Holy Week continues and over the last couple of days I have finished off a couple of books on my Kindle (the post is coming on that piece of wonder technology).
I read again the latest book by Tim Keller, “The reason for God: Belief in and Age of Skepticism”. I was just as impressed second time around and I paid more attention to the last part of the book which seems to be written especially for those who seek reasons for God or perhaps just seek faith. The strength of the book is that it helps the seeker (or the believer!) think about faith in a way that is honest to the difficulties but open to the one conclusion so left out of our modern world. That is, that there is a God, that God loves and cares for the world, indeed loves and cares for human beings specifically, and has secured a relationship between man and God forever. Keller, I think, especially helps by trying to help the questioner understand, “Just what exactly is my problem?” In many ways Holy Week exists within the church year to draw questions out of us but if they remain questions without answers then what’s the use?
The other book I finished off this week is “Outliers”, by Malcolm Gladwell. This is a book that is profoundly stimulating, but for me, in the end, not quite convincing. Gladwell writes the book to show that even those we see as true performance outliers amongst us are really the product of endless small but profound advantages acquired by being at the right place and the right time. There might be such a thing as genius but it is not what we think and, the book contends, change how we think about how genius is created and we can unleash more from among us. It is, in fact, a deeply hopeful book.
But I was not convinced. Gladwell comes from a Christian family (I do not know if he is a Christian himself) and their story is itself a wonder. Going from poor to privileged was for his family truly a journey through opportunities that were there at the time but soon gone. In the case of Gladwell’s ancestors yes those specific opportunities were there today and gone tomorrow. But would there not have been others? The impressive part of his own story to me is not the opportunities which happened to come along but the unshakable belief in something, in the possible, in his parents and grandparents. It seems to me that belief is the thing that delivers more than anything else the outlier destiny and that belief for Gladwell’s parents seems to be a belief in God our Father. Of course there are other stories in the book for which there is no Christian thread but in each case there is the thread of belief, belief that tomorrow could be better than today, and that next week could be better still. There is also a belief in work (Gladwell calls it “meaningful work”) which points to at least to belief in life being purposeful and having meaning. And I think at this point we get back to Tim Keller. Belief, purpose, God. How do these beliefs come about? Don’t they point to something? As Keller might say, are these more clues which point to God?
The greatest clue about God however is the at the end of Holy Week. The Christian contends that the world was made right at Easter. In Christ’s wounds our woulds were salved. In Christ’s isolation from the Father our isolation ended. In His condemnation we received forgiveness. In His brokenness we were made whole.
25“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
At Easter so may we all believe.
April 8th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I enjoyed reading chapter 13, of “The Reason for God”, by Tim Keller, where he discusses the resurrection. He asserts that if one does not accept or believe in the reality of the resurrection how can one explain the birth of the Christian Church. …”The resurrection also puts a burden of proof on its nonbeliervers. It is not enough to simply believe Jesus did not rise from the dead. You must then come up with a historically feasible alternate explanation for the birth of the church. You have to provide some other plausible account for how things began.”
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15: 3-6: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Chist died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have died.
What makes this such a bold assertion from Paul is that the letter was a “public document written only 15 to 20 years after the resurrection of Christ”. Many of the 500 people who saw this miraculous event were still alive and anyone could question them about it. For those of us who weren’t there with the disciples it’s good to think about why the resurrection is credible.
April 9th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Marie, there are a couple of things going on here at the same time.
Many people approach the resurrection thinking that “those things dont happen” and therefore, by definition, exclude that posssibility (i.e. that there was indeed a resurection) and try to find another way of explaining the fact that Christianity had to come from somewhere. Thus Keller’s point, if not the resurrection then where?
Second of all, if we allow that there might be a resurrection it changes how we look at the world. The resuurection makes our world pliable and changeable in ways that are actually pretty encouraging (if you ask me). It is not just that we know God can act, it is that we know that “the world can change”. That is to say, that the world can respond to efforts for change, and it doesn’t necessarily need to go to hell in a handbasket. Christians should always be optimistic people because of the fact of the resurrection.
The challenge for Christian people is to see the resurrection for what it is. It is not just a verdict on you and I (first condemnation and then exaltation) it is something that should shape every experience. That’s a fight for the Christian who is surrounded by influences in the opposite direction.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:15 am
I appreciate your insight and encouragement. Having reread my blog a couple of times now I realize that possibly it came across “exclusive” (to use a concept Keller talks about) and judgemental towards “nonbelievers” ie, seekers of God. Thats not what was intended. I am a Christian. However, during a period in my life I had serious doubts and struggles with my faith. As I have sought out answers to the questions I had, I came upon a book by Lee Strobel, “The Case for Christ.” In his book he talks of his own skepticism with the belief in a God and how Christ was the answer for humanity. As I was rereading “The Reason for God” I was able to refer back to some of the information from “The Case for Christ.” to find support for what Keller was talking about in chapter 13 (which I mentioned in my comment to your post). Specifically in relation to the reliability of the early writings from both the scriptures and secular documents that referred to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not to mention the large number of people he appeared to prior to ascending into Heaven. Again, thanks for your encouraging words and may God continue to bless you and your family during this Easter season.