Our problems are not going away soon. It was almost like being instructed in two different religions. In fairness you must doubt your doubts. Three generations ago, most people inherited rather than chose their religious faith. However, when her sister had a stroke and was paralyzed at the age of fourteen, it moved her not to give up on God but to begin more deliberate searching. The Bible tells us that God created everything, including humanity, because it pleased Him to create for His glory (Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11). This book does not have all the answers and as some of the very lengthy reviews explain, some of the arguments are not backed up by much substance. The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life's Biggest Questions, Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters, "It is easy to understand [Timothy Keller's] appeal.". It is getting both more religious and less religious at the same time. This required not so much knowledge of techniques for prayer, but a process in which I came to grips with my own needs, flaws, and problems. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. However, when her sister had a stroke and was paralyzed at the age of fourteen, it moved her not to give up on God but to begin more deliberate searching. After they wrestle with doubts and objections to Christianity many come out on the other side with an orthodox faith that doesn’t fit the current categories of liberal Democrat or conservative Republican. Our problems are not going away soon. Everyone should determine moral truth for him-or herself.” Is that a statement they can prove to someone who doesn’t share it? A case is made for the existence of God, knowing God, the historicity and necessity of the cross and resurrection, and other core elements of Christianity. And in The Reason for God, he single-handedly dismantles each of them. First, each side should accept that both religious belief and skepticism are on the rise. This was the form of the objection I got from the student the night I was on the panel. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam believe in a God who holds people accountable for their beliefs and practices and whose attributes could not be all reduced to love. We have neither the Western Christendom of the past nor the secular, religionless society that was predicted for the future. Timothy Keller 10 THE REASON FOR GOD spiritual claims are the product of our par tic u lar historical and cultural moment, and therefore no one should claim they can know the Truth, since no one can judge whether one assertion about spiritual and moral reality is truer than another.” “How could there be just one true faith?” asked Blair, a twenty-four-year-old woman living in Manhattan. There was once a confident belief that secular European countries were the harbingers for the rest of the world. Their doubts about God were very stubborn, and yet they had doubts about their doubts, and so they began attending Redeemer. Introduction. So the doubt (of moral absolutes) is a leap. But I kept asking the question, “If morality is relative, why isn’t social justice as well?” This seemed to be a blatant inconsistency in my professors and their followers. Each religion informs its followers that they have “the truth,” and this naturally leads them to feel superior to those with differing beliefs. Every doubt, therefore, is based on a leap of faith. I accepted God’s forgiveness and invited him into my life.” Kevin wrote, “While sitting in a coffee shop reading C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, I put down the book and wrote in my notebook ‘the evidence surrounding the claims of Christianity is simply overwhelming.’ I realized that my achievements were ultimately unsatisfying, the approval of man is fleeting, that a carpe diem life lived solely for adventure is just a form of narcissism and idolatry. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. For several years this strengthened what could be called the “Hellfire Layer” of my religious formation, although the pastor and people there were personally as gentle as could be. These three barriers did not come down quickly or in any set order. It may be the greatest enemy of peace in the world. While the first half of the book lays out a pathway that many of these Christians have taken through doubt, the second half of the book is a more positive exposition of the faith they are living out in the world. It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them. Among the summaries and analysis available for The Reason for God Belief in an Age of Skepticism , there are 1 Full Study Guide and 1 Book Review. He was in no state of “spiritual need” when a friend began taking him to Redeemer. Religious believers should also be much less dismissive of secular skepticism. This leads to a strange conclusion. Finally they were not only convinced of Christianity’s intellectual credibility, but were attracted by its vision for life. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Kierkegaards life is more relevant to his work than is the case for many writers. Out of gratitude for what God did for us, we remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshiping Him, and being especially conscious of the poor and less fortunate. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. 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