作者：Tim Challies 译者：Sisi
有很多人，我主要是通过他们的书“认识”的。我经常阅读，通过阅读我能够了解作者，尤其是如果这位作者写过很多本书的时候。通过阅读一个人的文集，我能够学习他的思考方式，能够了解他所信的。即使与作者素未谋面，我也常常觉得我已经与他们在书中相遇过。
提摩太.凯勒著书甚少（注：此文写于2008年），因此我对他的认识远不如许多他的同侪——那些著作甚多的牧师和神学家。故而当我读他的这本《为何是他》时倍感兴趣，因为这是他的第二本书（另有一套汇编图书中有他贡献的一章），当然也是最有价值的一本。此书由企鹅出版社 （Penguin）出版，并得到出版人周刊 （Publisher Weekly）的肯定，实至名归地荣登了畅销书之列。
《为何是他》的读者群是怀疑论者和依然心存疑惑的信徒。对于一些畅销作家，如克里斯托弗·希钦斯（Christopher
Hitchens）、理查德·霍金斯 （Richard Dawkins）以及山姆·哈里斯 （Sam Harris），凯勒的书是一种回应，或者说是他们的“解毒剂”，而且是高效的“解毒剂”。
一个怀疑论者为了说服一个信徒朋友，能够给出许多书（很多书来自前面提及的作者）。相反地，一个信徒能够回应的书籍却少了很多。许多介绍基督教信仰的书籍写于很多年前，与今天怀疑论所关注的也不那么相合了。他们的假设太多，传递得信息太少。凯勒的这本书正能弥补中间的断层，在这一点上处理得很好。《为何是他》出现在一个特殊的时期，因为今天我们看到不管是信仰还是怀疑都在上升。 凯勒说：“人们对于传统宗教的怀疑、恐惧和愤怒，有越来越强的力量和影响力；然而与此同时，接受健全和正统之传统信仰的人，也一样在增加和成长中。”双方都在增长，那些持守自己立场的人愈发坚信对方是极度危险的。世界对宗教的立场两极分化——至少说，我们的文化对于宗教的立场正两极分化。
“我们进入了一种文化处境，不管是怀疑论者还是信徒都认为自己的存在受到了威胁，因为无论是世俗的怀疑论者还是信徒都在迅速增长，并且扩大影响力。我们既不属于过去的基督教国度，也不是未来可能的世俗化、无宗教社会；我们面对的是全新的形势。”
为找到前进的道路，凯勒建议信徒与怀疑论者以一种全新的眼光来看待“怀疑”。在书中，他并未按照传统方式来区分信与不信的人，而是区分信徒与怀疑论者。他的论证基于不信者与怀疑论者的区别，因为如同他自己所说的，我们都相信一些事物。
即使是怀疑论者，他们的逻辑背后也是一种信仰。明白我们的信仰究竟是什么，这是至关重要的。他在论述中说：“如果你承认自己质疑基督教的背后所依赖的信念，如果你对这些信念的求证态度如同你对待基督教那样——你会发现你的质疑并不如一开始所以为的那么可靠。”——凯勒在全书第一章便作了这样的论证。
在前七章，凯勒探讨了七个常见的反对和质疑基督教的理由，并且揭示了隐藏在这每一个质疑背后的信念。这部分题为“怀疑的跳跃”，并且回答了七个常见的批评：
1.怎么可能只有一个宗教是真的？
2. 良善的上帝怎么会容许苦难发生？
3. 基督教是一件紧身衣
4. 教会要为许多的不公义负责
5. 慈爱的上帝怎么会把人送到地狱去？
6. 科学已经否定了基督教
7. 你不能真的相信圣经的记载
第二部分题为“相信上帝的理由”，他转而论证七个相信基督教信仰的理由。
1.上帝存在的线索
2. 对上帝的认识
3. 罪的问题
4. 宗教与福音
5. 真正的十字架故事
6. 复活的真实性
7. 上帝之舞
全书以引言开篇，两个主要部分中间有“中场时间”，最后以结尾结束。
至少就我所知，《为何是他》一书是独一无二的。读者们很快会发现，凯勒的论证体系借鉴了C.S.路易斯，而且他指出他自己的妻子、路易斯和爱德华兹在神学上带给他的影响最大。然而，他却将路易斯和爱德华兹应用至新的语境。
事实上，书里的很多内容只能放在当代的文化处境。我相信，这些在今天十分重要的争论与过去人们所争论的不同，也与未来的不同。然而凯勒所作的论述十分引人注目，并且合乎逻辑，直指今天怀疑论者的问题。如果你读过当代那些主要的怀疑论者著作，那么你也必须来读一读凯勒的这本书。
除了凯勒以外，没有人能写这本书。在我看来，除了凯勒之外，也没有人会同意这本书里的每一句话。比如，许多信徒看到他对进化论的辩护就感到不快——并不是怀疑论者口中的自然进化论，而是神导进化论，从而使之与圣经中所说的创造次序一致，而非忽略它们。有些人可能会质疑他对地狱的描写，以及全书流露出的泛基督教主义的思想（ecumenism）。但是，如果我们认真留心他所关注劝导的重点，关注信仰的基要层面而不是那些次等重要的话题，那么无论是怀疑论者还是信徒都能从此书大为获益。
出版人周刊给予此书高度评价：“怀疑论者和信徒都会爱的一本书。”信徒会从书中获益，学会如何谨慎并耐心地回答他们的怀疑论朋友提出的反对，并且是以恩慈和与圣经一致的方式回答。怀疑论者会看到，即便是他们的怀疑也是建立在某种信仰之上，他们会被挑战去分辨这些背后的信念。但愿在这个怀疑主义盛行的时代，这本书能够帮助我们确信自己所信的，并且信得有理。
Book
Review – “The Reason for God” by Tim Keller
There
are many people I “know” primarily through their books. I read constantly and
find that books allow me to understand the people who write them, especially
when the author has written several books. As I read through the corpus of his
writings I learn to understand how he thinks and learn to understand what he
believes. Even if I have never met an author face-to-face, I often feel like I
have met him in his books. Because Tim Keller has written so little, I do not
know him in the way I feel I know many of his peers—pastors and theologians who
have written extensively. So it was with great interest that I read The Reason
for God, only his second book (besides edited volumes to which he has
contributed a chapter) and certainly his most significant. Published by Penguin
and with a positive review by Publishers Weekly, it has all the makings of a
bestseller.
