Set in Chicago in 1980 and based on the bestselling book by former atheist Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ makes the exact argument its title promises. Strobel (Mike Vogel) is an arrogant newspaper journalist who believes in “facts, not feelings”. But, to quote the dancer Yvonne Rainer, feelings are facts, or at least they are according to those who believe in God. When his wife, Leslie (Erika Christensen, the best thing about the film), converts to Christianity, he’s furious (“You’re cheating on me, with Jesus!”), doubling down on his secular stance.
It’s clearly intended as a teaching text, though its evidence-based defence of faith (eyewitness testimonials of the Resurrection, a medical expert’s opinion on whether Jesus died on the cross) is a straw-man argument unlikely to have nonbelievers queuing up to be baptised. The film’s more interesting subtext is Strobel’s anxious masculinity and his insistence that he should be the thing that gives his wife meaning.
