The Reason for God

I'm just starting to read this book with a friend. I've grown to associate the name 'Tim Keller' with very sound, very reasonable, and very deep teaching about Jesus and God. My brother, Christopher, introduced me to this urban pastor's audio sermons (he teaches at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, 'one of Manhattan's most vital congregations' according to Christianity Today and #1 of 'America's Top Multiplying Churches' - over 100 plants in the last 10 years!) a couple years ago and I've found them to be oh-so-inspiring.

So when I heard that he wrote a book that addresses these questions--Why does God allow suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? How can there only be one true religion?--I was extremely interested. The back of the book says that the issues covered are 'frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion,' and that's true. I don't know how many conversations I have had about these things, particularly among Christians.

Like I said, I'm just now starting it, but I'll let you know along the way what's impacting me. Tim Keller is a very academic man, yet he is very concerned about relating what he's saying to the situation of his listeners, so he breaks down quite complex matters into palatable pieces. Also, he's quite good at referencing other thinkers and writers, and I see that the back of his book is filled with notes for each chapter. So I've got two bookmarks - one for where I am in the text, and one for where I am in the notes.

I bring this up because I think it speaks to an important attribute of Tim Keller and an important aspect of learning - it is an ever-continuing conversation. Tim Keller isn't addressing these issues in a vacuum, and neither should we. He's drawing from the good research of others as well as the authority of the Bible, and I hope we can follow his lead when sorting all the harder (and easier, and all the in-between) issues of life.