Book review: The Reason for God

Those, like me, who find it hard to shy away from “heated discussions” will more than likely be keenly aware of the difference between winning the argument and pointing people to Jesus as Lord. Many times I’ve walked away from a conversation knowing very well that I’ve spent too much time arguing over questions about Christianity, and too little actually explaining the gospel, or for that matter even preparing the ground for the gospel to be proclaimed. It’s a problem, I feel, that is shared by many popular Christian apologetics books. There are some excellent books explaining the gospel, but my non-Christian friends often have so many questions to sort out before they would even begin to read those. On the other hand, the books that do start to answer these questions can be too limiting. They often present themselves as the the be all and end all in the argument over issue X, and are content to leave it at that. It's like my fiery conversations all over again, never pointing people to the next step.

The Reason for God however, is different. It deals with many of the same issues - “How can you say there’s only one way to God?”, “Can the Bible be trusted?”, “Hasn’t Science disproved Christianity?” - and yet there is a difference in the way Tim Keller treats these issues. As you read each chapter, you begin to realise that his focus isn’t on answering the question and winning the argument as such, but to convince the reader that the reasons for rejecting Christ are not as watertight as first thought. From that point, he then argues that faith in Christ is itself an intellectually honest and compelling way of looking at the world. What stops Tim Keller’s book from falling into the same trap as others is his honesty on the limitations of his method. Even when arguing for Christian faith, he is upfront in admitting that his arguments are “rationally avoidable”, ie. there is a way of explaining your way out of any of the arguments without resorting to stubbornness! As a result, his arguments focus as a means to encourage the reader to stop putting up barriers and to engage with the gospel of Jesus Christ, rather than to land the knock out blow in the argument itself.

For the Christian reader, there is much encouragement to be found in reading this book as an intellectual and compelling defence of the faith that we all share. More than that, it provides a useful corrective and exemplifies how to point to the gospel through our discussions for those, like me, who can get lost in the fog of arguments. For the non-Christian, although this may not be the book that helps them make the final connection that Jesus is Lord and King, it may help them reach a position that they would be prepared to begin investigating more closely the claims of Jesus Christ that they may never have thought reasonable before. A recommended read.

Mark Wilson, formerly of SMACC