Revision History
My Critique of Lee Strobel's Case for Faith critique has received many revisions over time. Some minor, some major. As I get feedback from visitors, I revisit the issues, and revise my arguments. The current version of the critique is literally three times as long as the original. Readers who have not read this article recently are encouraged to reread it.
I have decided to provide the critique in Microsoft Word format. The document may be freely distributed so long as it retains its original form and copyright notice:
| the_case_against_faith.doc |
I know this revision history probably means more to me than to my readers. But this might be helpful to readers who have read an earlier edition to know what is new and what is not.
Dec 23, 2020: Announced Fifth Edition of this critique! Eh, truthfully, what changed specifically today is negligible. I made that semi-significant update in 2013 listed below. Since then, I've just made very minor grammatical and word choice improvements here and there not worth any individual mentions. But at this point, I think this is probably final now, so, I figured I would call it the Fifth Edition.
Feb 27, 2013: First update in years! A critic argued against me in regards to my response for Dr. Craig's lottery analogy. I decided it was worth strengthening that section. See Objection 2.
Dec 25, 2006: Announced major, Forth Edition of this critique. I suppose Christmas day is a fitting day to announce a new version of this paper. I hope this is finally the final version. In fact, I'm a bit embarrassed by some of the poor phrasings I had used in previous editions. This edition went through the Secular Web's new peer review process to improve word choice and strengthen arguments throughout. I hope I have now finally said all I have to say on this topic.
May 6, 2006: Small revisions to Objections 2, 4, and 7. A paragraph or two added to each to clarify a few points.
Nov 27, 2005: Went through and put page numbers on (hopefully) all quotes from Strobel's book. If I've missed any, be sure to let me know.
Nov 20, 2005: Updated Objection 7 with more details on the idea of objective morality.
Aug 20, 2005: Announced major, Third Edition of this critique. Similar to my Second Edition of 2003, no single update really deserves to be called a major new edition. However, I feel that the accumulation of the changes seen over the past two years represents, in total, being labeled a "Third Edition".
Aug 20, 2005: I had the paper professionally proof-read to correct grammar, spelling, etc
Aug 20, 2005: Rewrote Objection 3 to be more direct and to the point.
Aug 19, 2005: Revised Objection 7 with discussion of Old Testament vs. New Testament.
Aug 17, 2005: Small revisions to "About the Author", "Problems with Strobel's Approach" and "Conclusion" sections.
May 17, 2004: Revised Objection 1.
Nov 26, 2003: Rewrote Objection 5. Some original material remains, but it is mostly rewritten.
Nov 1, 2003: Revised Objection 6, sub-objections 7 & 8. Also second response to Tektonics.
Oct 26, 2003: Added response to Tektonics' "refutation". I expect to do some more revision of the main text to help clarify some points that the Tektonics article discusses.
Oct 22, 2003: Revised Objection 2, first seven paragraphs new or revised. This was to improve the discussion of what exactly are miracles and if they violate natural law.
Feb 28, 2003: Did yet one more proofread, improving a few wordings. This was done in preparation for re-submission to the Secular Web. Note: The Secular Web has indeed re-published this article. So as of this moment, the version here on my site and the version on the Secular Web are nearly identical. But as always, the version on this site will be the latest.
Feb 23, 2003: Added this revision history page. Also did one more proofread and fixed a handful of grammatical errors. Also, in a few cases, I revised the wording of some arguments to clarify the thought. Today's revision is very minor.
Feb 16, 2003: Objection 7 has received a make-over today. I also added a bit more to Objection 4, which I had just redone two days ago. I also have now changed the navigation of the critique, putting each objection on a separate page.
Feb 14, 2003: Objection 4 received a make-over today.
Feb 8, 2003: Today, I posted a complete rewrite of Objection 3. Perhaps some readers might even like my old version better. My original presentation was more logic based. But I decided to take a more personal approach to the Creationism issue.
Feb 1, 2003: Announced Second Edition of this critique. I suppose no one single revision deserves to be called a "Second Edition". But I concluded that on this date, my revisions in total up to this point represents a "Second Edition".
Feb 1, 2003: Rewrote Objection 2. Ron Stephenson's defense of Strobel revealed that my original presentation on this Objection was indeed weak and needed a complete overhaul.
