Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical
Digital Logos Edition
Please Note: Due to licensing restrictions, this product is only available for purchase in the United States and Canada.
Overview
We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives?
In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.
- Discusses the relevancy of Christianity in modern times
- Explains how faith and religion are more important than ever
- Preface: The Faith of the Secular
- Part 1: Why Does Anyone Need Religion?
- Isn’t Religion Going Away?
- Isn’t Religion Based on Faith and Secularism on Evidence?
- Part 2: Religion Is More Than You Think It Is
- A Meaning That Suffering Can’t Take from You
- A Satisfaction That Is Not Based on Circumstances
- Why Can’t I Be Free to Live as I See Fit, as Long as I Don’t Harm Anyone?
- The Problem of the Self
- An Identity That Doesn’t Crush You or Exclude Others
- A Hope That Can Face Anything
- The Problem of Morals
- A Justice That Does Not Create New Oppressors
- Part 3: Christianity Makes Sense
- Is It Reasonable to Believe in God?
- Is It Reasonable to Believe in Christianity?
- Only in God
Top Highlights
“To state that there is no God or that there is a God, then, necessarily entails faith. And so the declaration that science is the only arbiter of truth is not itself a scientific finding. It is a belief.” (Page 35)
“Sociologists Peter Berger and Grace Davie report that ‘most sociologists of religion now agree’ that the secularization thesis—that religion declines as a society becomes more modern—‘has been empirically shown to be false.’” (Page 24)
“Terrible deeds have been done in the name of religion, but secularism has not proven to be an improvement.” (Page 12)
“He now believes that secular reason alone cannot account for what he calls ‘the substance of the human.’ He argues that science cannot provide the means by which to judge whether its technological inventions are good or bad for human beings. To do that, we must know what a good human person is, and science cannot adjudicate morality or define such a thing.10 Social sciences may be able to tell us what human life is but not what it ought to be.” (Page 12)
“People believe in God not merely because they feel some emotional need, but because it makes sense of what they see and experience. Indeed, we have seen that many thoughtful people are drawn toward belief somewhat unwillingly. They embrace religion because they think it is more fully true to the facts of human existence than secularism is.” (Page 23)
Making Sense of God isn’t so much a series of answers for those who think they have questions (like The Reason for God) as it is a series of questions for those who think they have answers.
—Andrew Wilson, The Gospel Coalition
I’ve read six other books by Keller, but Making Sense of God may now be my favorite... The skeptic is paid the respect he deserves... All sides are invited into a conversation (no bomb throwing allowed) where each participant is reminded that they utilize both faith and reason.
—David George Moore, Patheos
Timothy Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia; associate professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.
Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and his three young sons. For over 20 years, he has led a diverse congregation of young professionals with a weekly attendance of over 5,000.
He is also president of Redeemer City to City, which starts new churches in New York and other global cities and publishes books and resources for faith in an urban culture. Over the past 10 years, the organization has helped launch over 200 churches in 35 cities. More recently, Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over one million copies and been translated into 15 languages.
Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Timothy Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”
