The Case For a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God

Lee Strobel’s The Case for a Creator, published in 2004, emerged during a period of intense cultural and legal conflict over the teaching of evolution and alternatives to it in American public education. The book appeared amid what became known as the “intelligent design movement,” a coordinated effort by evangelical Christians and some theistic scientists to challenge the dominance of Darwinian evolutionary theory in scientific and educational institutions. This movement, largely coordinated through the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, sought to present intelligent design—specifically, the idea that evolution is guided not by natural selection but by intentional, ongoing intervention—as a legitimate scientific theory rather than as religious advocacy. The cultural moment was characterized by school board battles, legislative initiatives, and media controversies surrounding the inclusion of intelligent design in science curricula.

The publication of The Case for a Creator coincided with the buildup to the landmark Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial of 2005, in which a federal court would ultimately rule that intelligent design constituted a religious viewpoint rather than a scientific theory and that its inclusion in public school science classes violated the First Amendment. Several of Strobel’s interviewees, including Michael Behe and Stephen Meyer, played prominent roles in intelligent design advocacy and would be directly involved in the Dover case. The book thus represents a particular moment in evangelical apologetics when proponents of intelligent design believed that they could successfully challenge evolutionary theory on scientific grounds and hoped to gain acceptance for design arguments within mainstream scientific discourse.

Strobel’s approach reflects a strategy of engaging with scientific evidence, seeking to demonstrate that evangelical Christian beliefs could be defended through rational inquiry and empirical investigation. By interviewing scientists with legitimate academic credentials and focusing on scientific arguments rather than biblical literalism, The Case for a Creator attempted to position intelligent design as an alternative to naturalistic (that is, relating to laws of nature) explanations on the one hand and creationism (usually understood to mean belief in the Bible’s ex nihilo account of the Earth’s origins) on the other. Strobel is selective in the evidence he entertains; as critics have noted, he does not engage directly with scientists critical of the positions the book espouses. Nevertheless, the book’s popularity within evangelical communities demonstrated the appeal of this approach, offering believers a framework for maintaining faith commitments while engaging with elements of contemporary scientific discourse. Despite the failure of the intelligent design movement to secure a legal victory for its position as a scientific theory worthy of inclusion in educational curricula, it continues to exercise an influence in the evangelical community.