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A review by josiahdegraaf
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
4.0
Keller does an amazing job of carefully building his arguments on lots of evidence, quoting at length several different philosophers and thinkers--both modern and classical. Keller does a great job in going straight for the real issue at hand, and showing multiple reasons for why different arguments against God don't really work in the end. I enjoyed his arguments, learned some new ones that I hadn't heard before, and while I didn't agree with all of them, definitely appreciated them. In particular, his argument for the necessity of the cross (based on the pain of forgiveness), while not the primary argument I would go to, revealed a very fascinating dimension of Christ's work that I hadn't considered before.
In addition, the application of his arguments is very much to the modern audience. While I do very much enjoy older apologetic works, such as Mere Christianity, Keller does an excellent job of relating it to the problems that modern readers might face. All of his quotes from people that he's personally talked to in his congregation make it feel all the more fresh and immediately applicable. Keller clearly feels very deeply about this topic and about trying to reach out to unbelievers in a way that would be as winsome and convincing as possible.
Finally, one of the greatest underlying themes in this book was the theme of how the Christian life is really all about God's grace. When addressing the complaint that the church today is corrupt, Keller pointed out that we shouldn't expect to find people always acting better in the Church than those outside of it. The reason is that, as Ephesians 2 says, we are saved by God's grace, not by any works that we have done. I hadn't thought about this line of reasoning much before, but it very clearly rings true as it's based off of Scripture. The Christian life is not about being the best person you can be, and so you shouldn't expect to find those sorts of people in the Church. As Keller persuasively points out, you ought to expect to find a group of broken people, in various stages of their spiritual walk, relying on God's grace as they press forward. As a Christian already convinced of Keller's thesis, this was likely the biggest thing I learned from this book and which I will seek to apply to my own life. The way of thinking that tells me that Christianity is about moral improvement needs to be taken down. The Christian life is all about God's grace extended toward us. And our goal is merely to walk in light of that truth.
4.5 stars.
In addition, the application of his arguments is very much to the modern audience. While I do very much enjoy older apologetic works, such as Mere Christianity, Keller does an excellent job of relating it to the problems that modern readers might face. All of his quotes from people that he's personally talked to in his congregation make it feel all the more fresh and immediately applicable. Keller clearly feels very deeply about this topic and about trying to reach out to unbelievers in a way that would be as winsome and convincing as possible.
Finally, one of the greatest underlying themes in this book was the theme of how the Christian life is really all about God's grace. When addressing the complaint that the church today is corrupt, Keller pointed out that we shouldn't expect to find people always acting better in the Church than those outside of it. The reason is that, as Ephesians 2 says, we are saved by God's grace, not by any works that we have done. I hadn't thought about this line of reasoning much before, but it very clearly rings true as it's based off of Scripture. The Christian life is not about being the best person you can be, and so you shouldn't expect to find those sorts of people in the Church. As Keller persuasively points out, you ought to expect to find a group of broken people, in various stages of their spiritual walk, relying on God's grace as they press forward. As a Christian already convinced of Keller's thesis, this was likely the biggest thing I learned from this book and which I will seek to apply to my own life. The way of thinking that tells me that Christianity is about moral improvement needs to be taken down. The Christian life is all about God's grace extended toward us. And our goal is merely to walk in light of that truth.
4.5 stars.