The
Reason for God is written for skeptics and believers alike. It is a response to
or perhaps an antidote to the the writings of popular authors like Christopher
Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. And it is a fine one, at that. While
the skeptic has several volumes he can hand to a believing friend (many of them
written by the aforementioned authors), the believer has fewer to choose from.
So many introductions to Christian beliefs were written many years ago and
simply do not resonate with today’s skeptics. They assume too much and deliver
too little. Keller’s volume seeks to fill that void, and it does so well.
The
Reason for God arrives at a unique time, for we are at a point when both belief
and skepticism are on the rise. “Skepticism, fear, and anger toward traditional
religion are growing in power and influence,” says Keller. “But, at the same
time, robust, orthodox belief in the traditional faiths is growing as well.” As
each grows, those who hold to each become increasingly convinced that they are
in imminent danger. The world is polarizing over religion—or at the very least
our culture is polarizing over religion. “We have come to a cultural moment in
which both skeptics and believers feel their existence is threatened because
both secular skepticism and religious faith are on the rise in significant,
powerful ways. We have neither the western Christendom of the past nor the secular,
religionless society that was predicted for the future. We have something else
entirely.”
Attempting
to find a way forward, Keller suggests that both believers and skeptics look at
doubt in a whole new way. Within the book he does not make the classical
distinction between believers and unbelievers, but rather between believers and
skeptics. His thesis depends on this distinction between unbeliever and skeptic
because, he says, we all believe something. Even skeptics have a kind of faith
hidden within their reasoning. Understanding what we believe about belief is
crucial. His thesis is this: “If you come to recognize the beliefs on which
your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for
those beliefs as you seek from Christians for theirs—you will discover that
your doubts are not so solid as they first appeared.” He seeks to prove that
thesis in the book’s first part.
In
the first seven chapters Keller looks at seven of the most common objections
and doubts about Christianity and discerns the alternate beliefs underlying
each of them. This section is titled “The Leap of Doubt” and answers these
seven common critiques:
There
can’t be just one true religion
A
good God could not allow suffering
Christianity
is a straitjacket
The
church is responsible for so much injustice
A
loving God would not send people to hell
Science
has disproved Christianity
You
can’t take the Bible literally
In
the second half of the book, titled “The Reasons for Faith,” he turns to an
examination of seven reasons to believe in the claims of the Christian faith.
The
clues of God
The
knowledge of God
The
problem of sin
Religion
and the gospel
The
(true) story of the cross
The
reality of the resurrection
The
Dance of God
The
book begins with an Introduction, between the two parts is an Intermission, and
following it all is an Epilogue.
The
Reason for God is, at least to my knowledge, unique. The reader will soon see
that Keller follows closely behind C.S. Lewis whom, along with his wife and
Jonathan Edwards, he counts as his primary theological influences. Yet he sets
Lewis and Edwards in a new context. And really, much of the book only makes
sense within our contemporary cultural context. The arguments that matter here
and now are different from those of days past and, I’m sure, different than
ones in days to come. But the arguments Keller makes are compelling and
reasonable and targeted pointedly at today’s skeptics. If you have read our
day’s leading skeptics you owe it to yourself to read this as well.
Nobody
but Tim Keller could have written this book. It seems likely to me that nobody
but Tim Keller will agree with everything he says. For example, many believers
will be uncomfortable with his defense of evolution—not the naturalistic
evolution of so many skeptics, but a theistic evolution that attempts to
reconcile rather than ignore the creation accounts of the Bible. Others will
take issue with his description of hell and the thread of ecumenism that runs
throughout the volume. But if we heed his exhortation to major on the majors,
to look to what’s most foundational to the faith before focusing on matters of
secondary importance, both believers and skeptics have a great deal to learn
from this book.
Publishers
Weekly has said well that this is a book for “skeptics and the believers who
love them.” Believers will rejoice in a book that carefully and patiently
answers the objections of their skeptical friends and does so with grace and in
a way consistent with the Bible. Skeptics will see that even their skepticism
is founded on some kind of faith and will be challenged to discern those
underlying beliefs. May this book convince us all that we can believe and can
believe reasonably, even in this age of skepticism.