The Resurrection of Jesus: An Interview with Lee Strobel

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There isn't one aspect of my life that isn't different. My worldview, my philosophy, my attitudes, my relationships, my parenting, my marriage--everything has been transformed by my relationship with Christ. Every decision I make, every moral choice that I select, every relationship that I have is all centered around my best understanding of how Jesus would want me to live in that moment.

I look back at a life as an atheist, which for me--I'm not saying this is true of all atheists--was a life of hedonism and self-destruction and immorality and drunkenness. It was an ugly life. Today I have a life that is full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I'm still light years away from where I should be, but I see growth in each of those areas.

One of the things I do every year at the beginning of every year is take those fruits of the spirit and grade myself. I say: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control--on each one of those, where am I today compared to last year? I use it as a grid.

Do you actually assign numbers?

Yeah. I assign a 1-10 scale and I pull out the previous year's. I say, last year I think I was a more loving person. Or a less gentle person, I need to grow in that area, I need to grow in self-control and so forth.

It's a great exercise. It brings you to a point of repentance.

You said that Jesus' resurrection gives you hope that you yourself will rise. What are your thoughts on whether American Christians really believe that?

Well, different Christian denominations take different views. But I think Jesus opened heaven for us and that those who were his followers will spend eternity with him. As a Christian, I have confidence that because Jesus rose from the dead, we will someday too.

A lot of people say, "my soul will go to heaven"--they don't mention their body that much. Why do you think Christian theology has emphasized that it's not just your soul going to heaven--that something will also happen with your body?

Part of that goes back to the resurrection of Jesus himself. Because it was a physical event I think we can have confidence that our resurrection will be physical as well.

Why isn't the soul good enough? Why does it have to be the body?

God created the soul, he also created the body. Centuries ago [some] saw the body itself as being evil and the soul as being good and they drew a distinction there that I don't think is warranted by the Bible. God created our bodies, he created our souls so it makes sense to me that we would have an eternal experience that would involve both.