Keller Center Cohort (gospelcoalition.com) – Gavin

Cohort Description

Historically, Christians have used arguments to prove the existence of God and the truth of Christianity. We think of Thomas Aquinas’s famous “five ways,” or Blaise Pascal’s reflections on fulfilled biblical prophecy, or (more recently) apologists showing that God is the best explanation for morality.

Yet many Christians shy away from classical arguments for Christianity. There may be two reasons why. First, many Christians feel intimidated by them. Classical arguments seem abstract and technical, and therefore hard for non-specialists to understand or use. Second, some have over-relied on arguments and/or overestimated their power. That approach leads to an overly rational case for Christianity that is often divorced from the more pressing doubts of our culture about Christianity’s goodness and beauty. Christians rightly sense the limitations of a purely intellectual appeal.

Drawing from Gavin’s book Why God Makes Sense, this course proceeds from the conviction that classical arguments can be integrated into a larger narrative appeal that is sensitive to beauty and culture. Wielded rightly, classical arguments for Christianity evoke powerful emotions and speak in unique ways to the modern heart.

This course will offer an accessible, non-intimidating pathway to understand the best arguments for Christianity, and then offer practical suggestions for how to use them in everyday conversation and evangelism. At the same time, participants will be introduced to the cutting edge of current academic discussion. Does our world need a cause, and if so, does that point to God? How does the universe’s design suggest a Creator? Can atheism explain morality? What reason do we have to believe that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead? What about the problems of divine hiddenness and evil? At the end of the day, what if the arguments don’t convince someone?

Those who sign up for this cohort will receive free copies of:

• The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
• Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t: The Beauty of Christian Theism by Gavin Ortlund

If English isn’t your first language or your hearing is impaired, we have been working to incorporate Zoom’s real-time translation (and/or closed captioning) into your cohort experience. Real-time cohort transcription is available in these languages with the touch of the “closed caption” button:

Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), German, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

* We are unable to offer refunds for The Keller Center cohorts.
* Registration closes on June 13, 2024.
* Books will be mailed in June 14, 2024.
* NOTE: There will be no class on 7/17 and 7/24
* All sessions will be recorded and available for streaming or download at your leisure in perpetuity. So if you can’t make it live or even for months, the material is still readily available for you.

If you have any questions pertaining to signing up for your cohort, group rates, student rates, or church rates, please email kellercohort@tgc.org.