“If there’s no God, you have no reason to be upset at the suffering in this world. That’s just the way it is. It takes faith to get mad at this world.”

New York City pastor Tim Keller says Christians should be able to present rational arguments for their faith, noting that the “just believe” statement isn’t going to cut it, especially today.

In a two-part blog post, the latest of which was published Tuesday, Keller stated, “Believing has both a head and a heart aspect, so while some non-Christians will need more help with one than the other, we can’t ignore either one.”

The Redeemer Presbyterian Church pastor was making the case for apologetics, or what apologist William Lane Craig defines as the branch of Christian theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith.

What apologetics aims to do is answer the “why” question, said Keller, who has seen many skeptics brought into a Christian community but still left asking “why should I believe you and not an atheist or a Muslim?”

Keller emphasized that rather than just presenting a case for Christianity, a “gospel-shaped apologetic” must “challenge the non-believer’s worldview and show where it, and they, have a real problem.”

“I try to show that it takes faith to doubt Christianity, because any worldview (including secularism or skepticism) is based on assumptions,” he wrote.

Responding to those who say they can only believe in something if it can be rationally or empirically proven, he stated, “[T]here are all sorts of things you can’t prove rationally or empirically. You can’t prove to me that you’re not really a butterfly dreaming you’re a person. (Haven’t you seen The Matrix?) You can’t prove most of the things you believe, so at least recognize that you have faith.”

Read More from Christian Post Article

Read Full Keller Blog Part 1

Read full Keller Blog Part 2

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