The Reason for God Discussion Guide: Conversations on Faith and Life - Softcover

Keller, Timothy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310330475 ISBN 13: 9780310330479

Verlag: HarperChristian Resources, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

This discussion guide will help you learn how to dialogue with those who share common doubts and objections to Christianity.

In the video sessions (DVD/digital video sold separately), Timothy Keller and six panelists hold candid and unscripted discussions about the broad scope of people's discomforts with God, the Bible, and Christianity in general:

• Discussion 1: Is the Bible a myth? Has science disproved Christianity?
• Discussion 2: Is there only one way to God? Are other religions as valid?
• Discussion 3: Clashes with Christian morality and ethics – why are there so many rules?
• Discussion 4: Why would God allow suffering and evil.
• Discussion 5: Injustice and hypocrisy in the church.
• Discussion 6: Objections to God's wrath and judgement.

The Reason for God small group discussion guide can be used individually or in a group setting by anyone engaging with friends who don't share his or her beliefs. For each discussion, the study guide includes:

• An opening thought on the topic.
• A summary of the objection to the topic.
• Related Bible verses.
• Space for notetaking.
• Questions for group discussion.

In his New York Times bestselling book, The Reason for God, Timothy Keller established himself as a modern-day C. S. Lewis who brings together faith and intellect, theology and popular culture, modern-day objections and historic Christian beliefs. Using literature, philosophy, and Scripture, Keller explores the truth and challenge of Christianity in this six-session small group conversation starter.

You and your group will be challenged to wrestle with your friends' and neighbors' hardest questions and engage those questions in ways that will spark honest, enriching, and humbling dialogue. 

Designed for use with Reason for God Video Study (sold separately).

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Timothy J. Keller (1950–2023) was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, cofounder of Redeemer City to City, and the author of numerous books, including The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, and The Meaning of Marriage. His thirty-one books have sold over six million copies and have been translated into twenty-nine languages.

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Pastor and author Timothy Keller meets with a group of skeptics over six sessions to debate their doubts and questions about Christianity. Using literature, philosophy, real-life experiences and constant reference to the Bible, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is a sound and rational one. Filmed live and unscripted as Keller interacts with the group, this curriculum models the way in which Christians can address the six most common questions from skeptics. It also provides the resources for Christians to meet with their own group. Session Titles and Descriptions 1. How can there be only one true religion? 2. Why does God allow suffering? 3. How could a loving God sent people to Hell? 4. Hasn't science disproved Christianity? 5. How can you take the Bible literally? 6. What is Christianity all about?

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The Reason for God Discussion Guide

By Timothy Keller

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2010 Redeemer City to City and Redeemer Presbyterian Church
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-33047-9

Contents

How to Use the Discussion Guide and DVD......................................7Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity?.......................................9What About Other Religions?..................................................23Why Are There So Many Rules?.................................................39Why Is There So Much Evil in the World?......................................51Why Are Christians Such Hypocrites?..........................................65How Can God Send Good People to Hell?........................................77

Chapter One

DISCUSSION 1

Isn't the Bible a Myth? Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity?

OPENING THOUGHT

Read this thought aloud and then pray as you begin.

In 1993, archaeologists dug up the first outside-of-the-Bible reference to King David. Up until then, only the Bible talked about King David-there were no inscriptions, no archaeological digs, no other documents, nothing, that ever mentioned David. Does that mean that Christians could not believe there was a David before 1993? It does not work that way. Christians believe there was a King David because the Bible is the Word of God.

THE OBJECTION

People say that there are many good things in the Bible, but you should not take it literally; you must not insist that it is entirely trustworthy and completely authoritative because some parts of the Bible are wrong, historically unreliable, and culturally regressive.

BIBLE VERSES

These verses are referred to at some point in the DVD.

Mark 15:20-21

And when they had mocked him [Jesus], they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

Romans 3:21-25

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

DVD NOTES

Watch the DVD of Discussion 1. Use the space below if you would like to take notes.

QUESTIONS FOR GROUP DISCUSSION

The notes in the gray boxes following the questions are not intended as answers to be read aloud. They are notes to help guide and direct the discussion.

1. Are people you know more troubled by the ethical aspects of the Bible or the historical? Why?

2. One of the participants on the DVD said,

"The Bible is a wonderful text, it's complex, a lot of things going on, some people believe it to be the truth, I myself do not."

Another said,

"Jesus sacrificed himself-I'm not sure if there is evidence for that."

Many people say the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life-his claims to be divine, the miracles he performed, his death on across, his rising from the dead-were written much later by church leaders who were trying to consolidate their power and build their movements, so they suppressed the evidence that the real Jesus was just a human teacher. How would you respond?

Following are three reasons why people can trust that what the Bible says about Jesus is historically reliable.

The New Testament accounts of Jesus were written too early to be legends.

Luke wrote his account of Jesus' life 30-40 years after the events, and he records the fact that many people who saw Jesus were still alive, and that his readers could therefore check his account with these eyewitnesses. In fact, Luke (in Luke 1:1-4) claims to be painstakingly preserving historical facts, "I myself have carefully investigated everything ... so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke's statement to Theophilus, the recipient of the text, shows that ancient authors knew the difference between an "orderly account" and spinning a tale.

This attitude toward history is not Luke's alone. In John 19:35 and 1 John 1:1-4, the writer claims to have been an eyewitness of the events of Jesus' life.

Paul, who wrote 15-20 years after the events of Jesus' life records, "He [the resurrected Jesus] appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living" (1 Corinthians 15:6). Paul could not have written that in a public document unless there actually were hundreds of living eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen Jesus. Paul could also confidently assert to government officials that the events of Jesus' life were public knowledge: "[These things were] not done in a corner," he said to King Agrippa (Acts 26:26). The people of Jerusalem had been there-they had been in the crowds that heard and watched Jesus. The New Testament documents could not say Jesus was crucified when thousands of people were still alive who knew whether he was or not. If there had not been a burial, if there had not been an empty tomb, if there had not been appearances after his death, and these public documents claimed there had been, Christianity would never have gotten off the ground. It would have been impossible for Christianity to have gained widespread support if its critical historical claims were bluntly contradicted by numerous witnesses who were still alive.

Moreover, there are references within the Gospel texts that demonstrate that the Gospel writers and readers had access to firsthand accounts of the events of Jesus' life. In Mark 15:21 the author can refer to "Alexander and Rufus" (the sons of the man who carried the cross for Jesus) in a way that shows they were well known to his readers. This was mentioned in the DVD where Dr. Keller said, "It is like footnotes today."

This shows that the Gospels were written by people in a position to get and report accurate historical information, and were written at a time when eyewitness memory about Jesus was still widely available as a "check" on any fantastic or fabricated claims.

The documents are too detailed in their form to be legends.

In Mark 4 there is a detail recorded which says that Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the stern of a boat. In John 21 it says that Peter was a hundred yards out in the water when he saw Jesus on the beach. He then jumped out of the boat and together they caught 153 fish. In John 8, as Jesus listened to the men who caught a woman in adultery, it says he doodled with his finger in the dust. The best explanation for why an ancient writer would mention the cushion, the 153 fish, and the doodling in the dust, when they are irrelevant to the narrative, is because the details had been retained in the eyewitnesses' memory.

The documents are too counterproductive in their content to be legends.

The argument goes that the Bible does not give an account of what actually happened; instead, it is what the church leaders wanted people to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: HarperChristian Resources
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0310330475
• ISBN 13: 9780310330479
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 96
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: EDITIONS GALLIMARD; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8.; Assago Milano; 20090; Italien