Professor of Christian Thought, Houston Baptist University and Teaching Pastor at Woodlands Church |
Atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel, the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty books. He serves as Professor of Christian Thought at Houston Baptist University and as a Teaching Pastor at Woodlands Church in Texas, one of the twelve largest congregations in the country.
Described in the Washington Post as “one of the evangelical community’s most popular apologists,” Lee shared the Christian Book of the Year award in 2005 for a curriculum he co-authored with Garry Poole ab out the movie The Passion of the Christ. He also won Gold Medallions from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, and The Case for a Creator, all of which have been made into documentaries distributed by Lionsgate. His book Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary also won a Gold Medallion.
Lee was educated at the University of Missouri (Bachelor of Journalism degree) and Yale Law School (Master of Studies in Law degree). He was a journalist for fourteen years at The Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, winning Illinois’ highest honor for public service journalism from United Press International. He also led a team that won UPI’s top award for investigative reporting in Illinois.
After investigating the evidence for Jesus, Lee became a Christian in 1981. He joined the staff of Willow Creek Community Church in 1987 and later became a teaching pastor. He joined Saddleback Valley Community Church as a teaching pastor in 2000. He left Saddleback to write books and host the national network TV program Faith Under Fire.
In addition, Lee taught First Amendment law at Roosevelt University. In recognition of the extensive research for his books, he was honored by Southern Evangelical Seminary with the conferring of a Doctor of Divinity degree in 2007. Lee also co-authored the Becoming a Contagious Christian course, which has trained a million-and-a-half Christians on how to naturally and effectively talk with others about Jesus. He has been interviewed on such national TV networks as ABC, Fox, Discovery, PBS and CNN, and his articles have appeared in a variety of periodicals, including The Christian Research Journal, Marriage Partnership, Discipleship Journal, Decision, and the online editions of the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek.
Lee and Leslie have been married for 42 years and live in Texas. Their daughter, Alison, is the author of five novels and co-author (with her husband Daniel) of two books for children. With a PhD in theology from the University of Aberdeen and two master’s degrees, their son, Kyle, is a professor of spiritual theology at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.