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The End of Faith. The God Delusion. God Is Not Great. Letter to a Christian Nation. Bestseller lists are filled with doubters. But what happens when you actually doubt your doubts?

Although a vocal minority continues to attack the Christian faith, for most Americans, faith is a large part of their lives: 86 percent of Americans refer to themselves as religious, and 75 percent of all Americans consider themselves Christians. So how should they respond to these passionate, learned, and persuasive books that promote science and secularism over religion and faith? For years, Tim Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced ?doubts? skeptics bring to his Manhattan church. And in The Reason for God, he single-handedly dismantles each of them. Written with atheists, agnostics, and skeptics in mind, Keller also provides an intelligent platform on which true believers can stand their ground when bombarded by the backlash. The Reason for God challenges such ideology at its core and points to the true path and purpose of Christianity.

Why is there suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Why isn?t Christianity more inclusive? Shouldn?t the Christian God be a god of love? How can one religion be ?right? and the rest ?wrong?? Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God? These are just a few of the questions even ardent believers wrestle with today. In this book, Tim Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations and reasoning, and even pop culture to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.

Customer Reviews:

• When in doubt...
  If you are an unbeliever looking for intelligent arguments in defense of Christianity, or if you are believer who is looking to equip yourself with educated thoughts when discussing/defending Christianity, this book is a great source. Dr. Tim Keller is highly academic, so you may need to keep a dictionary nearby, but it is filled with jewels of wisdom. ...more info
• Poor logic abounds
  I'm happy to read both sides of the faith question, and so bought this book with the hopes that Keller would come up with something new. In fact, his logic is often poor and easily refuted. I'm about half way through it, and though I intend to continue and finish, I've "lost faith" in the author's ability to reason logically.
  
  For example, he sets up a straw man argument, claiming that "skeptics" have a "faith" of their own when they claim that doubt is, itself, a "leap of faith." It is not a leap of faith to posit that no invisible pink unicorn is staring over my shoulder, just as it is not a leap of faith to posit that no supreme deity exists, since no proof of one has been produced. If you make an extraordinary claim, you must have extraordinary proof. He has none.
  
  I'm also fond of his Pascal's Wager reasoning: "The speaker is betting his or her life that no God exists who would hold you accountable for your beliefs and behavior is you didn't feel the need for him." This is a childish scare tactic. The bogeyman will get you if you don't believe! In fact, he misses the point. It isn't that I don't believe in (his version of) God because I don't want to; it's because believing in (his version) of God is no more reasonable or logical to me than believing in Thor or Isis.
  
  This man can't take off his God-colored glasses long enough to actually understand and refute skeptics' arguments. I will finish the book, but I'm singularly unimpressed with it so far.
  
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• thought provoking
  From the first page to the last. This book should be a must read to all that are searching. It is most thought provoking in the 1st read, and then more enlightening on the next, and the next and then the next. I borrowed a copy of this book and then bought two for myself, with one to share.
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• There are many reasons to read this outstanding book.
  Timothy Keller deals effectively with the reasons many reject Christianity, provides strong reasons why belief in God is rational, offers excellent reasons why the resurrection of Jesus was historical, and reminds us of the profound reason for Jesus' ministry on earth. ...more info
• Not for the weak in mind.....
  Timothy Keller's book, THE REASON FOR GOD is not light reading. It answers age old questions which are the stumbling blocks to non-believers AND it answers them in a remarkably fresh and solid manner. If you've ever questioned your beliefs or if you wonder why the world has so many who profess to be Christians, this book will give the answers. It's tops on my book list!...more info
• No reason NOT to read this book
  In A Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Timothy Keller answers questions that have been posed to him about God. The questions are from a variety of people with a variety of backgrounds and are the same questions that many of us have but don't know who to ask. Timothy responds to these deep and oftentimes difficult questions in a way that balances easiness to understand with breadth of knowledge. I liked this book so much I bought two of them and gave one to a friend, who read it and gave it to a friend, who read it and ... In 6 months the book has changed-hands 10 times and still going....more info
• Concise, Clear Arguments
  It starts strongly with the almost paradoxical problem that the special grace offered by God through Jesus requires substantial reflection and justification when compared to the acts-based grace of other religions. I wrote paradoxical because in Judaism, acts matter, what you believe is secondary, nice, but not damning by absence. Jews think of this as superior to Christianity, but it allows very sloppy thinking, which the carefulness of Keller shows.
  
