Lee Patrick Strobel (born January 25, 1952, in Arlington Heights, Illinois) is an American Christian author, apologist, and former teaching pastor best known for “The Case for Christ,” the bestselling account of his two-year investigation into the evidence for Jesus. Before any of that, Strobel spent 14 years as an award-winning investigative journalist and legal editor at the Chicago Tribune, and he was a committed atheist. His wife Leslie’s unexpected conversion to Christianity in 1979 set off the investigation that changed both of their lives, and Strobel became a Christian himself in 1981. He’s since written more than 40 books that have sold close to 18 million copies worldwide.
[IMAGE: Lee Strobel holding a copy of The Case for Christ]
At a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Patrick Strobel |
| Born | January 25, 1952, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA |
| Age | 74 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | American |
| Current residence | The Woodlands, Texas |
| Spouse | Leslie Strobel (married since 1972, over 52 years) |
| Children | Kyle Strobel and Alison Strobel |
| Faith | Christian (Baptist / evangelical, formerly atheist) |
| Education | |
| Undergraduate | BA in Journalism, University of Missouri |
| Graduate | Master of Studies in Law (MSL), Yale University |
| Honorary degree | Doctor of Divinity, Southern Evangelical Seminary (2007) |
| Career | |
| Former role | Legal Editor, Chicago Tribune (14 years) |
| Conversion year | 1981 |
| Current role | Founder, Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics, Colorado Christian University |
| Books | 40+ (nearly 18 million copies sold) |
| Signature book | The Case for Christ (1998) |
| Website | leestrobel.com |
Early Life and Career in Journalism
Lee Strobel was born on January 25, 1952, in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He studied journalism at the University of Missouri before going on to earn a Master of Studies in Law from Yale University, training that shaped the investigative instincts he’d later turn toward the Bible itself.
Strobel spent 14 years at the Chicago Tribune, working his way up to legal editor and receiving Illinois’ highest honors from United Press International for investigative reporting and public service journalism. By his own account, the young Strobel who built that career was also an atheist, a self-described narcissist, a hedonist, and a heavy weekend drinker, someone whose personal life didn’t match his professional success.
Conversion: From Disproving Christianity to Believing It
Strobel met his wife, Leslie, when they were both 14 years old and married in 1972, when he was 20 and she was 19. For years, both lived as functional atheists or agnostics. That changed in 1979, when a neighbor kept inviting Leslie to church. She eventually went, and the experience marked her enough that she wanted to return. Not long after, Leslie became a Christian.
Strobel didn’t take the news well. He’s described reacting with anger strong enough that he once kicked a hole through their living room wall over Leslie’s growing interest in church. His plan wasn’t to join her. It was to disprove her new faith and get his marriage back to normal. As a trained journalist and lawyer, he figured he had the tools to do exactly that.
He spent nearly two years investigating the historical evidence for Jesus, reading widely and eventually interviewing thirteen religious scholars, including names like Bruce Metzger, D.A. Carson, and Gary Habermas. Rather than debunking Christianity, the investigation convinced him it was true. Strobel became a Christian in 1981. Illinois Governor James R. Thompson later declared January 12, 1982, “Lee Patrick Strobel Day” in recognition of his journalism career and public story.
[IMAGE: Lee and Leslie Strobel together]
Ministry Career
Willow Creek Community Church
In 1987, Strobel left journalism entirely, taking a 60 percent pay cut to join the staff of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. He became a teaching pastor there and stayed until 2000, working alongside other teaching pastors including John Ortberg during the church’s rise into one of the most influential congregations in the country. He also served as a founding board member of the Willow Creek Association, the outreach network connecting thousands of churches across more than 100 denominations.
Saddleback Church and Faith Under Fire
In 2000, Strobel moved to Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, where he served as teaching pastor until 2004. He then stepped away from a formal pastoral role to host “Faith Under Fire,” a national network television debate show on religious and cultural issues, for two years. During this period, he also taught First Amendment law at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Woodlands Church and Academic Work
Strobel relocated to Texas in 2014, becoming a teaching pastor at Woodlands Church, one of the largest congregations in the country, and Professor of Christian Thought at Houston Baptist University. In 2020, he founded the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University, a role that lets him train the next generation of apologists rather than working from behind a single pulpit.
Books and Published Works
Strobel has written or co-written more than 40 books and curricula that have sold nearly 18 million copies combined. His signature “Case for” series includes:
- The Case for Christ (1998) — his breakout book, chronicling his personal investigation into the historical evidence for Jesus
- The Case for Faith — addressing common objections to Christian belief
- The Case for a Creator — examining scientific arguments for intelligent design
- The Case for Grace — on forgiveness and personal transformation
- The Case for Miracles (2018) — investigating claims of the supernatural, including his own family’s experience
- The Case for Heaven — exploring the afterlife following his own near-death medical crisis
Four of his books received ECPA Christian Book Awards, in 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2005. He also co-authored “Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch Marriage” with Leslie, drawing on their own early years as a spiritually divided couple.
Film and Media Work
Strobel’s personal story became a movie in 2017: “The Case for Christ,” which dramatized his investigation and his marriage during that season. He also appeared in the 2016 film “God’s Not Dead 2,” and later projects, including “The Case for Heaven” and “The Case for Miracles,” were adapted into documentary films as well. He hosted “Faith Under Fire” on national television and has appeared on ABC’s “20/20,” Fox News, and CNN over the course of his career.
