A New York Times bestseller people can believe in-by "a pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christianity Today) and the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek).
Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Skepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.
"It is easy to understand [Timothy Keller's] appeal."
-The New York Times
"In a flood of bestsellers by skeptics and atheists...Keller stands out as an effective counterpoint and defender of the faith. The Reason for God makes a tight, accessible case for reasoned religious belief."
-The Washington Post
"It's a provocative premise, in pursuit of which Keller...takes on nonbelievers from evolutionary biologists to the recent rash of atheist authors."
-The Boston Globe
"Reverend Tim Keller [is] a Manhattan institution, one of those open urban secrets, like your favorite dim sum place, with a following so ardent and so fast-growing that he has never thought to advertise."
-New York magazine
"An intellectually compelling case for God."
-Publishers Weekly
"I thank God for him."
-Billy Graham
Timothy Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. His first pastorate was in Hopewell, Virginia. In 1989 he started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City with his wife, Kathy, and their three sons. Today, Redeemer has nearly six thousand regular Sunday attendees and has helped to start more than three hundred new churches around the world. He is the author of The Songs of Jesus, Prayer, Encounters with Jesus, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, Every Good Endeavor, and The Meaning of Marriage, among others, including the perennial bestsellers The Reason for God and The Prodigal God.
THE REASON FOR GOD
THE REASON FOR GOD
CONTENTS
Introduction
PART 1: THE LEAP OF DOUBT
ONE
There Can't Be Just One True Religion
TWO
How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?
THREE
Christianity Is a Straitjacket
FOUR
The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice
FIVE
How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
SIX
Science Has Disproved Christianity
SEVEN
You Can't Take the Bible Literally
[Intermission 115]
PART 2: THE REASONS FOR FAITH
EIGHT
The Clues of God
NINE
The Knowledge of God
TEN
The Problem of Sin
ELEVEN
Religion and the Gospel
TWELVE
The (True) Story of the Cross
THIRTEEN
The Reality of the Resurrection
FOURTEEN
The Dance of God
Epilogue: Where Do We Go from Here?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
I find your lack of faith-disturbing.
-Darth Vader
The Enemies Are Both Right
There is a great gulf today between what is popularly known as liberalism and conservatism. Each side demands that you not only disagree with but disdain the other as (at best) crazy or (at worst) evil. This is particularly true when religion is the point at issue. Progressives cry out that fundamentalism is growing rapidly and nonbelief is stigmatized. They point out that politics has turned toward the right, supported by mega-churches and mobilized orthodox believers. Conservatives endlessly denounce what they see as an increasingly skeptical and relati