  The highlight of the book is really on pages 58-62. These words would and will turn many thoughtful non-Christians into acolytes.
  
  If I could add one thing to the early text, it would be a reference to G?del's Incompleteness theorem. Most people think it means that nothing humans conjure contains the all truth or all causes. In effect, everything is faulty: so your belief is just as valid as my belief - another argument for relativity or nihilism. However, what Incompleteness really implies is that there is a reality out there, outside our closed thoughts, and that reality may just be god: a wonderful belief that rests on extremely solid, non-religious ground: a real proof no different than vertical angles are congruent in plane geometry....more info
• A Thoughtful Answer to Skeptics, Atheists, and Postmodernists
  This book takes on many arguments commonly put forward by atheists and skeptics, including high profile atheists such as Richard Dawkins. Keller also takes on some of the thinking of liberal protestant theologians. He has an excellent grasp of the times and addresses themes that are commonly encountered in university settings and generally in our culture. Keller is obviously a well read guy, as he draws on a vast range of literary, scientific, and historical sources to develop his arguments. He identifies himself as being primarily influenced by C.S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards. Definitely worth reading, especially for a good summary of modern athiest/liberal intellectual thought...more info
• Reasonable
  At last, here is a crisp intellectual reply to the challenges raised by secular, humanist and atheistic thinkers against Christian doctrine and belief. Tim Keller addresses their most common and pointed questions in an eloquent, firm and thoughtful way. Best of all, he does so without the rancor, sarcasm and arrogance that have typified so many of the challengers themselves. He invites people to seek the truth, and offers solid, sensible supporting points for each argument.
  
  He readily admits the profound harm and mistakes that have been made by those claiming to be Christians who act contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the early church. By drawing a distinction to clarify the true message and beliefs of the faith, he dispels multiple misinterpretations and misconceptions about Christianity. His moderate voice of love and tolerance towards others has already led so many people to think through the profound implications of their belief systems in Manhattan. This book reflects his decades of street-level experience in New York.
  
  Mr. Keller's reasoned approach contrasts sharply with the shrill and emotional outbursts so common in our "progressive" post-modern age. His work is a welcome and worthy successor to that of his proclaimed predecessor, C.S. Lewis....more info
• Gifted Christian Apologist
  Great book if you want to understand the arguements for and against Christianity. Really helps conquer doubts. Don't read it if you don't want to be challenged!...more info
• A fine piece of relevant apolgetic writing
  I first came across Tim Keller when I heard an mp3 of him speaking at the 2006 Desiring God National Conference. The subject was `The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Post-modern World". Keller struck me as highly intelligent, well read, and an excellent thinker in general. His foundation and argument for an `exclusive' Christianity was extremely refreshing and well thought out. In this volume, The Reason for God, Keller has constructed water-tight arguments for the Christian faith, as well as highly logical and intelligent answers to common objections to Christianity.
  
  
  Part 1 of the book is sub-titled `The Leap of Doubt'. Keller answers the 7 most common moral and philosophical objections to Christianity. These are:
  
  
  1. There Can't be Just One Religion
  
  2. How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?
  
  3. Christianity is a Straightjacket
  
  4. The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice
  
  5. How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
  
  6. Science Has Disproved Christianity
  
  7. You Can't Take the Bible Literally
  
  
  Keller's experience in answering these questions is obvious. He is head pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. In what is generally thought of as the bastion of secularism and modernism, Keller planted and grew a church which, today, has over 5,000 regular attendees. He approaches each objection carefully and considerately. Keller is no Dawkins; he is considerate and understanding of the other side of the argument. His logic and clear thinking, though, exposes the flaws and fallacies which are pertained in many of the assumptions behind these objections.
  