[IMAGE: Movie poster for The Case for Christ film]
Personal Life
Strobel and Leslie have been married for more than 52 years. They have two children: Kyle Strobel, an assistant professor of Spiritual Theology and Formation at the Talbot School of Theology, and Alison Strobel, a novelist who has written several inspirational women’s fiction titles. The couple also has several grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Penelope.
Leslie Strobel lives with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulty. She and Lee have pursued various treatments over the years, including acupuncture and deep massage, without a cure. Strobel has written and spoken openly about praying for her healing while still holding onto faith when that healing hasn’t come the way he’s hoped.
Strobel also faced his own medical crisis. Leslie once found him unconscious at home; he was diagnosed with hyponatremia, a dangerous drop in blood sodium levels that a doctor told him left him “one step away from a coma, two steps away from dying.” That experience became part of the research and personal reflection behind his book “The Case for Heaven.”
Theology and Approach to Apologetics
Strobel’s work sits within Baptist and broader evangelical Christianity, shaped heavily by his years at nondenominational megachurches like Willow Creek and Saddleback. His method is consistently journalistic: rather than starting from theological assertions, he frames his books as investigations, interviewing scholars and experts and letting readers follow the evidence themselves. That approach is what made “The Case for Christ” resonate with skeptical readers in a way many apologetics books hadn’t before.
Influence and Legacy
Strobel’s clearest legacy is the “Case for” model itself: apologetics written like investigative journalism rather than doctrinal argument. That format has been credited with reaching skeptics and doubters who wouldn’t have picked up a more traditionally structured theology book. The Christian Post named him one of seven evangelical leaders who made a meaningful impact in 2017, the same year his story reached theaters.
His work training new apologists through the Lee Strobel Center extends that legacy institutionally, aiming to produce more journalist-style defenders of the faith rather than resting on his own body of work alone.
Criticism and Public Perception
Strobel’s most direct connection to controversy is by association rather than personal allegation: Willow Creek Community Church, where he served as teaching pastor for over a decade, later became the center of a major scandal when founding pastor Bill Hybels was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018, well after Strobel’s departure in 2000. Strobel has not been named in those allegations. Some critics of “The Case for Christ” have also questioned whether his selection of scholars for the book leaned toward those likely to confirm his conclusions rather than offering a fully adversarial cross-section of scholarship. That’s a methodological critique common to popular apologetics work generally, not a claim about Strobel’s honesty or intent.
Net Worth
Some outlets estimate Lee Strobel’s net worth at around $8 million, largely from four decades of book sales, speaking engagements, and media work. That figure comes from unverified public estimates rather than any disclosed financial statement, so it should be treated as an approximation rather than a confirmed number.
Awards and Recognition
- Four ECPA Christian Book Awards (1994, 1999, 2001, 2005)
- Honorary Doctor of Divinity, Southern Evangelical Seminary (2007)
- “Lee Patrick Strobel Day” declared in Illinois (January 12, 1982)
- Named one of seven evangelical leaders who made an impact in 2017 by The Christian Post
- Illinois’ highest United Press International honors for investigative reporting
Interesting Facts
- He and Leslie met at age 14 and married at 20 and 19, respectively.
- He once put a hole through his living room wall in anger over his wife’s growing faith.
- He took a 60 percent pay cut to leave journalism for ministry in 1987.
- He was a founding board member of the Willow Creek Association, now known as the Global Leadership Network.
- A medical crisis that nearly killed him became the research spark for his book “The Case for Heaven.”
Timeline of Key Events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1952 | Born January 25 in Arlington Heights, Illinois |
| 1972 | Marries Leslie |
| 1979 | Leslie becomes a Christian; Lee begins his investigation into the evidence for Jesus |
| 1981 | Lee Strobel becomes a Christian |
| 1987 | Leaves journalism to become teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church |
| 1998 | Publishes “The Case for Christ” |
| 2000 | Becomes teaching pastor at Saddleback Church |
| 2004 | Leaves the pastorate to host “Faith Under Fire” |
| 2007 | Receives honorary Doctor of Divinity from Southern Evangelical Seminary |
| 2014 | Becomes teaching pastor at Woodlands Church and professor at Houston Baptist University |
| 2017 | “The Case for Christ” film releases in theaters |
| 2020 | Founds the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Lee Strobel convert to Christianity?
Strobel set out to disprove his wife Leslie’s newfound Christian faith using his skills as a journalist and lawyer. After nearly two years investigating the historical evidence for Jesus and interviewing thirteen scholars, he became convinced the evidence pointed toward Christianity being true, and he converted in 1981.
When did Lee Strobel become a Christian?
Lee Strobel became a Christian in 1981, after a nearly two-year personal investigation into the historical evidence for Jesus.
What faith is Lee Strobel? Is he Catholic?
Lee Strobel is a Baptist and broadly evangelical Christian. He is not Catholic. His ministry background runs through nondenominational evangelical churches, including Willow Creek, Saddleback, and Woodlands Church.
What illness does Lee Strobel’s wife have?
Leslie Strobel lives with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition causing widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulty.
Is Lee Strobel still married?
Yes. Lee and Leslie Strobel have been married for more than 52 years.
How many children does Lee Strobel have?
Lee Strobel has two children, Kyle and Alison, and several grandchildren.
What happened to Lee Strobel?
Strobel experienced a serious medical crisis when Leslie found him unconscious at home; doctors diagnosed him with hyponatremia, a dangerous drop in blood sodium. He recovered, and the experience became part of the inspiration behind his book “The Case for Heaven.”
Where is Lee Strobel now?
Strobel lives in The Woodlands, Texas, where he leads the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University.
