pilgrim in progress

Took the family to see Tim Keller at Barnes & Noble last night. This was his third to last stop on his Reason for God tour. There was a crowd of about 60-70 folks and it was great to see old friends from church and RTS and to meet a few new friends.

Keller started off with reading excerpts from chapter 1 of the book on why the exclusivity of Christianity leads to a radical inclusivity that is unlike any other. Very good. You have to read chapter one to let him flesh that out - worth the price of the book itself.

He then opened it up for questions to which the first guy asked Keller to guess how many hours he and his wife have listened to Keller sermons. That was kind of an awkward way to start the question time but Keller made joke and moved on. On which atheistic book to read to get a feel for what atheists today believe Keller recommened Dawkin’s The God Delusion. On being sympathetic to those who doubt he pointed to the “counter-intuitiveness” of the Bible on doubt and how many churches look down on doubt but Jesus allowed doubt to a degree. Doubt has its place and purpose and we move on. On the Gospel and politics Keller pointed out the two extremes and said the answer is somewhere in the “mushy middle.” On violence in war he likes Augustine’s just war theory. On someone claiming that “Religion is just a delusion” Keller pointed out that was an assertion and not an argument. It was all said and done by 7:30pm and the book signing began. Keller said, “I hate book signings because it makes me feel like a rock star but I like having signed books so…” I was #35.

Karis was a trooper.

Shawnda got a new Moleskine out of the deal.