To what extent is this taught and encouraged by church leaders? What is your response? “They’re overbearing, self-righteous, opinionated, insensitive, and harsh. What does this suggest? Is this a political idea Christians can endorse? Should they? Does that belief make sense?” [p. 112] Christians often say such things when non-Christians have objections to things like the Trinity or the necessity of Christ’s death for forgiveness. 9. To what extent is it true of you? St. Paul tells us that God raises up teachers and leaders in his Church. 20. The Reason for God Discussion Guide: Conversations on Faith and Life (English Edition) eBook: Keller, Timothy : Amazon.nl: Kindle Store 1. To what extent have you struggled with this doubt yourself? One person is quoted as saying that “the difference between Redeemer and other churches was profound and lay in ‘irony, charity, and humility’” [p. 43]. Some leaders in Keller’s denomination would perhaps believe that Keller should not be ordained as a minister because of holding this view. Chapter 7. It is good for three reasons. Keller says, “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints” [p. 54]. Is this common knowledge among Christians? When the apostle wrote to the Church in Ephesus, he pointed out that God provides leaders “to equip” Christians for faithful service in a fallen world (Ephesians 4:11-16). What is the significance of these ideas? Did you see it at the time? 25.] [p. 59]. We must be grateful, then, when God raises up someone who is gifted at listening to the culture, at identifying the questions being raised, and at thinking through the issues with a passion for truth, love, and the gospel. 7. “Alister McGrath points out that when the idea of God is gone, a society will ‘transcendentalize’ something else, some other concept, in order to appear morally and spiritually superior” [p. 55]. This six-session small group Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately) captures live and unscripted conversations between Tim Keller and a group of people to address their doubts and … visit the House Church Resources page for more info. 2. How does this statement affect your faith? Do you find them compelling? If you find that little or nothing in the world angers you, what does this say about you? Why or why not? Why or why not? How are notions of freedom (individual and otherwise) foundational to our society’s values? (Hint: using not just reason but imagination is essential in working out an answer. We hope you find our discussion guide to The Reason for God helpful. “I must conclude that the source of the idea,” he says, “is the Bible itself.” How is this significant? by Denis Haack. [p. 69]. Review the illustrations. “This is proof,” Dawkins believes, “that the more intelligent, rational, and scientifically minded you are, the less you will be able to believe in God” [p. 84]. 11. What if God is just an illusion of the mind? Keller says that people should reflect more on the source of their idea that God is love [p. 82]. [p. 40]. Why? Utilizamos cookies para personalizar contenido y anuncios, proporcionar funciones de redes sociales y analizar nuestro tráfico. We hope you find our discussion guide to The Reason for God … Editorial: Zondervan. Whether in a group setting or individual conversation, The Reason for God is a resource for what to say in response to these objections, and a model for how to say it. The Reason for God Discussion Guide: Conversations on Faith and Life: Amazon.es: Keller, Timothy: Libros en idiomas extranjeros The Reason for God: Conversations on Faith and Life is a DVD for small groups hosted by Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. How have you resolved it for yourself? In some sections of the church, however, the opposite conclusion would be drawn. How does this change the meaning of the opening chapters of the creation account? 8. This is the archives of Ransom Fellowship (1981-2020). The Reason for God small group Bible study can be used individually, with groups, or by any believer who is engaging with friends who don’t share his or her beliefs. If you argue that Christians don’t look down on non-Christians, why then do Christian parents believe non-Christians are not good enough to marry their children? 4. What are the usual views of doubt? Is it surprising that Keller raises it in this context? Why? There is no reason for the author to include such names unless the readers know or could have access to them. 13. Which restrictions have you found dehumanizing and unhelpful? Discussion leaders will be wise to pick which questions to raise, and which topics, once raised, should be pursued … The Reason for God was written for them, the skeptics, but also for believers. What’s the difference between denouncing and disagreeing? When Christianity arrived via missionaries, it did not destroy the traditional African worldview but rather revealed how it was fulfilled in Christ. The Reason for God is worth reading, reflecting on, and discussing with friends—both Christians and non-Christians. Why? Why or why not? This interest is one dear to the hearts and spiritual yearnings of many postmodern Christians. 