The Case for Christmas - updated 2025

Who was in the manger that first Christmas morning? And how can we know for sure?

In this completely revised and updated edition of The Case for Christmas--reflecting the latest scholarship and research--award-winning legal journalist Lee Strobel weighs the evidence to distinguish myth from truth about what happened in Bethlehem.

What can we know about the events of Christmas morning? And, most importantly, who was born that day? Some say the newborn baby would become a great moral leader. Others, a social critic. Still others view Jesus as a profound philosopher, a rabbi, a feminist, a prophet, and more. Many are convinced he was the divine Son of God. But who was he really--and how can we know for sure?

Evaluating and organizing the biblical, historical, and textual evidence, Strobel searches out the true identity of the child in the manger, analyzing:

• The latest, most up-to-date scholarship and research
• The historical reliability of the accounts of Jesus's birth
• The evidence for the virgin birth
• The array of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by the birth of Jesus
• The most common questions about the story of Christmas

Join Strobel as he invites us to push past the distractions of the holiday season and come into the presence of the baby who was born to change us and rewrite our eternal destination: the greatest gift of all.