  
  The second part is called `The Reasons for Faith'. Chapters are as follows:
  
  
  1. The Clues to God
  
  2. The Knowledge of God
  
  3. The Problem
  
  4. Religion and the Gospel
  
  5. The (True) Story of the Cross
  
  6. The Reality of the Resurrection
  
  7. The Dance of God
  
  
  Keller, here, lays down solid philosophical and logical foundations for why Christianity makes sense and why believing in God is, in fact, a fairly reasonable thing. Broadly, the reasonableness of faith is supported here. Keller, though, does set out to try and prove God exists. He states explicitly that he cannot do that. He says:
  
  
  "We should not try to "look into the sun" as it were, demanding irrefutable proofs for God. Instead we should "look at what the sun shows us." Which account of the world has the most "explanatory power" to make sense of what we see in the world and in ourselves?"
  
  
  Indeed, what Keller sets out to do is to explain why Christianity does provide the best and most convincing answers to the big questions. Keller is one of a band of evangelical Christian preachers and writers who invite, and force, Christians and skeptics to use their minds. This book is an excellent example of this. The writing style is accessible to almost anyone. The book is well researched and well constructed. It is written for skeptics and non-believers. It will challenge them to think hard before dismissing Christianity. Similarly, the book is an invaluable tool for Christians who wish to better understand their faith and the reasons for it. It will also provide believers with a solid apologetic foundation with which to defend their faith. Keller's approach is summed up in this passage:
  
  
  "Whether you consider yourself a believer or a skeptic, I invite you to seek [honestly] and to grow in an understanding of the nature of your own doubts. The results will exceed anything you can imagine."
  
  
  This book is great. A must-read for those in both camps.
  ...more info
• Articulate, Honest, Approachable
  I appreciate the honesty, the straight-forward approach that Keller takes with faith objections. The book is palatable and engaging no matter where you stand in relationship with the Christian faith. I have used this book with a neighborhood book club with several faiths represented. Each person was able to approach the objections addressed with honest conversation. Some came out on the other side believing differently than they entered. Keller has a way bringing clarity to spiritual conversations that can tend to lack groundedness in reality. Overall, this was a very helpful, engaging book....more info
• He is risen!!
  In the shrewd analysis of Timothy Keller (no relation to Helen), "The Reason for God" comes down to this: "If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all he said. If he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said?" (p. 202). And that is so true!
  
  Jesus of Nazareth DID rise from the dead, so everyone can just forget about Plan B. And yet, Jesus has sometimes been criticised for not sticking it out in the tomb as long as he promised before making his escape--which is one of those things that Keller's book frankly forces us to accept. Jesus said he would stay dead for three days and three nights (e.g., Matthew 12:38-40). He was taken down from the cross at sunset on Friday. By midnight, his body was wrapped in a winding sheet and stored in Joseph of Arimathaea's tomb, with an exit scheduled for Monday evening. And less than thirty hours later, VAVOOM, he's gone! Then came that first predawn visit from his mother and Mary Magdalene, and the rest is history.
  
  I may not be Jesus' biggest fan, but I say let the critics hang. Let them - not for 72 hours but for two MINUTES - nose the inside of a stifling, damp, cobwebby, maggot-infested stone tomb. Better yet, let them sleep in one. And then let them wake up dead on a stone slab, in the middle of the night, like Boris Karloff, in a crypt that is sealed up so tight you can't breathe, and it's so pitch-dark in there that you cannot even see the glow from your own halo.
  
  Truly, it was no picnic for Jesus, not even after they took him down and put him away for the weekend. ESPECIALLY then. You may call it "Holy Week." That's not what Jesus called it. I'll tell you what Jesus called it. Jesus called it "Maundy Thursday," "Bad Friday," "Easter Sunday," and GETMEOUTAHERE Saturday.
  
  Timothy Keller doesn't call the Lord's early-bird Resurrection a "mistake." He calls it improvisational quick-thinking, and I totally agree with him. I don't care if your name is David Blaine, if you were trapped inside that tomb, you would not have stayed one minute longer than Jesus did. For a moment, just imagine yourself inside that dark stone crypt with the risen Lord: here lies the body, just starting to stir. There's you, a devout, born-again Christian--even so, I still would not be too surprised if you pounded lumps on him to be the first one out. And if you should ever happen to be trapped inside a small stuffy elevator with a stabbed-dead body during a power-outage, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.
  
