In short, know what and why you now feel this way and then act on it. God has His ways, and we are not privy to … However, in today's society and working in an engineering job with many friends who are anti-religion I am commonly coming across vitriol about people with faith and I have realised that I need some more proof for myself and some better answers if/when my kids ask me what my belief is based upon. The Reason for God will most likely be judged a “classic,” a book that resembles Mere Christianity and other apologetic works that have impacted the Christian church. After the session, the facilitator proposed that we read Timothy Keller’s book “The Reason for God (Belief in an age of skepticism)” as a way of helping us think more on the topic. All of the above being said, this book’s strengths are its apologetics. As a side note, this chapter has Keller’s most extensive use of Bible passages. If people do not believe a God of love would send someone to hell, from where did the idea of a God of love come? This is a very valuable tool in seeking to present the gospel in a secular age. 310ff], © Copyright 2015 Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary | All Rights Reserved, http://www.wls.wels.net/rmdevser_wls/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SS.13.Reason-for-God-complete.AUD_.mp3, Saying you are not able to find a reason for suffering puts great confidence in your own cognitive skills, and, As people look back on their own suffering, they, The connection between religion and violence, A God of judgment cannot be a God of love, How people treat other people and their faiths. One of the best books I've read on answering objections people have to the Christian faith and on putting forward good reasons for faith. I read the book during the Christmas holidays thinking it was going to turn out as I … Review of "The Reason for God" Chapter 2 on Suffering Keller dismisses the idea that pointless suffering is evidence against God by giving the standard Christian reply that we don't knowthe suffering to be pointless. Yet at some level the comparisons are becoming undeniable. As a writer, Keller is a very well-read and well-educated author and pastor. It reads well and flows well and is excellent in its research and bibliography too., Worth getting if you want to know how to communicate in today's culture with its alternative belief systems. $16.99 (combination book with The Prodigal Son ). Keller now turns to the validity of the resurrection. As stated in the opening, one should know the strongest arguments against one’s beliefs and know how to defend against them. Keller does an excellent job of showing the errors in the main objections against Christianity. He now tells them what to do: examine the motives, count the cost, take inventory, make the move, and commit to community. Thirdly, he concludes about Christianity, “This gospel identity gives us a new basis for harmonious and just social arrangements … That means that I cannot despise those who do not believe as I do. Published by Penguin and with a positive review by Publishers Weekly, it has all the makings of a bestseller. The Reason for God by Timothy Keller–Book Review Posted on May 6, 2020 by jculler1972 Timothy Keller, pastor of a large church in Manhattan, has written an excellent apologetic work, based on his own experience defending and explaining the faith to skeptics. Keller shows how that argument is misguided and shortsighted. Check out this awesome The Reason For God Book Review Example for writing techniques and actionable ideas. “And the only way that we, who have been created in his image, can have this same joy, is if we center our entire lives around him instead of ourselves” (227). I decided to take up the challenge. For a short history of apologetics in Christianity, read Hoenecke’s Dogmatics, I, 273-278. With some of the above quotes I cited, we would agree; others, we could not. Keller shows an appreciation of differing viewpoints to biblical Christianity and handles them graciously and with respect. Keller gleans from Kierkegaard this definition of sin; “Sin is despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God. That appears to be a compromise between the Bible and certain aspects of the evolutionary theory. That is a tenant of apologetics. First, three areas of value will be highlighted, and then three areas of In response to the injustice claim, he gives two prime examples of how Christianity has changed the world for the better: Keller summarizes his answer to this objection as follows: “When people have done injustice in the name of Christ they are not being true to the spirit of the one who himself died as a victim of injustice and who called for the forgiveness of his enemies. It also then destroys the social fabric of life. Franz Pieper has this two-sided warning about apologetics: overestimation and underestimation. Buy The Reason for God: Belief in an age of scepticism 01 by Keller, Timothy (ISBN: 9780340979334) from Amazon's Book Store. “And the Bible tells us that the God of love is also a God of judgment who will put all things in the world to rights in the end” (85). (121). He doesn't try to skirt around objections but faces them head on. Keller comments about this objection: “the effort to demonstrate that evil disproves the existence of God ‘is now acknowledged on (almost) all sides to be completely bankrupt” (23). If we were to abandon these Christian standards, then we would be left with no basis for the criticism. His points are very well thought-out and very well argued. However, his method is not representative of a proper hamartiology (doctrine of sin). The arguments are clear and cogent. Tolkien to Star Wars and an example from Angels with Dirty Faces. (cf. He points the skeptical inquirers to the “central claims of Christianity” first, then deal with the options between science and the Bible (97). Timothy Keller is a great apologist. This is strongly recommended for all, even if you, like me, sometimes cow away from the world of Christian literature which is, unfortunately, saturated with trite and poorly written works which do more to undermine the faith than to promote it. Either your web browser does not have JavaScript enabled, or it is not supported. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. This same loving Trinity is the God who showed that love in creation, in creating people to share in this love. It does it in a smart and kind way. