The Reason for God

What Hacker News says

1. bitbangFeb 2024
   It’s a little hard to answer a question so loaded with presupposition. It seems like you’re initially trying to frame your objection in terms of logic and reason, but your criticism is of the moral implications. My observation is that logical reasoning has little bearing on the divide between Christian and secular. There is no shortage of logical and illogical people in both camps. The objection, as seems to be the case here, is rarely on a rational level but rather a moral level. The idea of a moral authority that transcends humanity, by which humanity is to be judged is highly offensive. We naturally want to be our own moral authority. But if we are our own authority, who are you to determine what I should hold as “contradictions, inconsistencies, stretched truths, thinly veiled metaphor, lies...”? You’re objection appeals to the notion of an absolute objective authority on truth, while at the same time rejecting it.

   If logical reason is truly what you’re interested in understanding the Christian world-view, there is no shortage of resources in the arena of apologetics. For easy reading you can start with something like Tim Keller’s two books, “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” and “Making Sense of God: Finding God in the Modern World” or perhaps C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity”. If you want something of a more academic grade: - “Christian Apologetics (2nd edition)” by Douglas Groothuis - “Reasonable Faith, Christian Truth and Apologetics (3rd edition)” by William Craig - “Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (2nd edition)” by William Craig and JP Moreland

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2. natecavanaughFeb 2018
   For many reasons, many philosophical, some of them inductive, and I think that science is inherently limited in it's scope. For instance, I don't believe science is the realm for meta physics, even if it can help inform it. If you are curious as to my thinking and reasoning on it, two good books, relatively short reads, are Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. Tim Keller also gave a good Google Talk [0] on the book if you prefer that :)

   [0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ

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3. cconceptsJun 2017
   Reading the bible and seeking answers to the difficult questions that presented (rather than tossing it out at the first seeming inconsistencies) is what began my journey from atheism to being a follower of Jesus.

   Further reading that helped along that journey: 1) Mere Christianity by CS Lewis 2) The Reason For God by Tim Keller 3) Anything by John Lennox 4) Many discussions by Ravi Zacharias

   Regardless, this is not me attempting to invalidate all the points already made to the contrary, but an attempt to point out that belief in the bible isnt the most rediculous thing concievable and there are thoughtful, scientific people who identify as Christian, are not republican, trump-supporting or homophobic. Example: Francis Collins, leader of the Human Genome Project

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4. djkrudyMar 2017
   Atlas Shrugged. For its dogged adherence to finding out and practicing a morality. Rand's fault is that she ignores this cannon in creating entirely, unbelievably optimistic characters, but remembers it well in their decisions and formation of plot. This book challenged, nearly destroyed, and then strengthened my faith and hope in Christ because of its' logical progression toward the necessity and worth of truth and fairness, and then being unable to act out those principles without the use of God-like character(s). I was left, after studying Islam in the Koran and separately, mindfulness and others, unable to turn to anything else, except the Gospel of John and Romans. A Reason for God, by Tim Keller was also a necessary step in the tempering of my morality.
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5. eibrahimApr 2015
   I know this is probably not the best place to put this answer but I hope it finds its way to you and help you in your search.

   I was born christian and 10+ years ago lost my faith and became a "non believer". I had a few scares during my wife's pregnancy a few months ago and I remember waiting outside the emergency room and wandering what to do. I didn't believe in God or anything, I had nothing to comfort me or give me hope. Then I realized "I am not strong enough to be an atheist". Don't get me wrong, I didn't overnight turn into a devout christian but I started doubting my doubts and my lack of faith and re-examining a few things.

   Fast forward a couple of months and my twins were born and I wanted to baptize them. A good friend of mine told me why bother if you don't believe. When we baptize in our church we have to raise our right hand, face the alter and accept the trinity. I didn't want to be a hypocrite and do that knowingly that I didn't believe. So I went and talked to the priest and told him how I felt. I asked him to recommend books to help me "convert back", help me believe. Surprisingly, he told me "what's the point? anything you read, you will question, doubt and read with the intention to find holes" so his only recommendation is to pray once a day and read one chapter from the new testament every day. He told me I don't have to understand or believe what I am reading but he told me to do it for a month and see what happens. I am 2 weeks into it. It's hard. I still don't 100% believe. But there is something changing. I don't know what it is but I will continue with this journey and see where it leads me.

   On a side note, I read a fantastic book that answered a ton of my questions - it is called The Reason For God by Timothy Keller. Very easy read and targets people like us - educated and secular with tons of doubt.

   I know these are not solutions to your problems but maybe you will find comfort and hope in christianity.

   PS: Please keep the "religion hate" speech to a minimum - I have heard it all - actually I have said it all :)

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6. sdegutisJan 2014
   I was raised somewhere between theist and deist, with only the belief that there is some "God" and if you're good you go to Heaven, otherwise Hell. That was it. Before my digits were yet two, I started reasoning about all of this on my own, and came to my own conclusions on them, which were basically uninformed. In my teenage years, I experimented with atheism and settled on agnosticism.

   Just a few years ago in my middle-adulthood, I turned to "God and Jesus" in a desperate attempt to keep sanity during really hard times (my wife and kids and I were in the brink of homelessness, with no job and almost no cash, 9000 miles away from home). I really believed it was a mental coping mechanism, but I didn't care at that point.

   Our situation resolved, and I ended up returning back to my agnosticism. But existential panic attacks sent me searching more fervently for an answer. I reached out to a non-denominational (i.e. Protestant) pastor, telling him that I wanted to believe in Christianity, but I couldn't violate my integrity, knowing that it's incompatible with science and history.

   He gave me a book called The Reason for God[1] which demonstrated that Christianity doesn't conflict with science, and that the Resurrection of Jesus is historically true and accurate as presented in the Gospels. When I finished reading it, I chose to become a Christian.

   Eventually, as I kept researching different denominations, I settled on Catholicism as the most likely to be correct. For other Christians curious how I could come to that conclusion, I would recommend The Catholic Controversy[2] by St. Francis de Sales.

   [1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Reason-God-Belief-Skepticism/dp/15...

   [2]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Catholic-Controversy-Defense-Faith...

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