Dec 8, 2002: Rewrote Objection 5 and Objection 8. My goal of this rewrite was to focus more strongly on the issue of the requirements of salvation.
Original Version: Original version was posted some time in 2001. I regret that I did not keep a revision history prior to this time, but I didn't. But I do know that a lot of revisions were made between the original version and my Dec 8, 2002 version.
Dec 23, 2020: Announced Fifth Edition of this critique! Eh, truthfully, what changed specifically today is negligible. I made that semi-significant update in 2013 listed below. Since then, I've just made very minor grammatical and word choice improvements here and there not worth any individual mentions. But at this point, I think this is probably final now, so, I figured I would call it the Fifth Edition.
Feb 27, 2013: First update in years! A critic argued against me in regards to my response for Dr. Craig's lottery analogy. I decided it was worth strengthening that section. See Objection 2.
Dec 25, 2006: Announced major, Forth Edition of this critique. I suppose Christmas day is a fitting day to announce a new version of this paper. I hope this is finally the final version. In fact, I'm a bit embarrassed by some of the poor phrasings I had used in previous editions. This edition went through the Secular Web's new peer review process to improve word choice and strengthen arguments throughout. I hope I have now finally said all I have to say on this topic.
May 6, 2006: Small revisions to Objections 2, 4, and 7. A paragraph or two added to each to clarify a few points.
Nov 27, 2005: Went through and put page numbers on (hopefully) all quotes from Strobel's book. If I've missed any, be sure to let me know.
Nov 20, 2005: Updated Objection 7 with more details on the idea of objective morality.
Aug 20, 2005: Announced major, Third Edition of this critique. Similar to my Second Edition of 2003, no single update really deserves to be called a major new edition. However, I feel that the accumulation of the changes seen over the past two years represents, in total, being labeled a "Third Edition".
Aug 20, 2005: I had the paper professionally proof-read to correct grammar, spelling, etc
Aug 20, 2005: Rewrote Objection 3 to be more direct and to the point.
Aug 19, 2005: Revised Objection 7 with discussion of Old Testament vs. New Testament.
Aug 17, 2005: Small revisions to "About the Author", "Problems with Strobel's Approach" and "Conclusion" sections.
May 17, 2004: Revised Objection 1.
Nov 26, 2003: Rewrote Objection 5. Some original material remains, but it is mostly rewritten.
Nov 1, 2003: Revised Objection 6, sub-objections 7 & 8. Also second response to Tektonics.
Oct 26, 2003: Added response to Tektonics' "refutation". I expect to do some more revision of the main text to help clarify some points that the Tektonics article discusses.
Oct 22, 2003: Revised Objection 2, first seven paragraphs new or revised. This was to improve the discussion of what exactly are miracles and if they violate natural law.
Feb 28, 2003: Did yet one more proofread, improving a few wordings. This was done in preparation for re-submission to the Secular Web. Note: The Secular Web has indeed re-published this article. So as of this moment, the version here on my site and the version on the Secular Web are nearly identical. But as always, the version on this site will be the latest.
Feb 23, 2003: Added this revision history page. Also did one more proofread and fixed a handful of grammatical errors. Also, in a few cases, I revised the wording of some arguments to clarify the thought. Today's revision is very minor.
Feb 16, 2003: Objection 7 has received a make-over today. I also added a bit more to Objection 4, which I had just redone two days ago. I also have now changed the navigation of the critique, putting each objection on a separate page.
Feb 14, 2003: Objection 4 received a make-over today.
Feb 8, 2003: Today, I posted a complete rewrite of Objection 3. Perhaps some readers might even like my old version better. My original presentation was more logic based. But I decided to take a more personal approach to the Creationism issue.
Feb 1, 2003: Announced Second Edition of this critique. I suppose no one single revision deserves to be called a "Second Edition". But I concluded that on this date, my revisions in total up to this point represents a "Second Edition".
Feb 1, 2003: Rewrote Objection 2. Ron Stephenson's defense of Strobel revealed that my original presentation on this Objection was indeed weak and needed a complete overhaul.
Dec 8, 2002: Rewrote Objection 5 and Objection 8. My goal of this rewrite was to focus more strongly on the issue of the requirements of salvation.
Original Version: Original version was posted some time in 2001. I regret that I did not keep a revision history prior to this time, but I didn't. But I do know that a lot of revisions were made between the original version and my Dec 8, 2002 version.
