R4G -4: "You Can't Just Outlaw Religion"

Timothy Keller in the first chapter of his book, The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism (R4G), makes the argument that outlawing religion will never bring and end to religion and especially Christianity. He then states what he means:

But this has not happened, and this "secularization thesis" is now largely discredited. Virtually all major religions are growing in number of adherents. Christianity's growth, especially in the developing world, has been explosive. There are now six times more Anglicans in Nigeria alone than there are in all of the United States. There are more Presbyterians in Ghana than in the United States and Scotland combined. Korea has gone from 1 percent to 40 percent Christian in a hundred years, and experts believe the same thing is going to happen in China. If there are half a billion Chinese Chris­tians fifty years from now, that will change the course of human history. In most cases, the Christianity that is growing is not the more secularized, belief-thin versions predicted by the sociologists. Rather, it is a robust supernaturalist kind of faith, with belief in miracles, Scriptural authority, and personal conversion.

Because of the vitality of religious faith in the world, efforts to suppress or control it often serve only to make it stronger. When the Chinese Communists expelled Western missionaries after World War II, they thought they were killing off Christianity in China. Instead, this move only served to make the leadership of the Chi­nese church more indigenous and therefore to strengthen it (p. 6).

R4G -3: "Christianity Leads to Love Those Who Differ"

At the end of chapter one, Keller points out that true Christianity, in contrast to "religion" leads to love and receptivity to others who are different:

It is common to say that "fundamentalism" leads to violence, yet as we have seen, all of us have fundamental, unprovable faith-commitments that we think are superior to those of others. The real question, then, is which fundamentals will lead their believers to be the most loving and receptive to those with whom they differ'? Which set of unavoidably exclusive beliefs will lead us to humble, peace-loving behavior?

One of the paradoxes of history is the relationship between the beliefs and the practices of the early Christians as compared to those of the culture around them.

The Greco-Roman world's religious views were open and seem­ingly tolerant—everyone had his or her own God. The practices of the culture were quite brutal, however. The Greco-Roman world was highly stratified economically, with a huge distance between the rich and poor. By contrast, Christians insisted that there was only one true God, the dying Savior Jesus Christ. Their lives and practices were, however, remarkably welcoming to those that the culture marginalized. The early Christians mixed people from dif­ferent races and classes in ways that seemed scandalous to those around them. The Greco-Roman world tended to despise the poor, but Christians gave generously not only to their own poor but to those of other faiths. In broader society, women had very low sta­tus, being subjected to high levels of female infanticide, forced mar­riages, and lack of economic equality. Christianity afforded women much greater security and equality than had previously existed in the ancient classical world. During the terrible urban plagues of the first two centuries, Christians cared for all the sick and dying in the city, often at the cost of their lives.

Why would such an exclusive belief system lead to behavior that was so open to others? It was because Christians had within their belief system the strongest possible resource for practicing sacrificial service, generosity, and peace-making. At the very heart of their view of reality was a man who died for his enemies, praying for their for­giveness. Reflection on this could only lead to a radically different way of dealing with those who were different from them. It meant they could not act in violence and oppression toward their oppo­nents.

We cannot skip lightly over the fact that there have been injus­tices done by the church in the name of Christ, yet who can deny that the force of Christians' most fundamental beliefs can be a powerful impetus for peace-making in our troubled world?

R4G -2: "Christianity Can Save the World"

Here is a section from the end of chapter one of The Reason for God by Timothy Keller that relates to my previous blog.

He discusses how true Christianity should lead us to humility and love as well as a proper understanding of how unbelievers can be "good" and "moral" -- even surpassing believers. He writes:

I've argued against the effectiveness of all the main efforts to address the divisiveness of religion in our world today. Yet I strongly sympathize with their purpose. Religion can certainly be one of the major threats to world peace. At the beginning of the chapter I outlined the "slippery slope" that every religion tends to set up in the human heart. This slippery slope leads all too easily to oppression. However, within Christianity—robust, orthodox Christianity—there are rich resources that can make its followers agents for peace on earth. Christianity has within itself remark­able power to explain and expunge the divisive tendencies within the human heart.

Christianity provides a firm basis for respecting people of other faiths. Jesus assumes that nonbelievers in the culture around them will gladly recognize much Christian behavior as "good" (Matthew 5:16; cf. 1 Peter 2:12). That assumes some overlap between the Christian constellation of values and those of any particular cul­ture and of any other religion. Why would this overlap exist? Christians believe that all human beings are made in the image of God, capable of goodness and wisdom. The Biblical doctrine of the universal image of God, therefore, leads Christians to expect non-believers will be better than any of their mistaken beliefs could make them. The Biblical doctrine of universal sinfulness also leads Christians to expect believers will be worse in practice than their orthodox beliefs should make them. So there will be plenty of ground for respectful cooperation.

Christianity not only leads its members to believe people of other faiths have goodness and wisdom to offer, it also leads them to expect that many will live lives morally superior to their own. Most people in our culture believe that, if there is a God, we can relate to him and go to heaven through leading a good life. Let's call this the "moral improvement" view. Christianity teaches the very opposite. In the Christian understanding, Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation. Rather, he comes to for­give and save us through his life and death in our place. God's grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.

Christians, then, should expect to find nonbelievers who are much nicer, kinder, wiser, and better than they are. Why? Christian believers are not accepted by God because of their moral perfor­mance, wisdom, or virtue, but because of Christ's work on their behalf. Most religions and philosophies of life assume that one's spiritual status depends on your religious attainments. This natu­rally leads adherents to feel superior to those who don't believe and behave as they do. The Christian gospel, in any case, should not have that effect (pp. 18-19).

R4G -1: "Religion's Slippery Slope"

Yesterday I began read Timothy Keller new book The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism (R4G). Keller is a pastor in New York's hip Manhattan of a church of 5000 people--mostly young and single. Keller's church is not a typical seeker-sensitive megachurch but a church that focus on sound preaching that centers on Gospel-believing and living (which permeates all of life).

The book is an apologetic of the Christian faith and he begins by discussing the criticism of Christianity and religion in general--that it brings war and strife and world peace will never be possible while it remains in this world. He warns of the slippery slope of religion:

It is widely believed that one of the main barriers to world peace is religion, and especially the major traditional religions with their ex­clusive claims to superiority. It may surprise you that though I am a Christian minister I agree with this. Religion, generally speaking, tends to create a slippery slope in the heart. Each religion informs its followers that they have "the truth," and this naturally leads them to feel superior to those with differing beliefs. Also, a religion tells its followers that they are saved and connected to God by devotedly performing that truth. This moves them to separate from those who are less devoted and pure in life. Therefore, it is easy for one religious group to stereotype and caricature other ones. Once this situation exists it can easily spiral down into the marginalization of others or even to active oppression, abuse, or violence against them.

I like how he gives a practical description of "religion" -- "religion informs its followers that they have the 'truth,' and this natural leads them to feel superior...religion tells its followers that they are saved and connected to God by devotedly performing the truth."

Religion does this but not true Christianity. He spells out the difference later on at the end of chapter (which I plan to blog later on). The Gospel of Jesus does not move us toward a feeling of superiority because it is not about our performance of the truth but of the Truth's performance (namely on the cross) for our failures and sin that sets us free and gives us life.