Manhattan Gospel
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
by Timothy Keller
Dutton, 2008
(320 pages, $24.95, hardcover)
reviewed by Louis Markos
Ever since Socrates set up his table in the agora of Athens and challenged his fellow citizens to debate with him the true nature of wisdom, courage, and justice, philosophers have been accused of being naive and impractical disturbers of the peace. Cut off from the real-life concerns of everyday mortals, they live with their heads perpetually in the clouds. Apologetics, inasmuch as it is a branch of philosophy, has borne its own share of criticism from cynics and pragmatists who consider its answers too pat, its reasoning too abstract, and its premises too otherworldly.
It is therefore a cause for rejoicing that the author of the best recent book of apologetics is a man who can hardly be accused of living and working in an ivory tower, divorced from the struggles of his readers. Timothy Keller, the charismatic pastor of the 6,000-member Redeemer Presbyterian Church, lives and works in the heart of Manhattan, where he wrestles side-by-side not only with orthodox believers but also with seekers and skeptics, feminists and environmentalists, conservative businessmen and liberal activists, wealthy celebrities and the urban poor. For nearly two decades, he has ministered to his diverse and growing flock and has listened— really listened—to their questions and doubts, their frustrations and fears, their sorrow and their rage.
The Reason for God is a passionate and compassionate book written by a working pastor whose experience has taught him— really taught him—to love sinners. Keller is as unswerving in his pursuit of truth as he is non-judgmental in his embrace of modern and postmodern truth-seekers. Though he presents the gospel clearly and forcefully, his goal is not simply to win converts; he wants his readers to know that an intimate relationship with Christ can free them to become fuller, less judgmental, less self-centered people.
Identity & Addiction
In a bold move, Keller asserts that the Christian doctrine of original sin is good news. Our modern (and postmodern) society has taught us that we are all victims in some way, fated to be what we are to some degree by our genes or our upbringing or our environment or our socio-economic status. While not discounting the devastating effects of racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression, Keller asserts that the knowledge of our own sinfulness provides us with hope that we are not “simply the helpless victim[s] of psychological drives or social systems.” As sinners, we are not slaves to fate, but moral agents made in the image of God who have fallen away from our original purpose and proper relation toward God, ourselves, our neighbors, and the natural world. It is only after we awaken to our own sinfulness, that we can, with God’s help, seek restoration and wholeness both by forgiving others who have wronged us and asking forgiveness from those we have wronged.
“Every person,” Keller explains, “must find some way to ‘justify their existence,’ and to stave off the universal fear that they’re ‘a bum.’” The way most of us do this is by attaching our self-worth to something in this world: duty to our family, charitable service, career advancement, intimate relationships, artistic development, self-discipline, social popularity, the acquisition of power or wealth, and so on. Whether these pursuits are religious or secular, self-negating or self-serving, corporate or individualistic, they eventually come to define us as individuals.
And that is when the problem begins. “Identity apart from God is inherently unstable. Without God, our sense of worth may seem solid on the surface, but it never is—it can desert you in a moment.” Sooner or later, all those who seek self-worth apart from their Creator find that they have built their identities upon sand. In the end, they crash and burn and are left alienated from their true, inner selves.
Worse yet, writes Keller, an “identity not based on God also leads inevitably to deep forms of addiction.” And, sadly, it often happens that the nobler the cause, the deeper the addiction. We are so made that we must protect our self-worth and identity at all costs, even if that means enslaving ourselves to an idol that slowly devours our true nature.
The Real Culture War
Louis Markos , Professor in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University, holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities. His 19 books include Lewis Agonistes; Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C. S. Lewis; On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis; and From A to Z to Narnia with C. S. Lewis.
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