"I did not write, anywhere, that you cannot make a rational case for Christianity--of course you can."
No, one cannot. The trinity is down-right irrational. God having his own son, who is himself his father, killed to atone to the father, whom he is, for the sins of the father's special creations, created in the very image of the father, is patently irrational. Creation of the universe in 6 days is irrational. And, on and on and on...
"Many have done so with great skill."
Many have claimed that they have, but none has actually done it.
"So I do not think people like Strobel or McDowell are foolish--not in the least."
I do. I think they are both delusional and/or lying sacks of shit.
"What I actually wrote, to paraphrase, is that no atheist will be persuaded by their rational arguments."
No reasonable person will be persuaded by those attempts at cogent pro-Christian agruments. Have you even read Stobel and McDowell's books?
"Apart from being reborn, he will reject any such argument, and attribute that rejection, incorrectly, to his own intellect."
So, until I "drink the Kool-Aid" and buy into your delusion, I won't believe... your delusion. My intellect has always done well by me. Christianity has never done well by me. I'm going with my intellect. Too bad about you, though.
"If, say you, are reborn, then you will begin to see the rationality of Christianity."
See above.
"Perhaps a book such as Stobel's will be the means by which the gospel taks hold of you--but without being reborn, you'll always consider it foolishness."
According to you, it seems the main effect of being reborn is to lose one's ability and desire to think critically. I'll pass, thank you.
"And there is no contradiction--moral inability to choose God in our natural, fallen state is not an excuse--we are commanded to choose God"
I don't have an inability to choose. Choosing was easy. God is a fiction, therefore, I choose my intellect.
"The unhappy fact that, apart from God's first choosing us, we cannot is our dilemma, not our excuse."
So, you admit that your situation with your "God" is unhappy. That my be a sign of progress... or not.