Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

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Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

by Timothy Keller

4.31 · rating details · 1,075 ratings · 177 reviews

The New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God and The Prodigal God and a nationally renowned minister, Timothy Keller exposes the error of making good things "ultimate" in his latest book, and shows readers a new path toward a hope that lasts.

Success, true love, and the life you've always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believi...more

Hardcover, 240 pages

Published October 20th 2009 by Dutton Books (first published January 1st 2009)

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Nov 07, 2011

John rated it

Idols are everywhere. My love of tacos is an idol. This computer I'm writing with is an idol. If you aren't a perfect person, you are worshiping an idol, a false god, even if you don't know it.

So, basically Keller is trying to interpret sin through the lens of idolatry, which can be helpful, I suppose, but in the process I feel like he stretches Biblical stories WAY out of where they were originally intended to go. The whole time I was wondering, why are we looking at idolatry? ...more

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Jan 27, 2011

Matthew Robbins rated it

Shelves: favorites, non-fiction

I was a big fan of Tim Keller’s first 2 books, The Reason for God, and The Prodigal God. Speaking largely as an apologist in the former and a pastor in the latter, Keller demonstrated his immense intellect and knack for offering keen observations of culture as it relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These strengths are applied directly to his latest work, Counterfeit Gods. This is Tim Keller at his finest as he subtly, yet powerfully, points out the things people, and particularly Americans, t...moreI was a big fan of Tim Keller’s first 2 books, The Reason for God, and The Prodigal God. Speaking largely as an apologist in the former and a pastor in the latter, Keller demonstrated his immense intellect and knack for offering keen observations of culture as it relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These strengths are applied directly to his latest work, Counterfeit Gods. This is Tim Keller at his finest as he subtly, yet powerfully, points out the things people, and particularly Americans, tend to turn into idols that take the place of God in our lives.

Taking on various arenas of life, Keller explains how even good things become bad things when they turn into God things. His working definition of an idol is simply anything that ascends to the place that only God should occupy in our lives, and he shows how career, money, sex, and even family can become idols in our lives, taking the place of God but lacking the ability to live up to the positions where we place them.

For example, when a parent places their kids in the place of God and wraps their entire identity in a child, an enormous amount of pressure is placed on the child, a pressure they will inevitably fail to live up to. This causes disappointment for the parent and disillusionment for the child. This is because the child isn’t God. He or she isn’t ever-faithful, ever-loving, all-powerful, and perfect. Only God is. It’s unfair to children and damaging to the parents when these situations occur.

This idolatry can show up anywhere. I especially found Keller’s chapter on power particularly helpful. When power is made into a God, it manifests itself in many places such as careers, parenting, and relationships; today, it mostly shows up in the political arena. People turn political parties, politicians, and ideologies into gods; subsequently, when their party loses, they are devastated. Their god has let them down, and now they do the only thing they can think of…they mock, ridicule, and blame the false political god that arose in its place. They lament the end of everything or complain about the status quo. The problem, of course, is that neither conservativism nor liberalism live up to god-status. Neither is perfect, but many convince themselves otherwise, believing that everything would be perfect if they could just elect the right person who embodies their values.

Keller has chapter after chapter that points out these idols in our culture, applying his Paul-like style of reasoning. All of this would be for naught, however, if people are not pointed to the true God. It’s not enough to remove idols. People have to be pointed to God as fully-revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Keller does not back down from this one bit. He continually pulls our idol-fashioned foundations from underneath us, but he quickly replaces it with the true foundation, the Rock, Jesus Christ.

This book should be required reading for all western Christians. Other cultures have their idols, but we in the West have truly made it an art form. The roots of this idolatry cannot be removed overnight, but this book is a powerful tool for attacking those roots and unashamedly and repeatedly reminding us what needs to exist in its place.(less)

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Jan 25, 2011

Steve Hemmeke rated it

Good book. Here are some highlights:

An idol of politics
"One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life" (98).

