At last as promised here is the first of what I hope to be a regular ongoing series of book reviews suitable for the readership of this fine blog.
Timothy Keller is a name I was first made aware of in 2006. It was then that my interest in things concerning characters like John Piper grew and one of those that were named along with Piper was Keller. I heard and read about stuff in terms of the way he did church and mission and community and stuff like that, so I built an admiration for the guy on what I saw and heard.
By the power of Amazon I was able to put this book on me wish list as it came highly recommended by a number of people including my much respected friend Jason Shields. On me birthday my sister, Ruth, got it for me and put a nice note at the front that said ‘Just a reminder, bro’, cos obviously I’d forgotten in all the excitement of life!
There’s a lot of commendable stuff about Keller’s book. Chiefly the thought that this is a book to primarily be considered by those who have questions about God. Using great examples in culture whether it be literary, cinematic or music and drawing on sources wider than just Christian ones, Keller endeavours to give people a reason to believe in God. Indeed not just reasons to believe, but also reasons that disprove some of the counter-claims against Christianity.
Having done philosophy myself (don’t you know) I appreciate how he examines what underpins the main arguments against Christianity and draws on some flawed thinking that makes the arguments at least questionable. The culmination of these perspectives make it very hard for someone with reasonable objectives to respond to them without at least acknowledging whatever baggage they bring into the argument and that was very useful.
On the thorny issues of the reason for suffering, it will always be a tough one to capture something that is completing convincing and I got the impression that Keller side-stepped the heart of the concern in the issue to draw on familiar ground to consider God for who he is. Of course I point this out, not because I have THE answer, but it’s always good to see what others come with and I’d be fascinated to see how well his answer actually satisfies others.
He definitely is on stronger ground responding to those who critique taking the Bible literally and also addressing those who view science as having disproved Christianity.
The second half of the book, I’d argue, is even better than the first, because for the Christian it reaffirms and refreshes positive reasons for what we believe. Not that he’s particularly defensive in the first half, but it recognises some glorious truth claims to be considered by the friend interested in discovering more about Christianity.
Of particular note is the build up from the problem of sin to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with all the historical backing for it and accompanying difficulty to dissuade the stack of evidence concerning the existence of Jesus, His death and the reports and accounts of His resurrection. Marry that with the concerns of Jesus Christ and how fundamental He has been to history and it all weighs up in Keller’s masterpiece.
I’m also intrigued by how he hints at the faith being not just an individual endeavour but something that affects all relations and then those that concern how we deal with the earth and its stewardship. His chapter on the Dance of God is worth reading on its own to captivate as well as summarise the main points made in the book.
Without being totally satisfying or comprehensive, this book is a very good resource to use both as something for those who are ‘reasonable’ to consider and for a Christian to explore and relate to how they would share their own faith with a world that appears to be at least sceptical to the beliefs.
It is not a book that I would give to everyone, because Keller is obviously gearing it at someone with a certain educational level. With those who just enjoy reading for the sake of it and don’t want anything too heavy, it might not be the best book to start off with. Then again there is a suggestion that it might not be the book to start with in these issues.
I’m glad I read the book and it does work to stir up the desire to use all the resources available to make those connections with others regarding the good news of Jesus Christ.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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