there is a creator, if you're fair minded about it. I saw the Time magazine when the Big Bang was finally kind of resolved. Yes, there was the Big Bang, and they said all of matter may have existed in the size of a golf ball. And what was interesting is that scripture talks about the entire universe being in the hand, and we're made in the image of God. So, I mean, you could put that together, of course, a very subtle point, debatable, of course, but that in the palm of God's hand, whom we are created in the image of, everything existed.

[Lee Strobel]

Yeah, it's remarkable. And then you look at the way the universe is finely tuned in a way that defies the explanation. Oh, it's just a coincidence. Oh, it just happened by chance.

[Jim Daly]

No, it didn't list some of those things because it's pretty remarkable.

[Lee Strobel]

Well, I'll give you a couple that are my favorite. The force of gravity. We all know what that is. You drop something, it's going to hit the floor. But the force of gravity could have been set anywhere along the continuum. If you pictured a ruler across the entire universe, 20 billion light years broken down in one inch increments, that represents the plausibly the range along which the force of gravity could have been set anywhere along that ruler. And yet it's set at the exact right place so that life can exist. What if we changed it? What if we changed the force of gravity 1 inch? Compared to the 20 billion light year width of the universe, intelligent life would be impossible anywhere in the universe. I'll give you one other example that is probably this one will just blow your mind. It's the ratio of the electromagnetic force to the gravitational force. Now that's a complicated deal, but here's what you need to know that is finely tuned. So one part in 10,000 trillion trillion trillion.

[Jim Daly]

Unbelievable.

[Lee Strobel]

Now how do we visualize that? Well, the astrophysicist Hugh Ross said, here's an illustration. Imagine a continent the size of North America piled with dimes all the way to the moon, 238,000 miles. Okay, you got that picture? Okay, now picture 1,000 North Americas with dimes piled up to the moon. Okay, now picture a billion continents the size of North America with dimes piled 238,000 miles up to the moon. Now take one dime and spray paint it red and mix it among the billion continents piled up to the moon. And then take one person, blindfold them and say you can reach in one time and you can pick out one dime. What are the odds it would be that dime that had been spray painted red? The odds are one chance in 10,000 trillion trillion, trillion.

[Jim Daly]

I mean some people, and I'll get your response to this, most rational people will go, okay, that's overwhelming evidence for order and intelligent design and creator. There will be someone, a skeptic that says, yeah, so we found the one dime. I mean that's almost insane.

[Lee Strobel]

I asked the scientist that, he's a Ph.D. from UCLA and a professor of physics at a major university in the Midwest secular university. And I asked him what are the odds that this could have happened just by happenstance. That one dime, that one dime. And he looked at me and he said, well we scientists have a term for that. I said, what? He said, ain't gonna happen. It's just when you reach numbers like, and remember, keep in mind that's just one D, there's 50 to 100 of these dials. And when you get to those numbers you can say it is impossible. It is impossible. And so if you just take the origin of the universe that we Talked about, if you look at the fine tuning of the universe, how does anyone who studies this come to the conclusion that there is not a supernatural creator behind it? I don't know, because it would convince me.

[Jim Daly]

You know, it's interesting. I remember when we did the Truth project, we filmed Dr. Berlinsky. I think he was mathematics at Stanford University at the time. But he said, you know, the dirty little secret between the Biology Department and the Math department is we don't eat lunch together because we don't agree with their models like evolution, just mathematically. There was never enough time for that to occur. And I thought that was. And he said, you know, people will say to me, oh, you have that bias because you're a religious person. He said, I'm not. I'm agnostic. But there is no way, mathematically speaking, that happened. It kind of points to your truth seeker. Speak to that for a moment, though. In this culture where herd mentality seems to have consumed us now with technology, you had the quarantine, people just moved in a herd. And when it comes to worldview and understanding things, it seems like we've lost so many people saying, wait, wait a minute. What about, you know, kind of the skeptic in all areas.

[Lee Strobel]

Right. And that's true. And it is easier today to come out as an atheist than it is to come out as an evangelical Christian, for sure, in our culture because there's.

[Jim Daly]

So much support for it. Pats on the back.

[Lee Strobel]

Exactly. When I was an atheist, you never told people you were an atheist back then in the 1970s. Oh, people would think you're a pedophile or something. You just didn't say that. Now it's the in thing. And so our kids go off to college and they hear things and are challenged in their faith by professor. And they come home at Thanksgiving and say, yeah, I'm not so sure I believe this stuff anymore.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah, Lee, we had painted the picture. Let's go. You know, we talked about the universe and all of that. Let's go microscopic. Because Jean did chemistry degree, my wife. And this morning, early, when I was reading the prep and going through the book, one of the things you captured in there, which is stunning. And of course, my wife said, yeah, I knew that. Which is in every cell in the body. 100 trillion cells we have generally. I'm not counting your cells, John, but you can do that later. 100 trillion. But within each cell, there's six feet of DNA.

[Lee Strobel]

That's right. I was like, in every cell.

[Jim Daly]

Blows me away as an mba.

[Lee Strobel]

Yes.

[Jim Daly]

Yes, I said that to Jean. She goes, oh, yeah?

[Lee Strobel]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

I'm like, that's unbelievable.

[Lee Strobel]

It is unbelievable. You open any cell in your body, a cell, and unwind the DNA, it's six feet tall. And here's the thing. Embedded in that DNA is a four letter chemical Alphabet that spells out the precise assembly instructions for every protein out of which you're made. So in other words, just like English uses a 26 letter Alphabet to spell out words, DNA uses a 4 letter chemical Alphabet to explain how to create us, how to make a heart, how.

[Jim Daly]

To make a liver, a skeletal.