  After just thirty hours, Jesus' injuries had not yet had time to heal - but that, actually, turned out to be a big plus. It was the sight of those wounds that totally convinced grumpy Thomas, for example, that Jesus' literal physical body had literally passed through the stone wall of the tomb without exiting by the door. Later, when he showed himself to doubting Thomas, Jesus said, "Go ahead! Reach hither your finger, and touch my hands." So Thomas did that.
  
  Then Jesus hoisted his robe. "Now reach hither your hand," he said, "and thrust your fingers into the spear-hole in my side, and be not faithless, but believe!" (John 20:27).
  
  Now when Jesus lifted his robe to display a deep wound in his side where no wound should be, from the spear of Felix Fabius, several of the Eleven were totally embarrassed, not unlike the Washington press corps when President Lyndon Johnson hoisted his shirt to display the scar from his recent and successful cholecystectomy.
  
  But it was exactly the right thing for Jesus to have done at that particular moment. Jesus did not borrow his "Check it out!" stratagem from President Johnson; he borrowed it from his mother, who had told him the story of her own similar "challenge of faith" to skeptical Salome, at the Virgin birth, as recorded also in the Gospel of James.
  
  The device worked perfectly to restore the faith of grumpy Thomas, who jerked his hands behind his back and said, "My Lord!" and "My God!" (John 20:28). Thomas was aghast - for he knew Salome personally, and she had told him her own version of the same frightening story from thirty years ago.
  
  No WAY was Thomas going to poke his fingers in there.
  
  Jesus said, "Thomas, because you have seen, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and believed, anyway" (John 20:29).
  
  And that saying cut Thomas's heart to the quick: for even though he went on to write a much-beloved holy scripture (the Gospel of Thomas, which helped Saint Paul and the Church patriarchs to establish Christ's position on "the problem with Jews"), poor grumpy Thomas never did feel as lucky or well-blessed as these people who can believe whatever the Bible says, without seeing any evidence that it might actually be true.
  
  - L.
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• Before you rant, read Keller.
  What's your favorite rant against Christianity? What hypocrisy about the religion just really turns you off? Before you open mouth and insert foot, read this book. Keller addresses many of the tough questions that any Christian or anyone who believes in God struggles with. I first listened to this book on compact disc then I ordered it. I think he is the C.S.Lewis of our generation. ...more info
• Reason for God, a Reason to Look Into
  Timothy Keller, an apologetics minister in New York gives a deep, thought provoking case for God using the laws of reason. If you claim you don't believe in God, think again.
  
  With books like C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, and Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ, Timothy Keller's Reason for God serves as a top tier source for serious skeptics searching for the real God.
  
  Timothy Keller makes you think with this book, so deep, that there is no reason to believe that there cannot be a God. I highly recommend it!
  
  http://makingsense.proboards27.com...more info
• Alright, I liked some sections more than others ...
  I liked some sections more than the others because there were things, I think could be revised/corrected or said differently.
  1.) Author says that creationism is opposed to science. Id doubt that any creationist think that molecule of water is not made of 1 molecule of oxygen and 2 molecules of hydrogen. Unless this, or something similar [i.e. scientific] is brought into discussion, it is hard to agree with him. What creationism is opposed is not science. It is Darwinism. (see The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design for more information. This is not a strictly creationist book, but the great one to show distinction between Darwinism and science)
  2.) It was very interesting that the author left out teleological argument for the Gog's existence out from his chapter on arguments for God's existence. This is not good, because it is one of the, of not the, most powerful arguments in my mind. But that's I guess is somewhat subjective opinion. Furthermore, he could include the argument from the universal religious experience... (see Philosophy of Religion: Second Edition for more on that).
  3.) Author never brings Intelligent Design movement with its arguments into discussion. For instance, irreducible complexity, specified complexity and the Dembski's explanatory filter would be good additions. (see Understanding Intelligent Design: Everything You Need to Know in Plain Language (ConversantLife.com?) for intro. or The Design Revolution: Answering The Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design for more thorough treatment of ID).
  4.) It makes an impression as if an author wages war on 'moralists'. Here I mean, that by reading the book, one has an impression that morality is of little significance. From what I generally understand, morality is based ON the nature of God, and hence objective and reflects what is good. But by reading the book, I had a feeling that standing for what is right is reduced to a position of little use, or even to being 'bigot' , or something worse. This of course may be my misreading. I personally skeptical of a phrase that 'church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum of saints' or something of that sort. What makes both of those self-excluding. There is nothing in the nature of this statement that shows that 'hospital for sinners' and 'museum of saints' is somehow a dichotomy. Why not be both?
  5.) Authors treats 'Natural Law' in wrong way. I personally think he misunderstood or misrepresented what the Natural Law is. He describes Natural Law as a descriptive law - that is as something that is simply describes how things are in nature. But generally, a Natural Law refers to a prescriptive moral law that is a part of a nature, a part of a created world, [Romans 1] even though not something empirically measurable, but still no less objective. I guess for better treatment see What We Can't Not Know: A Guide or Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law.
  