Keller goes on to show how fear leads to reviling and demonizing political opponents, making a toxic instead of healthy atmosphere for political discourse. This comes from making politics an idol, for fear that we will lose political stability if our politicians and policies don't S...more

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Feb 22, 2010

John Gardner rated it

As with Keller’s previous two books, this one is very good. In fact, it may be his best yet, which is high praise from a big-time Keller fan like me!

In “Counterfeit Gods”, Keller delivers a timely message regarding idolatry in our culture, and in our own lives. He very quickly dispels the common image of an idol as a carved statue that is literally worshiped (though this does still happen and he does address it). Instead, he writes that most idols are, in fact, good things, such as s...more

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Feb 11, 2010

Chad Johnston rated it

I finished reading Timothy Keller’s Counterfeit Gods (**** out of 5) this morning under my full-spectrum lamp and found it to be something like 177 mirrored-pages that called me to look at myself - in particular, to look inward - and discern what idols in my life take precedence over God. The primary thesis of the book is that idolatry is at the root of all sin, and this is why it is the 1st commandment God gives in Exodus.

Keller claims that the financial executives that killed thems...moreI finished reading Timothy Keller’s Counterfeit Gods (**** out of 5) this morning under my full-spectrum lamp and found it to be something like 177 mirrored-pages that called me to look at myself - in particular, to look inward - and discern what idols in my life take precedence over God. The primary thesis of the book is that idolatry is at the root of all sin, and this is why it is the 1st commandment God gives in Exodus.

Keller claims that the financial executives that killed themselves last year when the stock market plummeted did so because their idols had fallen, because what they valued most had suddenly fallen into disrepair and destruction. In writing this book, the economic recession of the past year becomes fertile ground for the discussion of our own idols, which he identifies (among others) as sex, money, and power – all things that a society is likely to turn to for replacement-transcendence in God's stead. While I initially perceived the book as being formulaic, I eventually came to see Keller’s ideas as being expertly crafted and ultimately very timely. To drive home his points he discusses relevant Old Testament passages and demonstrates how they ultimately relate to New Testament passages. The Jewish reader would find Keller’s approach interesting I am sure, as he presents a seamless fluidity between Old Testament ideas and their fulfillment in Christ and the New Testament. His language is plain and simple for the layperson, and yet it is probing and plumbs deep.

People have said Keller is the new C.S. Lewis, and after reading this and his apologetic volume The Reason for God, I am inclined to think that people who make this comparison have not actually read either Lewis or Keller. Keller offers a cerebral but clear approach to scripture that is ultimately personal, pragmatic, and respectful (a necessity when communicating in the post-modern era), while Lewis tended to dwell more in the abstract with the conceptual, the philosophical, and the academic. Even his fiction books are essentially dramatizations of theologically-based ideas. Both Keller and Lewis are worth reading for the post-modern Christian who is trying to find an anchor in a seemingly shore-less universe. I recommend this book as one man might recommend that another go to the doctor – it is like a check-up, and it is one that all of us would benefit undergoing. While sometimes I feel Keller's conclusions are unwarranted or overreaching, his thoughts are ultimately sound and thought-provoking.

It is especially interesting to me to read this book after just reading Neil Gaiman’s excellent American Gods, in which the gods of television and technology, among others, vie for the attention of the devoted masses against the tried and true deities of old. In a very personal way I have come to an interesting place in the past few months, and all of this seems relevant. The past few years I have tried to do as much as I possibly can with a 24-hour day; to write, to create, to devour culture so as to maintain a level of inspiration, etc. My friend Danny and I have a saying about this: We “eat the whole pizza.” Our appetites for knowledge and inspiration have been boundless like our appetites for pizza, so we have feasted at the banquet table of ideas like children with bottomless stomachs.