[Lee Strobel]

And it's just there is more information. There are more words in every cell in your body than in 200 years of the Sunday New York Times in every cell in your body. And the question is, where did that come from? Because every time, without exception, when we see information, there's always an intelligence behind it. So nature can produce patterns. We know that. I live in Houston a lot of times, a lot of my time. And if you go down to Galveston beach on a morning and the sand is wet, you can see ripple marks in the sand. And it is logical to say the waves made those ripple marks. Why? Because nature can produce those kind of patterns. But if you're walking down the beach in Galveston at dawn and in the wet sand, you see John loves Mary and a heart around it and an arrow through it, you wouldn't say, oh, the waves created.

[Jim Daly]

Those are smart waves.

[Lee Strobel]

Yeah, those are smart waves. They're intelligent. That's right. There has to be an intelligent behind it. So whenever there's a computer code or a book or a painting on a cave wall, there is always, always, always an intelligence behind it.

[Jim Daly]

Let's end here. This is kind of whiplash. I want to prepare the viewers and the listeners. We're going to end with this question because I think it's setting up for tomorrow's discussion, which I'm looking forward to already. But you say Easter, and you've mentioned this in the opening. The resurrection of Christ is the defining moment that Jesus could have claimed to be the Son of God. But if there was no resurrection, there's nothing special other than a really good human being that lived a good life and taught many good things. The resurrection is it. You once interviewed Hugh Hefner from Playboy about this content. And what did he have to say about the resurrection? I can't believe you asked him about it. But the resurrection of Christ at Hugh.

[Lee Strobel]

Hefner, I actually got to interview him in the Playboy Mansion about his beliefs about God. I used to have a TV show, a national show called Faith Under Fire, and they got.

[Jim Daly]

No kidding?

[Lee Strobel]

Yeah, no kidding.

[Jim Daly]

There's an example of it, right?

[Lee Strobel]

So here he is in his traditional silk pajamas and smoking pipe. And I said, well, what do you think about the resurrection of Jesus? And he looked, his eyes got wide. He said, oh, well, if the resurrection is true, my goodness, it knocks over a series of dominoes that lead to all kind of wonderful things. It means that there's an afterlife. There's so many things. And so I said, well, have you ever looked into the resurrection? Have you ever looked at the evidence for the resurrection? He said, no, no, I just don't believe it's true. I don't believe that Jesus is more God anymore than you and I are. And so I go, oh, wait a minute. He was a bright guy, and he understood, even as an atheist or as a skeptic, he understood the relevance and the implications if the resurrection is true. And yet he never took the time to investigate. And that is so true of so many of us. The greatest lawyer who ever lived, Sir Lionel Luckoo in the Guinness Book of World Records, won more murder trials in a row as a defense attorney than anybody in history. Knighted twice by Queen Elizabeth, appointed the Supreme Court of his land. And he was a skeptic about the resurrection until somebody went to him and said, sir Lionel, you're the greatest lawyer who's ever lived. Have you ever investigated the evidence? And he said, no, I haven't, but I will. And he spent years doing it. And I'll recite to you one sentence he wrote that summarized his conclusion. He says, I say unequivocally that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels a acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt. This from the most successful lawyer who's ever lived.

[John Fuller]

Some great stories and powerful insights from Lee Strobel today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. And I hope you've been moved by what he said and assured in your heart about the truth of Jesus Christ, and there's more to come next time.

[Unknown]

Lee's done a great job presenting the evidence for the existence of God. I mean, I've given out so many.

[Jim Daly]

Of the Case for Christ books, and.

[Unknown]

You know, he brought his journalism background into his pursuit of disproving God. And you're certainly familiar with that, I'm sure. But I love the way he's shown us that science and faith actually match up. They come together in many ways. And, you know, this is one of the reasons that we try to present this great material. Evangelism is one of the things we try to do here at Focus. Last year with our survey work, about 190,000 people came to Christ.

[John Fuller]

That's huge. 190,000.

[Unknown]

90,000 of focus in that way, like doing a big rally. But the Family is a great tool to talk to people about the Lord and the need for the Lord. So it's been a very successful endeavor. That's why we do programs like this. And if Focus has helped you in that way, or in marriage or parenting or maybe in a pro life sense, man, I hope you can give back to the ministry. We need to hear from you.

[Jim Daly]

Right now.

[Unknown]

We're running behind at the year end budget and we do need people to step up and say we're with you. And it's been a pretty difficult year with the election and, and just the economy not being in a healthy place. You can be part of that giving community and we want to give families hope and you can be a part of that through Focus on the Family. When you give any amount today, as our way of saying thank you, we'll send you a copy of Lee's outstanding book Is God Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life. Now, who doesn't want that book?

[Lee Strobel]

Right?

[Unknown]

And it will certainly change your walk and your commitment, I believe. And it will help strengthen your faith in Christ.

[John Fuller]

Donate today and get your copy of the book Is God Real? When you call 800 the letter A in the word family, that's 800-232-6459 or you can go online. We've got the link in the show notes. And while you're at our site, sign up for our best of 2024 audio collection. It's free and you'll have access to our entire library of the best episodes from this past year addressing faith, parenting and marriage. On behalf of the entire team, thanks for listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller inviting you back as we hear more from Lee Strobel and help you and your family thrive in Christ.

[Unknown]

Your marriage can be redeemed even if the fights seem constant. Even if there's been an affair, even if you haven't felt close, even no matter how deep the wounds are, you can take a step toward healing them with a Hope Restored Marriage Intensive. Our biblically based counseling will help you find the root of your problems and face challenges together. We'll talk with you, pray with you, and help you find out which program will work best. Call us at 1-866-875-2915.