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| The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 131 reviews)
Sales Rank: 293
Category: Book
Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Studio: Dutton Adult
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
Label: Dutton Adult
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 293
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0525950494
Dewey Decimal Number: 239
EAN: 9780525950493
ASIN: 0525950494
Publication Date: February 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A reason for this book September 3, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I tend to not like most Christian books mostly because most of what is written assumes that the reader believes the Bible to be absolute truth. This books addresses the more modern questions that people who are skeptical have about Christianity and belief in God in general. The responses to the questions were very clear and usually worked down to the real issues that one can make a personal decision about. This book is definitely worth reading and it may end up being a good tool to help examine your own beliefs regardless of what they may be.
Clear Reasoning about God and Christianity September 1, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Should be required reading for anyone who is a Christian, calls himself a Christian, has ever thought about being a Christian, has ever met a Christian, doesn't know what a Christian is (or even if you think you do!), or is absolutely certain that Christians have it "all wrong".
If you're a thinking person, it's for YOU!
Everyone should read this book September 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
After reading this wonderful, intelligent book, I plan to buy more and give as gifts for Christmas. No matter what you believe, you will find Tim Keller compelling and thought provoking.
Calling all skeptics...read this book August 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If any of these questions -- or questions like them -- are yours, you should read this book:
1. Science, logic and philosophy disprove Christianity, don't they?
2. Isn't Christianity an outdated religion rooted in superstition and fear?
3. How can an intellectual being accept that an all-powerful God demanded a perfect sacrifice for the redemption of his people?
4. Is there even a God at all?
5. Aren't we all just chemical by-products of a cosmic accident?
Tim Keller concisely, intelligently and respectfully shows that the Christian faith is much more logical and much more believable than the skeptical world is sometimes ready to accept. Keller makes a graceful case for Christianity without being argumentative or condescending. I don't think there has been such a clear book on this topic since Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
 Honeyed words signifying dogmatism, not intellect. August 23, 2008
26 out of 45 found this review helpful
As an atheist, I looked forward to reading this book to find what an intellectual and sophisticated believer would say to a skeptic. Keller leads with a convincing presentation of both skeptical and dogmatic viewpoints, and leads the reader to believe that he will "explode" the case for atheism and otherwise answer skepticism with convincing and highly reasoned arguments. However, for all his good writing and insistent good will, the intellectual tenor of this book is as hackneyed as they come- as classic an apologia as one might want to find from the last decade or the last century. His coups de grace generally invoke C. S. Lewis, whose chestnuts of apology hardly break new intellectual ground.
On the problem of evil, he concludes: "Just because you can't see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn't mean that can't be one." This is of course the old panglossian argument that all is for the good, at least by the mysterious ways of god. The problem is that scripture and religious believers have very definite ideas about what is just and unjust, to the point of a license to kill (the just war, not to mention the inquisition). So this cognitive humility foisted on the skeptic suddenly evaporates when the issue is, say, abortion, or the divinity of Jesus. The fact is that humans have an inborn and cultivated sense of morals, which is what they use to assess whether a religion is beneficial, not the other way around. Indeed, Keller then turns around to give secular reasons (the liberation of women) why Christianity was at its origin was more moral than its surrounding community. It is our subjective and evolving moral sense that is the criterion, not words on a page, let alone words from the bronze age.
On the problem of multiple religions, Keller presents an equally deficient and hackneyed solution. Quoting Alvin Plantinga in answer to the proposition that a Christian would in all probability be Muslim if raised in a Muslim society, he notes: "... If the pluralist had been born in Morocco he probably wouldn't be a pluralist. Does it follow that ... his pluralist beliefs are produced in him by an unreliable belief-producing process?". The problem with this formulation is that it ignores the reasoning at issue. The "leap of faith" that is required to take on religious belief is notoriously non-intellectual (as Keller admits in his introduction as being the "second barrier" to his personal faith, which was overcome with a personal experience of god's presence). This leap is socially conditioned, as is the expression of religious emotions generally. Thus the religious person takes on the religious forms she was born into with few exceptions. On the other hand, the skeptical reasoning process applies equally to all cultural settings, and results in a dismissal of each of the religious forms, resulting in a logically consistent and universal viewpoint rather than a parochially artistic product. There is no harm in valuing the many expressions of religious sentiment that humanity has generated over the millennia, but we should not mistake those expressions for intellect.
Ultimately, you should read this book if you want uplifting stories of how urban, hip (yet gullible) people joined the Redeemer church. But do not read this book if you are looking for deep intellectual discussions of skepticism and why one might honestly reason one's way to Christianity.
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