New Book - The Reason for God

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

I just got my new book, The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. Even though I have heard lots of good things about this book and I have read several great reviews, the biggest draw to this book wasn't what I was hearing about the book from other readers. Sure, everything that I was hearing about the book was like the icing on the cake of my desire to have the book, but it wasn't the cake itself. The sponge of my "want" was the premise of the book, which can be found in the subtitle: Belief in an age of Skepticism.

You see, I am a Geometry teacher. I have been committed to this occupation long enough that it has finally become a part of me. It factors into how I think and specifically, how I reason. That is what much of Geometry is dedicated to, the study of reason. It is taking those mathematical and algebraic principles (which should have been learned) from the first several years of schooling and putting them into practice in a three-dimensional world.

I am rabbit-trailing though...

Here is a synopsis of the book from his website:

Why does God allow suffering in the world?

How could a loving God send people to Hell?

Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive?

How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”?

Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God?

These are just a few of the questions and doubts even ardent believers wrestle with today. As the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced “doubts” skeptics bring to his church as well as the most important reasons for faith. And in the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God, he addresses each doubt and explains each reason.

Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning 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.

When I read that, I was immediately intrigued. I had several other books on my shelf that needed dealing with, so I waited, but I finally decided to get it. While I was at it, I also purchased the Reason for God DVD, which contains 6 real conversations with real people and their doubts. Here are those 6 sessions on the DVD:

Session Titles and Descriptions:

Isn’t the Bible a Myth?
How Can You Say There Is Only One Way to God?
What Gives You the Right to Tell Me How to Live My Life?
Why Does God Allow Suffering?
Why Is the Church Responsible for So Much Injustice?
How Can God Be Full of Love and Wrath at the Same Time?

Here is a trailer for the DVD:

The Reason for God Trailer from Redeemer City to City on Vimeo.

I also purchased the Study Guide and I am going to be showing this series at my church. If you are a Danville reader and would be interested in joining us, I will have two different times that I will be showing this DVD. I will start it during my Sunday School class, and then I will also pick a night during the week. Let me know if you are interested.

The Seed and The Soil of Education (New Learning Project Part 1)

(This is my entry for the first part of my project for my New Learning course that I am taking.) Introduction Corn Fields in Illinois I have lived the majority of my life in the Midwest: mid-state Illinois to be specific. Where I live, farming is everywhere. My grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of my family were farmers. My dad grew up on a farm and owned farmland, well into my own adulthood. But, even if it wasn’t in the family, I still would have been surrounded by farming. You can’t go more than a mile outside of my city’s limits without encountering miles and miles of fields. Most of our highways, and even interstates, are located between acres of farmland.

This too shall pass...

Gam zeh ya'avor (Hebrew) "This Too Shall Pass" Welcome! According to Google Analytics, this is by far the most visited post that I have ever written. If someone comes here from a search engine, most of the time they are looking for " this too shall pass quote " or simply " this too shall pass " on Google or one of the other search engines. I am sure that most of the time visitors are looking for the originations of this quote, but I have to wonder, why is this quote on people's minds? Why are they pondering the passing of events? Here is my thought: It is probably because most of us have realized that the adult life is much harder than we ever imagined it to be. There is more pain and more sorrow than we had ever imagined as children, but we have learned that time keeps ticking. And as time continues to flow things pass. In fact, even the really big things and the really hard things will still pass. If you are here because you are thinking ...

The Minnesota Crime Commission wrote:

Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist.

HARMLESS THOUGHTS

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