We tend to think that religion involves taking an irrational leap of faith, while the secular view of the world is not a set of beliefs at all, but simply a sensible assessment of the way things actually are.
But is that really true? What if every view of the world is based on some kind of faith commitment? Like a scientist evaluating competing hypotheses, the question then becomes which faith commitment best explains our lives and experience? This would be the one most likely to be true.
Tim Keller writes: The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is not whether you have faith but where you put the faith you have, where you’re building your life, what you’re building your life on. The Bible does not call to the sceptics and say, “Oh, you hard-nosed sceptical people who don’t live life with faith but only on the basis of reasoning. Ah, yes. Make the leap. Just make this great leap of faith and believe in Jesus.” No, that’s not what it says. What it says is there’s instability and unhappiness in your life, and do you know why? It’s because you have already put your faith in inadequate objects.
Questioning Christianity is a seven-part podcast series for people who are interested in exploring the credibility of the Christian Faith. Each of the talks and Q&A sessions were given by Tim Keller in 2019 before a live gathering in New York City, made up primarily of attendees who did not identify as Christian.
Find it here.