It’s important to realise that Christianity is not an abstract philosophy or collection of timeless truths. Christianity is built upon a claim verifiable in history.  It’s built on the witness of the first Christians who testified to the physical resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

This fact seems to be overlooked by so much of the literature associated with the ‘New Atheists’ and their movement.  They often equate all religious belief as mere superstition on the level of believing in Santa Claus and the tooth-fairy.  It may serve a usefulness for a time, but we ought to grow out of it as soon as possible.

It’s important therefore for Christians to put some time into these issues because unless they are absolutely convinced of the historicity of those events, then their witness will be blunted.

It’s interesting as we go through Luke’s gospel (here’s the latest talk) the number of times where Luke intersects with the verifiable events of history (we’ve looked recently at 1:1-4, 2:1-2 and shortly we’ll look at in church 3:1-4).

If you’re thinking through these things can I suggest three areas for testing:

1. The events themselves.
2. The documentary record of those events.
3. The transmission of those documents to us today.

James de Costobadie did a slot last night on the reliability of the New Testament documents which is a good start if you’re interested in that area.  You can download a copy of his talk here.  He also recommended a book by Dr Paul Barnett - Is the New Testament History? which you can get from our bookstall.  The revised edition has an interesting chapter on the comparative evidence for the Islamic claims to historicity.

Do we really need reasons? It’s currently popular to say people aren’t interested in hearing arguments for Christianity, and that relationship is the key. Just show people that Christianity works, we’re told, and post-moderns will come to faith. But as Tim Keller points out elsewhere, this approach to truth is itself part of the non-Christian worldview which declares the ’self’ as sovereign, rather than Christ. We must experience a ‘worldview’ shift. The gospel must challenge our presuppositions. 

This is what Keller seeks to do in his New York Times best seller, The Reason for God. The book tackles common doubts about Christianity he has encountered frequently in his ministry among urban professionals at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. The material is the fruit from many years of engaging with sceptics, and this adds much to the book’s clarity and credibility. It is particularly impressive how well he has understood the objections that he explores. He shows familiarity with scholarship on issues of philosophy, history, sociology, literary criticism, and more. But far from being dry and academic, there is a warmth and surprisingly personal tone to the book. 

The first half of the book deals with seven objections, including the exclusive nature of truth, the problem of suffering, and the injustice carried out by Christians in history. The chapters seek to show that behind each of the doubts or objections, there is an unchallenged ‘belief’ which under closer inspection are less credible that originally assumed. In an artful way, Keller often turns the objection around, and shows that the Christian message actually provides a more satisfying solution to the problem raised than other solutions. The second half of the book deals with the positive reasons for faith, including evidence for God, and the consistency of the gospel message. Keller is at his best when describing the shape of Christian theology in creative and relevant language. Many have described him as a modern day C.S. Lewis, and it’s a good comparison. 

The Reason for God is a great resource for both believers and sceptics. It invites the reader to think further, to doubt their doubts, and to at the very least come to a better understanding of Christian faith. Although the book’s Northern American context is evident in a few places, it is a good fit for our highly postmodern and agnostic kiwi culture. Keller’s book has the potential to unsettle many from their comfortable apathy towards spiritual things.