The Reason for God 3

I haven't really updated this in a while, but since my last post I've finished Keller's book. Keller, in the next few chapters, continued to look at various objections to the Christian faith. The last half of the book turned to looking at reasons for believing that Christianity is true. Keller didn't attempt to prove Christianity, but rather wanted to provide clues to suggest that Christianity helps us make sense of the world more than any other religion (or non-religion).

I thought Keller was at his strongest when he was distinguishing between religion and the gospel. Now, most people consider Christianity a religion, but Keller means something very specific by the term "religion." Religion, for Keller, refers to any belief system that holds salvation comes through moral effort. The gospel of Christ, then, isn't religion since it proclaims that salvation is by grace alone. Here is one quote from that chapter:

"The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less."