13. “The tendency of religious people,” Keller says, “is to use spiritual and ethical observance as a lever to gain power over others and over God, appeasing him through ritual and good works” [p. 59]. Does this resonate with your experience of talking to people who raise this objection? The Reason for God Discussion Guide: Conversations on Faith and Life $ 8.57. Do you agree they are flaws? The Reason for God small group Bible study can be used individually, with groups, or by any believer who is engaging with friends who don’t share his or her beliefs. This is why listening is so important for Christians (and anyone else) who wants to be part of conversations about the things that matter most. To what extent should Christians help people because they might be get saved as a result? Do you agree or disagree? This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater” [p. 32]. Chapter 2: How Could a Good God Allow Suffering? 7. Many Christians have read and thought about defending their faith, but have done so in terms of questions that were relevant in the decades between the end of World War II and the Sixties. Keller says, “Every human community holds in common some beliefs that necessarily create boundaries, including some people and excluding others from its circle” [p. 39]. 1. 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. 9. But it needs to be overcome every time, and thus there is an even holier angel than the one of pain, that is the one of joy in God” [p. 66-67]. Hola, Identifícate. 6. 9. Christians will be challenged to wrestle with their friends and neighbors’ hardest questions, and to engage those questions in ways that will spark an honest, enriching, and humbling dialogue. There is no excusing it” [p. 56]. You can’t take the Bible literally. In fact, it would go the drunk one better: it would insist that because the keys would be hard to find in the dark, they must be under the light” [p. 85-86]. 3. Have you met people who question whether intelligent people can “take the Bible literally”? In response to the objection that a good God could not possibly allow hell, Keller responds: “Modern people inevitably think that hell works like this: God gives us time, but if we haven’t made the right choices by the end of our lives, he casts our souls into hell for all eternity. Fire disintegrates. 5. “The existence of God can be neither demonstrably proven or disproven” [p. 86]. 3. 9. “Perhaps the biggest deterrent to Christianity for the average person today is not so much violence and warfare but the shadow of fanaticism. It is the precondition for it” [p. 114]. Where have you noticed or encountered such approaches? 5. “On what basis,” Keller asks, “does the atheist judge the natural world to be horribly wrong, unfair, and unjust?” [p. 26] How is it possible to raise this issue to align oneself, or agree with, the skeptic rather than merely confront them? How have you seen the lever at work? 4. “Ironically, the insistence that doctrines do not matter is really a doctrine itself” [p. 8]. Instead they were oral histories taken down from the mouths of living eyewitnesses who preserved the words and deeds of Jesus in great detail” [p. 102]. The questions were formulated in weekly conversations I had on Keller’s book with two young friends: the Rev. Why or why not? A common image of hell in the Bible is that of fire. Do you agree with this distinction? It’s not because they are too Christian but because they are not Christian enough” [p. 57]. “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” [p. 45]. How does this cause you to see hell? Keller quotes Macquarrie who argues that since science is based on the idea that all natural events are caused by other natural events, any sort of miracle “is irreconcilable with our modern understanding of both science and history.” Alvin Plantinga says, “Macquarrie perhaps means to suggest that the very practice of science requires that one reject the idea (e.g.) 7. “All this decisively refutes the idea that the gospels were anonymous, collective, evolving oral traditions. The questions are designed to get the group discussing the substance of Keller’s book, and may cover more detail than any particular group will be interested in covering. Cuenta y Listas Cuenta Devoluciones y Pedidos. Free Discussion Guide . 1. “The church has a history of supporting injustice, of destroying culture… If Christianity is the true religion, how could this be?” [p. 51]. Some kind of truth-claim, then, seems unavoidable” [p. 38]. If you haven’t heard this before, what does this suggest about the church’s ability to speak biblical truth into our post-Christian world? After that dance the stars weren’t little anymore. How has a biblical passion for social justice come to be seen by Christians as either a liberal or relativist concern? 3. What about suffering? When they are missing, what difference does it make? St Paul writes, ‘the love of Christ constrains us’ (2 Corinthians 5:14)” [p. 49]. How do you weigh your truth-claims? What’s the solution? Do you find the doctrine of divine judgment or God’s “wrath” offensive or troubling? If you believe it is not shared, why does so much church shopping occur when evangelicals find themselves (or their children) unhappy with their church? Is this your assumption of how Christian missions works? 