I once did a Google search for the best Christian worldview books. The search took me to one of Capturing Christianity's blog posts where many Christian philosophers were surveyed. The question was "What are your top three apologetics books" or something to that effect. Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ was one that appeared several times. Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig is another. And of course, the subject of this book review The Reason For God by Timothy Keller was also a popular choice.
Many choose Christianity because it "works" for them. Many believe because they like the teachings and values. Many will cite their personal experience as their reason to believe. I think those are wonderful reasons, God uses all sorts of ways to draw people near to Him. Yet if one were to produce THE reason for believing in Christianity, all other reasons are actually irrelevant. One should only believe in Christianity if it's true. All other reasons can be reduced to subjectivity. Of course, my view is that Christianity is indeed true. Many amazing people have endeavored to fight for that view throughout Christian history, and Timoty Keller undoubtedly made tremendous contributions to that battle through this book.
Overview
This is a book that both defends and advocates Christianity. The book is broken down into two main sections.
Section 1 deals with the most popular objections to Christianity according to Keller's experience pastoring a Church in NYC. In this section, Keller goes through 7 tough objections that a Christian will face from skeptics and offers compelling solutions to each question. Keller advocates, in many cases, for the approach of "doubting your doubts". Many of the objections raised are actually not easy to substantiate. Keller cites many prominent thinkers, Christian and secular alike, to bolster his defense.
Section 2 is all about reasons to believe. Keller offers positive evidence on why Christianity is the best worldview to explain reality. In this section, we really get a broad overview of the Gospel. Keller beautifully illustrates how the biblical narrative is the best explanation for the reality we experience and explains why it is the best solution to our worst problems. From the existence of God to the Christian life, Keller covers the entire journey.
Why Read This?
Of all the apologetics books I have read, this is one of the best written. It is highly reminiscent of Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis. This comes as no surprise because Keller is an excellent writer and uses rhetoric beautifully and compellingly. Keller does this really cool thing where he makes you "doubt your doubts". It's easy to find an objection that makes sense to you right now, but how do you distinguish a legit objection from a simple subjective cultural preference? Many objections are double standards when you turn the objection towards the objection itself. Sounds complicated, read the book, it's pretty interesting. Hands down, Keller's answers are the most compelling I have heard. Firstly because he makes a good, well-backed-up case, but also his eloquence in writing.
Of course, Keller brings everything back to the gospel in a beautiful way. Reading this book will really give you a very thorough treatment of the Christian worldview.
Potential Pitfalls
There were a few things written in this book that I found to be theologically iffy. Several areas, such as Keller's treatment of hell, sounded very good and compelling, but I had to wonder whether he took too much interpretive liberty to make it sound more palatable to the public. When it comes to subjects like those, it's better to first understand what the Bible claims than to seek eloquent writers who might romanticize things to the point of losing the point. That is one mindset you should have going into this book. If someone were to make one Christian doctrine highly understandable, beautiful, reasonable, and palatable to your own tastes but their interpretation does not agree with scripture, you must choose scripture. If you struggle to do that, then your master is your own values, not God's.
The aim of this warning is not to point out every instance of disagreement in this book, but to equip the reader with discernment.
Comments