The Reason for God

For school this week I had to write a book report based on Timothy Keller's "The Reason for God" my teacher requested I post it on my blog, so here it goes, enjoy!

Timothy Keller wrote with a specific purpose. In his book The Reason for God, he challenges commonly accepted theories and tests them against historical facts and common sense. He presents the Christian faith, and provides the reasoning behind the belief. He boldly states that the Christian faith is not blind, and that there are many “clues” (he refuses to call them “proofs”, because you cannot “prove” history.) to the belief in God, and the claim of the resurrection.

One of society’s biggest cries today, is that “truth is relative”. Keller considers its implications to its fullest extent. One of his biggest arguments is, “If truth is relative, then how can you tell me I’m wrong?” Indeed, if truth is relative, who are you to tell me I’m wrong? It’s only your opinion. In all manner of speaking, the people who say, “Truth is relative” are really saying, “All truth is relative, except mine”. Because if truth was truly no pun intended) relative, then you couldn’t say it was, because that would be an absolute truth.

Keller also states that every man has a concept of God on some level, even atheists. It’s a big thing to assume, but it is completely consistent in what he claims to believe. In Romans 1:20 it says, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (NLT)

One of the biggest complaints of “non-believing” people is that Christians are not consistent. They claim one thing, and then act as if what they just claimed was not true. Keller should be applauded for his consistency.

His reasons for this outrageous statement are moral obligation, and the problem of human rights. The same people who will say that there is no God, will advocate abortion, yet demand the equality of women in the workplace, and then blatantly state that truth is relative. Keller points out these major inconsistencies and begs of us to examine what we really believe. We say that murder is wrong and that people have “God-given rights” and then claim there is no God. Clearly, all of us are lying to ourselves somehow; we need to solve the problem of our inconsistencies.

He then states that our concept of God is skewed. (This is also consistent with his beliefs.

The Lord looks down from heaven, on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away. (Psalm 14:2 &3a NLT)) There are two loudly stated beliefs about God:

1.) God is a God of love

2.) God is cruel and demanding, demanding blood for the penance of sin.

Keller states that God is a God of love, but not in the sense we understand. We are not able to manipulate God into accepting who we are without change by simply stating, “God is a God of love.”

God is not a child abuser. The real story of the cross is described in Chapter 12. People want God to “just forgive” us, instead of demanding a price for the sin we’ve committed. Keller helps us see the impossibility of this by describing the fact that, even when someone forgives us of something, someone always has to pay. When someone damages your property, if you just forgive them, that’s great for them. Someone has to pay for the damage, if you forgive them, you are the one paying for the damage of the property. Keller points out that Christians believe that Jesus is God. So, on the cross, God ‘paid’ for the damage we did to his ‘property’ (us, creation, and the other people our sin affects.) I know for me, that was personally convicting. Sometimes I forget just how much God did for me. Keller doesn’t allow us to nonchalantly approach the cross.

Nobody debates the fact that Jesus was crucified. The debate comes in when you state one word; Resurrection.

You cannot prove a resurrection, Keller knows this. Therefore, instead of trying to prove something he can’t, he points out the “hints” that lead up to a strong case for the reality of the resurrection, for example, the witness of the women, the witness of over five-hundred other people, the martyr’s, and the empty tomb. He states; ‘if the disciples had really made all of this up, then why would they have used women as the first witnesses, when they knew that even in court a woman’s testimony held no weight?’

After creating such a strong argument for the existence of God, Keller states that with this knowledge we cannot just simply walk away. Evidence like this demands a verdict, and Keller will not allow us to leave the courtroom without serious consideration to what we will do with the evidence presented.

If God exists, then you are either his enemy, or on his side.

Keller gives the outline for salvation, and states that we need to throw aside our doubts. If we are only holding back because we know how much control God really has over our lives (and hate that fact) then we need to ask for forgiveness, and ask God to change us. We need to allow His hand in our lives, and only then will we find our ‘true reality’. God created us, he already controls us. The question is, will you fight that, or simply accept it?

In conclusion, The Reason for God is an excellent book and should be considered as a supplement to any apologetics course, or read by skeptics of God everywhere.