Strobel received a journalism degree from University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, becoming a journalist for The Chicago Tribune and other newspapers for fourteen years. Strobel claims he was an atheist before he converted to Christianity. Strobel was a teaching pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, from 1987 to 2000, and of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California from 2000 to 2002, before shifting his focus to his writing and producing his TV show. He continues to speak periodically at both churches and has been a board member of the Willow Creek Association. In 2007, Strobel was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Southern Evangelical Seminary in recognition of his contributions to Christian apologetics.

His daughter, Alison, is a novelist.

The Case for a Creator

The Case for a Creator consists of interviews with intelligent design advocates and Christian apologists who argue for the existence of a creator. The advocates interviewed in the chapters and their topic(s) of discussion are as follows:

• Intelligent design advocate, Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture (CSC) fellow and Unification Church theologian Jonathan Wells presents a case against evolution;
• Intelligent design advocate, CSC fellow and philosopherti of science Stephen C. Meyer discusses the relationship between science and religion, as well as the origin of life, arguing against the likelihood of abiogenesis without the assistance of a creator;
• CSC fellow and philosopher of religion William Lane Craig discusses the Big Bang and argues for a creator as first cause, invoking the Kalam cosmological argument;
• International Society for Complexity, Information and Design fellow and philosopher Robin Collins discusses the anthropic principle and argues that the universe must be designed by a creator;
• Intelligent design advocates and CSC fellows Guillermo Gonzalez (an astronomer) and Jay Richards (a theologian) present a case that the Rare Earth hypothesis supports intelligent design;
• Intelligent design advocate, CSC fellow and biochemist Michael Behe discusses irreducible complexity in biology as an argument for a creator; and,
• CSC fellow, philosopher and theologian J.P. Moreland examines the supposed existence of consciousness separate from the brain, including near-death experiences, as an argument for a creator.

Other books

Strobel says that he wrote Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary to help advance lay people's understanding and to increase the effectiveness of evangelistic efforts, and claims insights drawn from his own experiences as a former atheist on why people avoid Christianity.

Strobel describes The Case for Christ as a retracing and expansion of his becoming Christian. It summarizes Strobel's interviews with 13 evangelical Christian scholars — Craig Blomberg, Bruce Metzger, Edwin Yamauchi, John McRay, Gregory Boyd, Ben Witherington III, Gary Collins, D.A. Carson, Louis Lapides, Alexander Metherell, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, and J. P. Moreland — defending their view of the historical reliability of the New Testament.

The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity offers replies to doubts of Christianity, including the problem of evil, the contradiction between miracles and science, whether God is worthy of worship if he kills innocent children, whether Jesus is the only way to God, and the church's history of oppression and violence.

The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ presents a number of counter-arguments to challenges to the evangelical Christian view. Strobel addresses differences between the portrayal of Jesus in the non-canonical gospels versus the four canonical gospels, whether the church has changed this depiction over time, new explanations that refute Jesus's supposed resurrection, the possible origins of the Jesus story in pagan religions, whether Jesus fulfils messianic prophecies, and whether contemporary people should have freedom of belief.

Experiencing the Passion of Jesus was co-written with Garry Poole as a discussion guide for Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ.

• Reckless Homicide? Ford's Pinto Trial (1980) ISBN 0-89708-022-X
• Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary (1993) ISBN 0310375614
• What Jesus Would Say (1994) ISBN 0310485118
• God's Outrageous Claims (1998) ISBN 0310266122
• The Case for Christ, September 1, 1998, Zondervan, ISBN 0310226058
• The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity, October 1, 2000, Zondervan, ISBN 0310220157
• Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch in Marriage (2002) ISBN 0310220149
• The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God (2004), Zondervan, ISBN 0310263867
• The Case for Easter: Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection (2004), Zondervan, ISBN 0310254752
• Experiencing the Passion of Jesus (2004), with Garry Poole, Zondervan, ISBN 0310263751
• The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger (2005), Zondervan, ISBN 0310254760
• Discussing the Da Vinci Code : Exploring the Issues Raised by the Book and Movie (2006) ISBN 0310272637
• The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ September 10, 2007, Zondervan, ISBN 031024210X

Children's apologetics series

• The Case for Faith for Kids (2006), Zonderkidz, ISBN 978-0310711469
• The Case for Christ for Kids (2006), Zonderkidz, ISBN 978-0310711476
• A Case for a Creator for Kids (2006), Zonderkidz, ISBN 978-0310711483
• Off My Case for Kids: 12 Stories to Help You Defend Your Faith (2006), Zonderkidz, ISBN 978-0310711995