There has been no shortage of reaction to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s death, with many celebrities and fans heralding him — and with his critics lamenting the negative impact they believe he has had on our culture.
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But among all of the noise, a fascinating tweet came from famed author Lee Strobel immediately following Hefner’s death. The atheist-turned-Christian speaker and author revealed that he had once shared the gospel with Hefner.
“Hugh Hefner dead at 91. I remember sharing the Gospel with him,” Strobel tweeted. “He saw significance of the Resurrection but had never checked the evidence.”
Hugh Hefner dead at 91. I remember sharing the Gospel with him. He saw significance of the Resurrection but had never checked the evidence.
— Lee Strobel (@LeeStrobel) September 28, 2017
It is unclear when this conversation unfolded or how Hefner reacted, but it is certainly a notable mention, especially when it comes to a man who has, in many ways, contributed and even spearheaded America’s sexual revolution.
As Faithwire previously reported, Strobel, author of “The Case for Christ,” was once a devout atheist when his wife, Leslie, shocked him by converting to Christianity.
The stunning about-face led the then-reporter on a spiritual journey to try and disprove his wife’s newfound faith. He eventually became a Christian and has since worked as an apologist, trying to convince people like Hefner that Jesus and the Bible are the real way to salvation.
Watch Strobel discuss his path to faith below:
LIVE with our 1st episode of #PureTalk, featuring The Case For Christ Author Lee Strobel and his wife Leslie, as well as Billy Hallowell from Faithwire, and #PureFlix CEO Greg Gudorf!
Posted by Pure Flix on Thursday, March 2, 2017
Other Christian leaders like Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, have also spoken out in the wake of Hefner’s death, with Moore penning a piece titled, “Hugh Hefner Did Not Live the Good Life.”
In it, Moore warned of glorifying Hefner’s life:
The death of any person is a tragedy. Hugh Hefner is no exception to that. We can’t, though, with his obituaries, call his life “success” or “a dream.”
Hefner did not create, but marketed ingeniously the idea that a man’s life consists in the abundance of his possessions and of his orgasms. To women, he marketed frenetically the idea that a woman’s value consists in her sexual availability and attractiveness to men.
The “bunny” logo was well-chosen because, in the end, Mr. Hefner saw both men and women as essentially rabbits. This path was portrayed vividly by John Updike in his Rabbit Angstrom series. It is not a happy life.
Read the rest of the post here.