The Case for Christ (2017)

What would you do if your whole world as you know it is being threatened?

Would you hide in comfort within your shell as you are wont to do? Or would you defy yourself and reason, daring to seek the source?

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Based on a true story, The Case for Christ is a roughly two-hour long movie released in 2017. Just from the title, you might already be scoffing.

"Christianity doesn't have a case; it's simply false," asserts the atheist.

"I don't need proof; I already believe in God," responds the Christian.

That's where, despite the odds, both sides share a sentiment-they both believe there is no empirical grounding for Christianity. You might believe so, too. It's practically become a fact of society, after all. But have you ever given Christianity the benefit of the doubt, a chance to speak for itself? Journalist Lee Strobel was forced to when, against all his wishes and desires, his wife began to nurse a newfound faith.

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Now an award-winning journalist with a substantial promotion, Lee Strobel is riding the highs of life. Everything he's fostered at his job is finally paying off. Everything he's fostered in his own family, however, is crumbling to pieces at an alarming rate. While at a restaurant to celebrate his award and promotion, Lee's daughter starts choking on a piece of candy. Lee and his wife, Leslie, can't seem to save her. Hope is quickly draining until a Christian nurse comes at the nick of time to save the girl.

"It wasn't a coincidence," the nurse reassures, laughing. "It was Jesus."

Turns out, the nurse was supposed to be at a different restaurant with her own husband, but some unseen force compelled her to go to the restaurant where Lee and Leslie were at instead. Leslie can't bring herself to pass off the encounter as mere chance, so Leslie seeks out the nurse to ask more about her faith. It doesn't take long for her to become Christian.

Lee is furious. He wants his wife back, not some 'watered-down' version of her. But Leslie won't relent.

"I feel something," she presses, increasingly desperate. "Something more real than anything I've ever felt in my life!"

At this, Lee resolves himself to use his journalistic and legal training to disprove Christianity, destroying his cause for strife once and for all. Not wanting to prolong the inevitable, he immediately went for the jugular: the resurrection of Christ. The Christian faith lives and dies on the resurrection. If it's proven false, his wife will finally see the light and return to him.

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The Case for Christ (2017), despite being two hours long, is succinct and compact, keeping the bare minimum without any space for superfluous content. It's a documentary in the form of a drama, and the familial strife the movie explores resonates with the hearts of its audience. Every piece included weaves together into a single persuasive point. Atheists and Christians alike admit to its storytelling genius. Whether or not both sides find it factually compelling is another story entirely, but if you watch the film with an open mind free of presuppositions and biases, you just might come out of the experience surprised.

The film isn't perfect, though. To fit both a drama and a documentary into a two-hour run-time limit, the movie cuts out a substantial amount of facts and information included in the book. Regardless, they still keep all the major pieces of information to build a compelling case for Christianity. If one is looking for a more thorough apologetic dissertation, though, the book is the better choice.

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All in all, The Case for Christ (2017) is both a compelling drama and an enlightening documentary. Whether or not you agree with the research, it garners an easy 4.5/5. If you're looking for a worthwhile binge, a fun time, and an enlightening experience, I cannot recommend this movie more.

- Sarah T.