14. “To stay away from Christianity,” Keller says, “because part of the Bible’s teaching is offensive to you assumes that if there is a God he wouldn’t have any views that upset you. How does this correspond to the claims of miracles we sometimes hear about today? Prime Carrito. For a list of each chapter’s questions for discussion, and for an opportunity to submit your own written reflections, click on the appropriate link below: October 1: Chapter One – “There Can’t Be Just One True Religion”, October 8: Chapter Two – “How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?”, October 15: Chapter Three – “Christianity Is a Straitjacket”, November 5: Chapter Four – “The Church is Responsible for So Much Injustice”, November 12: Chapter Five – “How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?”, November 19: Chapter Six – “Science Has Disproved Christianity”, December 10: Chapter Seven – “You Can’t Take the Bible Literally”, December 17: Chapter Eight – “The Clues of God”. Keller claims that the notion—“If Christianity is all it claims to be, shouldn’t Christians on the whole be much better people than everyone else?”—is actually based on a “mistaken belief” [p. 53]. Is this a compelling argument? It would mean that most of the classic Christian teachings—Jesus’ deity, atonement, and resurrection—are mistaken and based on legends” [p. 98]. The perennial issues of life never change. Old arguments that seemed so certain now seem less so, and challenges are raised which the old answers don’t address adequately. Sociologist Robert Bellah finds that 80% of Americans are convinced that “an individual should arrive at his or her own religious beliefs independent of any church or synagogue… that the most fundamental belief in American culture is that moral truth is relative to individual consciousness” [p. 70]. We know how selfishness and self-absorption leads to piercing bitterness, nauseating envy, paralyzing anxiety, paranoid thoughts, and the mental denials and distortions that accompany them. Emotions and rhetoric are intense, even hysterical” [p. xv]. How might Christians take this argument to an incorrect conclusion? The Reason for God small group Bible study can be used individually, with groups, or by any believer who is engaging with friends who don't share his or her beliefs.Christians will be challenged to wrestle with their friends and neighbors' hardest questions, and to engage those questions in ways that will spark an honest, enriching, and humbling dialogue. It contains an opening thought and summary of the objection, scripture references, and extensive discussion questions. How did they define “fanaticism” and “off the deep end”? Do you agree? Do you agree? How often have you heard this objection? But at the same time, robust, orthodox belief in the traditional faiths is growing as well” [p. ix]. Yes, there is. Do Christians ever fail to understand this distinction? How does Keller’s discussion of Sommerville’s example of the mugging highlight what our motivation for helping people should be? Keller says, “The reality is that we all make truth-claims of some sort and it is very hard to weigh them responsibly, but we have no alternative but to try to do so” [p. 11]; “We are all exclusive in our beliefs about religion, but in different ways” [p. 13]. Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf says, “If God were not angry at injustice and deception and did not make a final end to violence—that God would not be worthy of worship… The only means of prohibiting all recourse to violence by ourselves is to insist that violence is legitimate only when it comes from God… My thesis that the practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance will be unpopular with many… in the West… [But] it takes the quiet of a suburban home for the birth of the thesis that human non-violence [results from the belief in] God’s refusal to judge. Do you believe many Christians share this conviction? Do you find his agreement surprising? Christianity helped Africans to become renewed Africans, not re-made Europeans” [p. 41]. Is that how you would have responded if someone you knew raised that accusation? 8. Have you noticed the same divide into two camps? What reasons would you give if a Christian challenged this statement as untrue? Science has disproved Christianity. 10. Have you held it? 9. “The gospel narratives,” Keller says, “all show that Jesus did not face his approaching death with anything like the aplomb and fearlessness that was widely expected in a spiritual hero” [p. 28] How does this change your view of Christ? The Biblical picture is that sin separates us from the presence of God, which is the source of all joy and indeed of all love, wisdom, or good things of any sort. Does it surprise you that “Christianity does not provide a reason for each experience of pain?” [p. 27]. The Reason for God Discussion Guide: Conversations on Faith and Life: Keller, Timothy: Amazon.sg: Books 1. Christians will be challenged to wrestle with their friends and neighbors’ hardest questions, and to engage those questions in ways that will spark an honest, enriching, and humbling dialogue. 7. “The historian C. John Sommerville has pointed out that ‘a religion can be judged only on the basis of another religion.’ You can’t evaluate a religion except on the basis of some ethical criteria that in the end amounts to your own religious stance” [p. 12].
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