The Reason for God 2

The next two doubts that Keller looks at are "how could a good God allow suffering?" and "Christianity is a straightjacket."

The first doubt is probably one of the toughest questions Christians have to ask themselves, I think. Keller doesn't only ask "why is there evil and suffering?" but also "why is there so much evil and suffering?" We may be understand why God allows some evil and suffering - I'm sure most people have had hard times and trials that they've learned from or have caused them to grow closer to God (the story of Joseph shows this, for example) - but there also seems to be a lot of pointless suffering and evil. Keller rightly points out that just because something appears pointless to us doesn't mean it is pointless.

Keller goes on to point out that Christianity is unique amongst all other religions in that it claims that God became human and shared in our suffering. Jesus faced rejection, despair, loneliness, poverty, torture, imprisonment and a brutal death. God suffers, in love, for his fallen creation. This, Keller says, doesn't explain evil and suffering, but it does explain what evil and suffering are not. God doesn't allow them because he doesn't love us - he isn't indifferent towards our sufferings because he took them on himself and has promised to end them.

The "Christianity is a straightjacket" objection goes something like this - Christianity makes absolute truth claims, which means it excludes people and means that it doesn't allow Christians the freedom to think for themselves.

Keller points out that all communities make truth claims and even communities that claim to be inclusive are exclusive towards some. Even a liberal democracy (a country that believes in individual human rights, the division between public and private, etc.) is exclusive towards those cultures that don't accept those beliefs. It is impossible for any culture to be totally inclusive. Part of this objection is that it says that Christianity isn't open to various cultures - it is an "enemy of pluralism." But Keller says that this history of Christianity shows otherwise. Christianity originally was centered in Jerusalem and dominated by Jews, but later moved to the Mediterranean, then Northern Europe, then western Europe and North America, and today is growing the most in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This is in contrast to religions like Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, which have largely remained centered in one geographic (and cultural) location.

Christianity, says Keller, is able to make truth claims but at the same time has been embraced by various cultures because there is much freedom in how Christianity's core beliefs (the Apostle's Creed, the Ten Commandments, etc.) are expressed. Freedom isn't the "absence of restrictions" but rather being made able to live the way we are supposed to live. "Freedom in Christ" doesn't mean we can believe or do whatever we want. It means that we are made whole through Christ's death and resurrection. We are free to be who we are called to be. This is the exact opposite of a "straightjacket."