Comedian Chris Distefano urges religious skeptic Bill Maher to read Lee Strobel's ‘The Case For Christ’
Comedian Chris Distefano recently urged Bill Maher to reconsider his position on faith, particularly Jesus and Christianity, by reading apologist Lee Strobel's popular book, The Case for Christ.
In the Jan. 21 episode of Maher’s "Club Random Podcast," Distefano discussed his Catholic upbringing and shared how Strobel's bestselling book led him to have a deeper faith in Jesus as an adult.
Distefano hailed the work that Strobel, a former atheist and investigative journalist-turned-Christian apologist, put into researching the life of Jesus on Earth and His claim of being the Messiah.
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“I believe in Jesus,” Distefano told Maher, a longtime religious skeptic whose 2008 movie "Religulous" shows his own exploration into world religions.
During the back-and-forth about Christianity, Distefano said there was a time when he lacked faith.
“I went to Catholic school my whole life. But after reading this book The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, the factual evidence that He existed, it's kind of overwhelming,” he said.
Maher countered, saying that the “factual evidence that Jesus existed has always been underwhelming.”
Following Distefano’s encouragement that he read The Case for Christ, Maher accepted the challenge but asked, “This is based on what, archaeological finds?”
“Archaeological finds, theological finds,” Distefano replied.
Following the 2016 release of The Case for Christ, a movie of the same name was made about Strobel's investigation into the life of Jesus after his wife's conversion to Christianity and his efforts to prove her wrong. His in-depth research transformed his life, and instead of finding evidence to disprove the existence of Jesus, he became a believer.
Distefano said one part of the book details how historians have more evidence for Jesus’ life than they do for Alexander the Great.
“If I told you factual evidence about Alexander the Great, you would believe me,” he told Maher.
Maher responded that whether or not Jesus lived isn't what he's focused on. Instead, “it’s whether He died and was then reborn [resurrected].”
“Maybe He existed. I agree. It’s absolutely possible He existed,” Maher conceded.
“But according to The Case for Christ, independent sources who didn't know each other, who wrote about Him within 20 years of His death, talked about these miracles happening as in real time,” Distefano continued, highlighting the writings of first century Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
Maher then countered by raising concerns about the dates when the Gospels were written after Jesus' death.
The two men subsequently agreed to move on to other topics after Maher encouraged Distefano to believe in whatever he wants to believe in.
“Don't come to me when you die and St. Peter says I'm not getting you in,” Distefano said jokingly, referring to the entrance to Heaven.
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post.