  
  Otherwise, Christian doctrines are presented correctly from what I understand; i.e. exclusivity of Christianity, substitutionary atonement, etc. I wont' give more details, because other reviewers pointed them out. I simply added what I think was missing in reviews.
  Overall worth reading, or listening on CD....more info
• Thought provoking
  This book brought thought provoking angles that need to be considered when searching for truth. It is imperative that each person search for the truth and meaning to life. Jesus said seek and you will find. To go through life aimlessly is eternally fatal. Jesus is truth and the truth leads to Jesus, Gods Son. I love the picture that the author portrays in the chapter on the dance, and Gods perfect love. That makes sense and gives hope!...more info
• The best Christian apology I have read
  Timothy Keller can make difficult matters clear and don't let one's interest die. I made numerous notes about his arguments which for me were satisfying. I looked some harsh critiques of these book which make one sad. How can we understand this world in so totally different way? Nothing that atheists argue does not persuade believers and similarly the believers' arguments are futile when one is an atheist.
  
  I do not have anything important to add to those positive reviews. I just wanted to recommend this book, because it is the best Christian apology I have read - and I have read a lot of them....more info
• Excellent overview of the "whys"
  I was looking for a "complete" synopsis of the issues that non-believers raise. This was it. A very learned Pastor/Educator recommended it to me & he was right....more info
• Better than most
  This text tackles some very tough questions. Is there a God? Who was Jesus? Did Jesus rise from the dead? Isn't it naive to believe the bible in today's scientific oriented world?
  The answers are not always as specific as a seeker might like, of course if there were easy answers the riddle would have been solved long ago.
  Keller's approach is to answer some of those issues by questioning the alternative theories, finding equally unprovable arguments on the secular, strong rationalism side.
  The reader is left with the unequivocal answer that though specific tangible proof in God and the resurrection may be lacking, there is sufficient evidence to support belief as at least as reasonable and rational as non belief.
  The book stimulates thought on the subjects in question. That, of course, is the point....more info
• you better be willing to use your brain
  I was a little disappointed in this book, probably because I have listened to a lot of Tim Keller's messages and I guess I was hoping for new ideas in this book. I didn't find many points that I hadn't already heard him speak about but that doesn't mean his points aren't intelligent and helpful because they are. I was hoping to give this book to some friends, but after reading it, I think it's too intellectual for them to want to read it. It's a well written, clear, helpful book . . .expectations are a bummer....more info
• A Strong Resource for Skeptics Wanting Answers
  Keller has produced a strong, intellectual defense of Christianity in this book largely written for skeptics. That's what makes it different from a lot of apologetic books, which seem to be written more for Christians. This will be good for them as well since Keller has drawn much of his discussion from actual interactions with skeptics. Many of his points are framed logically, which will appeal to skeptics who often fancy themselves intellectuals. (See Is the Truth Out There? for more on the thinking side of Christianity.) It is good instruction for Christians also since they often focus too much on the emotion side of faith.
  
