Introduction: 

We begin this course with reading Chapter 3 of The Reason for God followed by viewing several video clips of Tim Keller addressing some of the issues raised in his book. In this chapter Keller responds to the criticism that Christianity - based as it is on absolutes and fails to appreciate differeing cultural perspectives on what constitutes truth and reality. Keller asserts that truth is unavoidable and that we all make assertions of truthfulness or what we believe to be untrue and we do so despite ourselves. He also reminds the reader that every community embraces common beliefs that necessarily create boundaries and excludes others. At issue then is how open the community is and openness he argues should not be measured in terms of whether a community has its own set of beliefs but rather how the community manifests those values in how it treats people beyond its community with love and respect. In summary, he believes that Christians should be criticized on the basis of their lack of grace in interacting with others not on the basis of their community values - unless those value dictate disrespect to others.

After having completed the readings for this session and reviewed the accompanying video you may choose - on a purely optional basis - to answer the study questions and submit them at etwimber@hotmail.com or to contact Dr. Wimberley by phone or email to request a time for dialogue about what you have learned. You may do so by phone or dialogue via Skype or Facetime. Dr. Wimberley's phone number is 239.405.4164. We may convene group meetings of the class using the Zoom application on our computers. You can enroll in this course by emailing etwimber@hotmail.com or by texting Dr. Wimberley at 239.405.4164.

Readings: 

Keller, Timothy (2009) The Reason for God. New York, NY: Penguin, Chapter 3. Chapter Slides

Scripture:

John 12:25

25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Isaiah 60:21-22

21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land for ever, the shoot of my planting, the work of my hands  that I might be glorified.
22 The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.

Video: 

Tim Keller on Dealing with Dark Times; Trusting God in Difficult Times; How Does Christianity Help Us Deal with Evil and Suffering; With all this suffering, how could there be a God? The Reason for God, Session 4: "What Gives You the Right to Tell Me How To Live My Life?" (Download the video from the home page. Session 3 "What Gives You the Right to Tell Me How to Live My LIfe? begins at 46:32 minutes and runs until 1 hour and 5:21 minutes).

Study Questions: (Keller Questions)

1. Some say "Faith is a Straitjacket." Have you heard this objection to faith? How was it expressed? What reasons did the objector give for their conviction? Have you heard Christians raise this issue as a problem in their faith?
2. Define freedom (saying “being in Christ” is not allowed—though true, in this setting it is a platitude). How are notions of freedom (individual and otherwise) foundational to our society’s values?
3. Can you see why Christianity could appear to be a straitjacket or power play to some people?
4. C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “To ‘see through’ all things is the same as not to see”… “If you say all truth-claims are power plays, then so is your statement… To see through everything is not to see. Foucault was pressing the truth of his analysis on others even as he denied the very category of truth. Some kind of truth-claim, then, seems unavoidable”. Do you find this argument compelling? Why or why not?
5. When Keller says that complete inclusiveness is an illusion, does that make you uncomfortable? Why?
6. “Liberal democracy is based on an extensive list of assumptions—a preference of individual to community rights, a division between private and public morality, and the sanctity of personal choice. All of these beliefs are foreign to many other cultures”. Is civility in the public square possible if this is correct? Should Christians take the lead in demonstrating civility in the public square? Why or why not? In recent years some Western leaders particularly in the UK and US have argued that the basic values that undergird liberal democracy are shared by all people in every culture. Is this a political idea Christians can endorse?
7. Keller says, “Every human community holds in common some beliefs that necessarily create boundaries, including some people and excluding others from its circle”. He then goes on to give two illustrations. Review the illustrations. Do you find them compelling?
8. “Any community that did not hold its members accountable for specific beliefs and practices would have no corporate identity and would not really be a community at all. We cannot consider a group exclusive simply because it has standards for its members. Is there then no way to judge whether a community is open and caring rather than narrow and oppressive? Yes, there is. Here is a far better set of tests: Which community has beliefs that lead its members to treat persons in other communities with love and respect—to serve them and meet their needs? Which community’s beliefs lead it to demonize and attack those who violate their boundaries rather than treating them with kindness, humility, and winsomeness?”. How does the church fare by this standard?
9. What is the difference between being lovingly exclusive and narrow-mindedly oppressive? Do Christians ever fail to understand this distinction? “We should criticize Christians when they are condemning and ungracious to unbelievers. But we should not criticize churches when they maintain standards for membership in accord with their beliefs. Every community must do the same”. Do you agree?
10. Keller claims, “Christianity has been more adaptive (and maybe less destructive) of diverse cultures than secularism and many other worldviews”. What examples does Keller give to prove this? How compelling are they? On the other hand, Christian missions is full of examples where missionaries have brought not just the gospel but American culture to the world—did Keller apologize sufficiently for this sad heritage? What unholy alliances between Christian faith and cultural values or political ideologies are present in our own society?
11. Keller says, “Today most Christians in the world live in Africa, Latin America, and Asia". Do you find this surprising? How does this impact your view of world missions?
12. African theologian Lamin Sanneh says that Africans have always held strong beliefs in a spiritual world of good and evil. When Christianity arrived via missionaries, it did not destroy the traditional African worldview but rather revealed how it was fulfilled in Christ. “Christianity answered this historical challenge by a reorientation of the worldview,” Sanneh says, “People sensed in their hearts that Jesus did not mock their respect for the sacred nor their clamor for an invincible Savior, and so they beat their sacred drums for him until the stars skipped and danced in the skies. After that dance the stars weren’t little anymore. Christianity helped Africans to become renewed Africans, not re-made Europeans”. Is this your assumption of how Christian missions works? Have Christians always fared well in taking their faith into different cultures? If you are a Christian, is this how you view your own faith?
13. How does Keller describe the ministry of Redeemer Presbyterian Church? One person is quoted as saying that “the difference between Redeemer and other churches was profound and lay in ‘irony, charity, and humility’”. Does this 3-fold list surprise you? To what extent is your church characterized by these three qualities? To what extent is your life as a believer characterized by these three qualities? When they are missing, what difference does it make? What plans should you make?
14. While reflecting on how Redeemer Presbyterian engages the culture of New York City, what are two ways in which your church does a good job of engaging the culture of your city? What are two ways in which it might improve?
15. Keller argues that there is “no Christian culture,” but rather that Christianity maintains core orthodoxy while adapting to the culture of its followers. Does this surprise you? “This means,” Keller says, “every human culture has (from God) distinct goods and strengths for the enrichment of the human race… while every culture has distortions and elements that will be critiqued and revised by the Christian message, each culture will also have good and unique elements to which Christianity connects and adapts”. Is this your understanding of the faith? If not, why? What are the implications of this for the church in a rapidly changing, pluralistic culture like the United States?
16. Keller says that, “freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, the liberating restrictions”. What restrictions have you found liberating? Which restrictions have you found dehumanizing and unhelpful?
17. “Human beings are most free and alive in relationships of love. We only become ourselves in love, yet healthy love relationships involve mutual, unselfish service, a mutual loss of independence”. Is this the commonly understood meaning of love? To what extent would a stranger who follows you around for several months say this sort of love is your primary characteristic?
18. “In the most profound way, God has said to us in Christ, ‘I will adjust to you. I will change for you. I’ll serve you though it means a sacrifice for me.’ If he has done this for us, we can and should say the same to God and others. St Paul writes, ‘the love of Christ constrains us’ (2 Corinthians 5:14)." Does this seem to be the normal way Christians understand and speak about the incarnation and crucifixion? The normal way Christians act in the public square in America?