Well who doesn’t love Tim Keller? Keller is probably the most confident speaker that I still liked after listening to him. Not sure what it is, but I get him. Though I wish he appreciated some of the values of the emergent conversation, I see his some of his values as almost parallels (You would expect someone like me to say that wouldn’t you?).
Anyway, he was interviewed on Christianity Today’s site and here are some highlights. Full article here.
Also check out his new book The Prodigal God. (Yep, that’s two this year. He’s suddenly like Ryan Adams or something).
Are the doubts that believers face the same as the doubts that unbelievers face?
It’s your society that gives you the doubts. If you go to the Middle East and ask people what makes Christianity implausible, they’re not going to say, “Because there can’t be one true religion.” They’re going to say, “Because of how oppressive America has been as a Christian nation, and if you look at their culture, it’s lascivious and debauched.”
If you ask Americans, “What makes Christianity implausible to you?” they’re not going to say, “Your popular culture is filled with sex and violence.” They will say, “How could there be one true religion?” …
… I do think a lot of Christians — because they don’t understand the grace narrative — get out into the world and find it very tough to navigate. I think it’s because they don’t understand the gospel, not because they can’t answer all the theological questions.
You reject marketing apologetics like, “Christianity is better than the alternatives, so choose Christianity.” Why?
Marketing is about felt needs. You find the need and then you say Christianity will meet that need. You have to adapt to people’s questions. And if people are asking a question, you want to show how Jesus is the answer. But at a certain point, you have to go past their question to the other things that Christianity says. Otherwise you’re just scratching where they itch. So marketing is showing how Christianity meets the need, and I think the gospel is showing how Christianity is the truth.
C. S. Lewis says somewhere not to believe in Christianity because it’s relevant or exciting or personally satisfying. Believe it because it’s true. And if it’s true, it eventually will be relevant, exciting, and personally satisfying. But there will be many times when it’s not relevant, exciting, and personally satisfying. To be a Christian is going to be very, very hard. So unless you come to it simply because it’s really the truth, you really won’t live the Christian life, and you won’t get to the excitement and to the relevance and all that other stuff.
Many Christians say that the rationality of Christians’ faith is not the obstacle for unbelievers; they reject Christianity because of what they see as bad behavior and toxic attitudes.
There are always three reasons people believe or disbelieve: the intellectual, the personal, and the social…
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There’s more like why he doesn’t include intelligent design as an argument from creation and more cultural insight.
Thanks for sharing, Tim. I recently just bought “the Reason for God” by him and I’m really looking forward to it.
PS Nice website. I shall visit often.