  Keller alludes to the growing realization that the denominations and labels that divide Christians are not as solid and clear as some think. In other words, skeptics shouldn't look at divisions as "different Christianities" and Christians should embrace their diversity and learn from each other.(Keller isn't arguing for some sort of open-tent policy, in fact he strongly argues against relativism). Another good point that Keller makes to skeptics and Christians alike is that there is a big difference between core, orthodox beliefs and secondary issues. The latter is what Christians often find themselves dividing over.
  
  The content of Keller's answers to skeptics don't necessarily cover any new ground, as apologists will note. In fact, Keller often quotes C.S. Lewis, the great mind that addressed these issues decades ago. But again, Keller's strength is in his presentation and focus on thinking these things through. He also makes some strong arguments for the inherent evidence of God in morals and where sin fits into God's world.
  
  Perhaps Keller's only weakness in this book is that he skims over science issues. He rightly points out that what many skeptics claim is science, is actually infected with their belief system. Often evolution ceases being a scientific theory and becomes a philosophy. He also points out that belief or non-belief in evolution isn't a demarcation line for believing in God. However, he uses this to gloss over the issues raised in Genesis - the ones skeptics use for skepticism and some Christians exasperate with their theories.
  
  He doesn't seem to be familiar with the scholars who have addressed these issues and have shown Genesis as a strong apologetic tool (The Genesis Question: Scientific Advances and the Accuracy of Genesis). He looks to the work of Francis Collins and his theistic evolution almost as an easy way out to silence the debate. Too many Christians are following this uncritical path. He refers to Collins' science evidences for God in the universe, but Collins wasn't the first nor the best in this subject (More Than a Theory: Revealing a Testable Model for Creation, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is and The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God).
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• A Good Read for the Intellectually Honest
  Keller's Reason for God is the perfect book for thinking believers and non-believers. Keller's heart as a Pastor shines through, as he inserts true accounts of his interactions with skeptical churchgoers in his Manhattan church with cogent arguments for God's existence and for the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in particular.
  
  The first half of the book deals with the existence of God. Keller does a masterful job of pointing out the presuppositions of the most popular objections to God's existence. He reviews the classic arguments for God's existence, but never with a smug "this solves everything" approach. Keller is humble, gracious and winsome, a welcome antidote to the bluster of Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens.
  
  The second half of the book takes up the particular issue of Christian faith. If one is convinced that God exists, why the God of the Bible? Again in this section, Keller's intent is not to provide irrefutable proofs, but through gentle questioning to point the reader toward the evidence for the uniqueness of the Christian message.
  
  Keller shows that Christian faith is far from a blind leap but is instead founded on tracing the evidence of the Biblical account to see if it accords with life as it is.
  
  There are no new arguments in the book, but I would also say that there haven't really been any new arguments from Dawkins, Harris, etc. either. There is nothing there that can't be found in works from half a century ago. Science and biblical scholarship may both provide us with nuance but neither at this point is really providing us with new paradigms. Fundamentally, one must believe in a pre-existent God or in pre-existent matter. Keller helps us see that to believe in God and the Bible's account of God is not a far-fetched belief in fairies or a "flying spaghetti monster" but is a reasonable position to hold in light of the world as it is, beautiful, fallen, and redeemable. ...more info
• Good Reasons for Believing in God!
  I believe it was in 1988 when I attended a weekend conference in New Jersey where Tim Keller was the speaker. He was then telling people about his plans to move to New York City, to Manhattan, to start a conservative Presbyterian church there. He felt called to minister to a large city population at a time when many churches were fleeing to the suburbs. Dr. Boice, the then senior pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in downtown Philadelphia, had a similar commitment to large city ministry and I have often wondered if he had influenced Keller in his decision. I don't know the answer to that question. On the other hand, many wondered at Keller's decision. Probably not because of any lack of perceived need but rather because of the magnitude of the task. He wasn't proposing to join an already established conservative, evangelical ministry (there probably wasn't one, all of the old ones had already left), but rather to start one in downtown Manhattan! I moved to Wichita in 1990 and have heard very little of Keller since then. This book, Reason for God, is the first book of Keller's that I have read. I was delighted to read it not only because of the content (more below - this is a review!) but also because it has filled in the details of his Manhattan ministry. He has apparently been wildly successful in his endeavors! I learned about this book from Lauren Green on the Fox News channel, Green being a member of Keller's congregation. This book is based on Keller's ministry and experiences with the skeptical residents of Manhattan. What are the real questions that people are asking? What answers does the Christian faith have to offer to those questions? Just how relevant is Christianity to this modern world? How best can Christianity be presented to skeptical enquirers? Is this the Apostle Paul in Athens or in Corinth? No, it is Keller in Manhattan! According to New York magazine: "With intellectual, brimstone-free sermons that mange to cite Woody Allen alongside Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Keller draws some five thousand young followers every Sunday. Church leaders see him as a model of how to evangelize urban centers across the country, and Keller has helped 'plant' fifty gospel-based Christian churches around New York plus another fifty from San Francisco to London."
  
