The Reason for God

This Sunday I continued with my church-hopping and went to a more contemporary evening service of a multi-campus church (Redeemer) that I had visited two weeks ago. I'm not sure if it is the right church for me yet, but wonderfully enough it happened to be a Sunday that they were giving out free copies of the pastor, Tim Keller's book "The Reason for God."

I knew that New York was going to be pretty different from a relatively conservative part of Texas. It's tough being in a class with 15 people in which only two raise their hands to acknowledge that they have read the Bible.

INTERJECTION: Sure, I have previously had and still have plenty of wonderful friends that would also not answer yes to that question. Yet, I still feel like where I come from, the majority grew up familiar with Christianity, go to church, etc.

So- what about it? Of course it makes me feel a little uncomfortable and foreign. However, I shouldn't be. I am in the city of "anything goes"! Maybe people can take that a little too far sometimes...but the point is, people are very open. Thus, I shouldn't feel like they are going to look down upon me. I will not look down upon them. AND I'm very excited to use this opportunity to explore doubt and search for truth in Christianity.

I'm only in the first chapter of Keller's book, but I can already tell it is going to be great, and I hope I can pass it on to someone else (by the church's orders ;) when I am done. And to wrap up my thoughts here I'd like to post a few excerpts from the introduction.

"We have come to a cultural moment in which both skeptics and believers feel their existence is threatened because both secular skepticism and religious faith are on the rise in significant, powerful ways. We have neither the Western Christendom of the past nor the secular, religionless society that was predicted for the future. We have something else entirely....

Each side should accept that both religious belief and skepticism are on the rise...I recommend that each side look at doubt in a radically new way.

I commend two processes to my readers. I urge skeptics to wrestle with the unexamined "blind faith" on which skepticism is based, and to see how hard it is to justify those beliefs to those who do not share them. I also urge believers to wrestle with their personal and culture's objections to the faith. At the end of each process, even if you remain the skeptic or believer you have been, you will hold your own position with both greater clarity and greater humility. Then there will be an understanding, sympathy, and respect for the other side that did not exist before. Believers and nonbelievers will rise to the level of disagreement rather than simply denouncing one another. This happens when each side has learned to represent the other's argument in its strongest and most positive form. Only then is it safe and fair to disagree with it. That achieves civility in a pluralistic society, which is no small thing."

I have to admit I've already begun the process. Just the other night I had an hour long discussion with my good friend Konstantine (Look Konstantine, I wrote about the Greek guy in my blog! ;)) on the doubts of religion, Christianity, creation, etc. And I'm quite excited to do it some more!

Well, I guess I should stop blabbing here and get to making my cookies! It's Marie's cookie night in the lounge!

But here's my challenge for tonight- What's your reason for God? Or what's your reason for no God?

Think about. And email me your own story of your faith if you'd like :)

violamad@gmail.com

Love,

Violamad