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. I found this book most worthwhile, when read in tandem with Paustian’s books. So much to read, digest and think about. He goes back and forth between words that could be understood as if salvation is something we do (247), and words that show salvation is an act of God (248). The first clue is the cosmological argument for God’s existence, the “prime mover” as Aristotle put it. We would agree with just about all his exegetical conclusions, even if the words he uses are not what our Lutheran ears are accustomed to hearing. practicing the piano to unleash your ability, loving someone else is putting them first). The Reason for God is written for skeptics and believers alike. Keller discusses the real reasons for Jesus suffering on the cross. This book gives very good and valid responses to objections against Christianity and also very good and valid reasons for Christianity. Therefore such rules are not exclusive, but instead maintaining “standards for membership in accord with their beliefs” (40). The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism By Timothy J. Keller New York: Dutton, 2008 xxiii + 293 pages, hardcover, $24.95. Amazon.com で、The Reason for God: Belief in an age of scepticism (English Edition) の役立つカスタマーレビューとレビュー評価をご覧ください。ユーザーの皆様からの正直で公平な製品レビューをお読み … This objection would say “the Bible is not entirely trustworthy because some parts – maybe many or most parts – are scientifically impossible, historically unreliable, and culturally regressive” (103). Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in … Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2018. It reads like a Mere Christianity (CS Lewis) for the 21st century. It has given me a few new apologetical arrows in my pastoral quiver. Maybe it's my Europeanness but I tend to think that God does not need a reason. Yet when I come to describe the Christian gospel of sin and grace, I will necessarily be doing it as a Protestant Christian, and I won’t be sounding notes that a Catholic author would sound. The Christian apologist is in a position to show any rational man, particularly if he have a well-trained mind, that after all it would be more reasonable to accept the claims of Christianity as true than to reject them as false. “Christianity provides a firm basis for respecting people of other faiths … it also leads them to expect that many will live lives morally superior to their own” (19). Here is a blog post I made at that time, with my impression after reading the introduction. This will result in many of the features below not functioning properly. The names are changed, but people were asked to articulate what their biggest doubts and objections were to Christianity. “I believe that Christianity makes the most sense out of our individual life stories and out of what we see in the world’s history” (222). Some sharp-eyed Presbyterian readers will notice that I am staying quiet about some of my particular theological beliefs in the interest of doing everything I can to represent all Christians. I don't wish to be pedantic, but I still don't know what the reason for God is. That is a lofty comparison and one I'm sure must make Keller quite uncomfortable. Sin shows that God does exist. He gives us an example of apologetics that is not also polemics. Keller admits with philosopher Alvin Plantinga “there are no proofs of God that will convince all rational persons. So the only solution is not simply to change our behavior, but to reorient and center the entire heart and life on God” (178). This review began by stating that The Reason for God is both an incredibly valuable and enormously frustrating book. I'm not even sure that there is a reason. Regardless of the topic, subject or complexity, we can help you write any paper! Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2018. Timothy Keller is a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. Lewis and J.R.R. So with a few of the above caveats, I would recommend this book for any pastor. Faith in an age of skepticism is harder to come by than it was in previous times. The church currently has about six thousand regular attendees at six weekly services. Better yet, buy several copies and start giving them away. These books rocked me and also made me feel very sad. However, it helped me and I found some of the arguments compelling. Perhaps, I did not realize I was purchasing a book strong in philosophy, yet written for a popular audience. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Keller’s book would fall into the area of dogmatics commonly known as apologetics. Since I am not saved by my correct doctrine or practice, then this person before me, even with his or her wrong beliefs, might be morally superior to me in many ways” (188). Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2018. The Reason for God approaches those doubts head-on, and Keller challenges his brethren readers to do the same. It made me think through some of the common arguments used against Christianity in a new light. Lewis provided in his time – a reasoned defense over the main objections to Christianity: (1) There can’t be just one true religion; (2) How right and wrong, just and unjust, good and evil) come? “It would be overestimation if we imagined that any one could be converted by such rational arguments … the arguments which call forth only a human faith would be underestimated if we declared them to be utterly worthless.” (Christian Dogmatics, I, 310f)  Keeping that in mind, I especially found the first half of The Reason for God to be extremely helpful. If people take the idea of a God of love from the Bible, why not also the idea of a God of judgment, which is also in the Bible? Keller discusses three specific beliefs underlying this objection: After answering those beliefs, he ends with a discussion on the idea of a God of love. In it Rev Dr Keller from Manhattan skillfully addresses some of the major obstacles to Christian faith, then presents some reasons, both philosophical (‘clues’) and historical, for trusting in Christ. (This is a point he has brought up also in chapters two and four.) Keller finishes this chapter with how this dance changes our lives and then how we change the world around us. his definition of sin is from Kierkegaard). As an observation, Keller does quote more extensively from these other sources (theological or otherwise) than the Bible (e.g. Fantastic resource for Christians and seekers, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2015. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Real love is a personal exchange, “In the real world of relationships it is impossible to love people with a problem or a need without in some sense sharing or even changing places with them” (201). That creates a dance …” (224). Tim Keller’s Reason for God has provided for modern Christians and skeptics what C.S. New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2008. Evaluation of Author’s Arguments/Main Points. If we treat those outside the kingdom with respect they are more likely to engage in debate. Keller’s solution to sin is this: “Sin is not simply doing bad things, it is putting good things in the place of God. God based on people ’ s books delivery on eligible orders Shipping and delivery... Case in this book. s sense of moral values and moral obligations objection the! Rather than being a leap of blind faith the gospel in a secular Age product reviews from our users note. Unlike all man-made religions, look here to find an easy way to back... 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