  Keller encourages his readers to doubt, Christians as well as unbelievers. In the Introduction he writes: "People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic." "Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts - not only their own but their friends' and neighbors'." "My thesis is that if you come to recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians for theirs - you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first appeared." And with this he sets the stage for dialogue about serious questions. Throughout the book he uses this approach. Have you really understood the Christian message? If you doubt it, upon what are your doubts based? Are those doubts justified? For example, in Chapter 1 he discusses doctrine and how many think that doctrine is harmful and that what really matters are the teachings of major religions that seem similar. He responds as follows: "Ironically, the insistence that doctrines do not matter is really a doctrine itself. It holds a specific view of God, which is touted as superior and more enlightened than the beliefs of most major religions. So the proponents of this view do the very thing they forbid in others."
  
  Granted that at least some evil in the world does pose a problem, but I think Keller's take on it is a good one. He writes in Chapter 2: "Tucked away within the assertion that the world is filled with pointless evil is a hidden premise, namely, that if evil appears pointless to me, then it must be pointless. Again the reasoning is, of course, fallacious. Just because you can't see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn't mean there can't be one. [Remember Job.] Again we see lurking within supposedly hard-nosed skepticism an enormous faith in one's own cognitive faculties. If our minds can't plumb the depths of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can't be any! This is blind faith of a high order." Later in the same chapter he displays the fallacious logic of the atheist concerned with justice: "On what basis, then, does the atheist judge the natural world to be horribly wrong, unfair, and unjust? The nonbeliever in God doesn't have a good basis for being outraged at injustice, which, as Lewis [C.S. Lewis] points out, was the reason for objecting to God in the first place. If you are sure that this natural world is unjust and filled with evil, you are assuming the reality of some extra-natural (or supernatural) standard by which to make your judgment."
  
  Reminiscent of Phillip Johnson's lecture at Princeton University "Can Science Know the Mind of God?", Keller writes in Chapter 8: "if we can't trust our belief-forming faculties to tell us the truth about God, why should we trust them to tell us the truth about anything, including evolutionary science? If our cognitive faculties only tell us what we need to survive, not what is true, why trust them about anything at all? . . . If we believe God exists, then our view of the universe gives us a basis for believing that cognitive faculties work . . . I want to demonstrate that you already know that God does exist . . . belief that we cannot prove but can't not know."
  
