Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller
Week 4: Chapter 3 — The Secular Approach to Suffering
Read Chapter 3 of Walking with God through Pain and Suffering.
Previewing Week 4 of Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Keller takes secular philosophy and worldview seriously enough to engage them on their own terms — and then gently shows where they run out of resources. Read this chapter with openness to having your assumptions challenged from multiple directions.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Keller engages secular thinkers — including Nietzsche, Albert Camus, and others — who have wrestled honestly with suffering without appealing to God. What do these secular accounts of suffering get right that Christians sometimes miss?
2.Keller argues that if there is no God, then suffering ultimately has no meaning — it is just "natural selection" or "bad luck." But he also argues that secular people nevertheless act as if suffering matters and injustice is real. What is the tension here, and why does it matter?
3.Keller points out that the very argument "a good God would not allow suffering" implicitly assumes a moral standard — a way things ought to be — that is very difficult to account for in a purely secular framework. How do you find this argument? Is it convincing, or does it feel like a dodge?