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Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises Of Money, Sex, And Power, And The Only Hope That Matters (2009)

by Timothy Keller(Favorite Author)

4.31 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0525951369 (ISBN13: 9780525951360)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Dutton Adult

review 1: “If you want God's grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing.” “When people say, "I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself," they mean that they have failed an idol, whose approval is more important than God's.” “Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.” "As many have learned and later taught, you don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”Read by Tom Parks
review 2: Overall: a book written in the wake of the "financial downturn" in 2007, addressing the nations "new found" addiction to money, sex and status. If your life fell apart in this era, then you would probably benefit from this installment of Keller's wisdom. If not, then it's nothing new. Keller... more's response to the 2007 (written in 2009) financial crisis is about the everyday idols we have and, until the 2007 recession, could / would / didn't realize we lived with and let run our lives. Once the wheels fell off the bus and everyone was forced to take a good long look in the mirror, we realized we had a problem. "Surprise, you're a greedy, sex slave who constantly needs approval and to boss others around. Who knew?" Everyone else in your life, that's who! Capitalizing on the 99%'s distrust of money, comfort and all things joyful, Keller seems to weave biblical stories to be solely based on idols, therefore working perfectly into this book. Abrahams life, Jonah's story, Leah's ugliness - surprise, it's all about idol worship. We all know (post 2007 for the majority of the US) wealth, success and sex (thank you 80's) can be idols, but Keller breezes by other important American idols of our most recent era: religion (see below), political fanaticism (although he touched upon it, no mention of Glenn Beck, Tea Party or Rush Limbaugh-type talking heads are in here), or the shallow gnostic views of beauty. He seemed to skip a lot of stuff in order to capitalize on the financial lambasting craze. Religion side note: "idols cannot be removed, only replaced." Did God create humans with an inability to have an idol? Or is he trying to say there is always something sitting on the throne of our hearts (us, Jesus or something else)? This, I fear is the root of all religious fanaticism and craziness. If Jesus / Christianity / church / theology is your "thing," our identity, then what do you have? Nothing, but an idol. Keller briefly answers this later in the book in the section "Idols in Our Religion" in Chapter 6, but only spends four paragraphs on it. I guess preaching against the "religion" most of his followers are eating and spewing everyday would be a hard thing to do. I would recommend it to: financial addicts whom are new Christians. less

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