  This is a good read, not only for Christians who want a better understanding themselves of basic issues of faith and to be able to give better answers to those who ask, but it is also a good read for non-Christians who are asking questions.
  ...more info
• Excellent Christianity 101 primer
  Like many individuals who did not become Christians until they were adults (being raised in an atheist family), I was greatly influenced by C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity when I first read it. Later I found Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith to be a second excellent "basic introductory textbook" to the Christian faith. The Reason for God can now be added as a third book that serves as a kind of Christianity 101 primer. In it the author answers basic question about Christianity that believers and non-believers alike struggle with. The subtitle of the book - Belief in an Age of Skepticism - indicates where the author will take you. The first portion of the book is entitled The Leap of Doubt and the second entitled The Reasons for Faith. The author tackles such basic questions as: 1) How is Christianity compatible with what we know of the world scientifically, 2) How can we make sense of and believe what is written in the Bible, 3) Does belief in the Christian God even make sense, 4) How can we understand the concept of Hell, 5) What does the cross mean for me, and so on. In essence, the author, in 14 chapters, answers most of the basic questions about how Christianity can make sense and why would someone become a Christian in an age of so much skepticism. In so doing he clears up many of the misconceptions about Christianity that so many non-believers often have. The writing is clear and straightforward. I recommend the book to anyone who has little knowledge of Christianity, to those who are seeking, and for those who struggle in their faith (and don't we all?). I did not give it 5 stars simply because I thought that inclusion of additional topics would have made the book more complete....more info
• All Sets of Beliefs are Just Different Flavors of Koolade, So Drink Up!
  The "Reason For God" updates the arguments made by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity by addressing the concerns of today's post-modern youth. A strength of this book is its good critiques of relativism, though as a nonbeliever I think he makes the wrong conclusion when he claims that the solution to relativism is theism. If I were a Christian, I'd definitely recommend it to young people with doubts. The book seems to be geared toward someone who had a Christian upbringing but began having doubts. I don't think he makes a strong case for belief in God for someone wo does not believe (probably because as far as I know, a strong case can't be made) so much as address the concerns of those who do already believe but have doubts.
  
  He makes the strong point that we need to hold our beliefs we are choosing as alternatives to Christianity to the same standards we use in doubting Christianity, but he ends up making his case by arguing that since our beliefs can not generally be proven, that we are making "leaps of faith" all the time. He says, "All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternate beliefs. You cannot doubt Belief A except from a position of faith in Belief B."
  
  He's set up "belief based on faith" as in opposition to "belief based on proof," which I don't think is the real issue. I would agree with him if he said "you cannot doubt Belief A except from a position of believing (rather than 'faith in') Belief B," but I can't see what is added to say that we must have FAITH IN Belief B unless he wants to say that belief in anything without proof is all he means by religious faith. Such a move reduces faith to simply be a synonym for belief since no beliefs (or at least very few of them) are thought to be conclusively proven. In effect he is saying that pretty much all beliefs are taken on faith. Can you prove conclusively that the earth is not only 10,000 years old? So, it's just faith then. Can the scientific method be used to justify itself? Then it's just faith. All our sets of beliefs are all just different flavors of Koolade, and Christianity tastes the best, so drink up!
  
  Religious faith is not simply the "leap of faith" in believing that the sun will rise tomorrow even though we can't prove it will in advance. Proof is not the issue at all. The issue is whether or not we are basing our beliefs on evidence. We may never have complete and conclusive evidence to justify every belief, but making our best guess based on the available evidence is not what we generally mean by faith.
  
  I think Keller is slippery in justifying the broad traditional view of faith as belief in someone else's account of someone else's revellation and fidelity to a religious tradition along with trust in God as if it were just another set of beliefs that we accept without proof by simply pointing out that we believe things without proof all the time. What we don't do is believe things without evidence all the time. We all generally want to think we have good reasons and evidence in support of our beliefs, but for some reason it is thought to be a virtue to believe in the absence of good reasons and evidence in one special category of beliefs, namely, religion, and we call that virtue, faith. See the oft cited "doubting Thomas" of John 20: "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
  
  In every other aspect of life, we would see it as a huge liability to not base our beliefs on evidence. Why should we make an exception for religious belief?However, Keller is doing his best to give his reasons for belief, so he is not making a straight-up appeal to faith in the way I've charaterized it. In most conversations I have with believers, we eventually reach a point where the believer admits her lack of evidence or good arguments and says something like, "that's why they call it faith." Keller never reaches such a point since his argument is that belief in Christianity is well-justified. I wonder what role he finds for faith if he believes that he really has made a good argument for belief in terms of evidence and reason. If we actually have good reason for God, why would we need faith? ...more info
• The new Mere Christianity
  Dr. Keller takes a very difficult and highly debated topic and writes in such clarity and conviction that make this book one of my favorites. I would recommend this book for Christians to strengthen their faith and nonChristians to open their minds....more info