Henry Williams

Okay, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skeptism by Tim Keller is the only book I've read this year (and I read most of it in 2010), but I don't think I'll read anything better this year. The first half takes on some of the big faith issues:

1. There Can't Be Just One True Religion
2. How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?
3. Christianity Is a Straitjacket
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

What I love about this book is that Keller's manner and method of addressing these issues is as informative as his answers. He is respectful at every turn yet manages to challenge and raise questions that skeptics (and our own skeptical minds) would rather avoid or simply neglect to ask.

The second half of the book builds a case for Christianity.

8. The Clues of God
9. The Knowledge of God
10. The Problem of Sin
11. Religion and the Gospel
12. The (True) Story of the Cross
13. The Reality of the Resurrection
14. The Dance of God

There is depth and insight here that I'll return to over and over again. I'm afraid I'll be quoting or stealing (I mean, borrowing) ideas from Keller way too much. I'll have to resort to saying "someone has said" and "I read somewhere" so as not to overuse his name. (Maybe I shouldn't have told anyone that.) Anyway, I highly recommend it.

This is also my number one recommendation as a book to give to a skeptic who likes to read and is willing to think. For those of you who have long commutes or spend a lot of time on a treadmill or stationary bike, consider the unabridged audio version.

The biblical story of creation in Genesis raises important questions regarding science and evolution that could be addressed in our "Story of God" series starting in small groups this next week and on January 15/16 in our services. The problem is that these questions are not central to the story or the purposes of this series, as important as they are. We will not be taking time in the messages or in the small groups to explore this issue. It will simply take too long and serve as a distraction.

If you want to delve into this important topic, I want to recommend two introductory resources.

"Is There Conflict Between Christianity and Science?" by Mark Driscoll on Facebook. This is a very quick overview of the topic. Great orientation and about as deep as most of us will want to go.
"Creation, Evolution and Christian Laypeople" by Tim Keller (click to download .pdf) goes deeper but still serves as a great introduction to the topic for those that want to take it to the next level.