Having done this long enough, however, both of us have arrived at the conclusion that simplicity is ultimately better. We have realized that we have limitations and cannot be all things to all men all at once. We have to sleep, to rest, to live, to enjoy our spouses and our families, etc. Keller really gets at this in Counterfeit Gods, asserting that the Fall of Man prompted us to reject the notion that we have limitations. We cannot do everything all the time because we are not God; we have physical bodies that tire as we use ATP, brains that grow weary as neurotransmitters are depleted, and only so many hours and minutes in a day where we are awake, let alone away from our jobs. That being said, a life of unlimited banqueting seems on the surface to be in tune with the freedom that is found in Christ to celebrate the gift of life, to live loudly and joyfully, etc., but it is actually something that depletes life itself when that freedom is not limited in healthy ways.

I want to live more simply in 2010, to savor each bite of food I taste (as the characters in Lewis’ Perelandra did, enjoying only one piece of alien fruit at a time without the need to have more at the moment – having more is a way of trying to fill a hole that can only be filled with God), to enjoy the music I already have, to write as best I can when I can, and not at the expense of sanity or relationships. I think I will be better off for it. I was in the habit of making monthly mix CDs for friends, but I can no longer do that. It has become taxing, and I began this long before I got married, and I think it is wise to discontinue this practice in light of more important things that are now a part of my life. I still plan to get up at 6:00 each day and write, but if I do not crank out perfection I will not despair because my book is not my God. I have been writing it all along because I love life, my family, God, ideas, the very practice of writing, etc., and those things in themselves justify writing a book. So I will continue happily to sculpt my 100,000+ word beast until it reads the way I want it to, and I will do so without self-criticism, without despairing my limitations or faults, etc. if I can. There is great joy in all of this for me, and that makes it worthwhile. (less)

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Oct 28, 2009

Mikelkpoet rated it

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
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Jesus. Jesus. ...more

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Feb 01, 2010

John rated it

This is a book about idolatry.
Timothy Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, looks at the household idols -- counterfeit gods -- of our day, such as sex, money, success and power. He uses contemporary references as well as the biblical stories of Jacob; Zacchaeus; the mighty but disease-plagued military man Naaman; King Nebuchadnezzar; and the reluctant prophet Jonah. He does this without getting theological or intellectual, but he doesn't dumb down the message either...more

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Nov 07, 2009

Brett Mclaughlin rated it

Shelves: theology

I've read Tim Keller's other books, and was particularly moved by The Prodigal God Christianity Redefined Through the Parable of the Prodigal Sons. This book was similarly written, and very good; however, it didn't carry the jolting punch that The Prodigal God Christianity Redefined Through the Parable of the Prodigal Sons did. All the same, this is a good read for any Christian, or anyone who thinks that they don't need Christianity because they're living a balanced, healthy life.

...more

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Jun 21, 2010

Gene Helsel rated it

Tim Keller does an excellent job of exposing the idols of money, sex and power and the many various forms that they take today. The first chapter alone is worth twice what I paid for the book. Keller is an able expositor and pastoral "applier" of God's Word.

For the majority of this book Keller is very careful to draw his insights and applications directly *out of* the biblical narratives (exegesis.) But a few times he falls prey to the preacher's ever-present temptation of...more

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Nov 24, 2011

Bill rated it

Shelves: christian-life

Summary: We all worship something, and mostly we're worshipping counterfeit Gods (Money, Sex Power etc) rather than God himself. This (idolatory) is behind most of our brokenness and pain in life. I'm a big fan of Tim Keller, and I think the idolatory concept is a really helpful way of understanding and applying the gospel, especially as a unifying biblical theme. But for some reason I couldn't get momentum in this book. Perhaps I've heard most of it already? Perhaps it's Tim Keller's cool/detac...more

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Nov 07, 2011

Aaron rated it

My full review is available at Blogging Theologically:

In recent years Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, has become quite a prolific author. And his latest offering may be his most important book yet.

Counterfeit Gods explores the empty promises by the idols found in the human heart—sex, money, power, pride—and our only hope of experiencing true satisfaction and fulfillment in the gospel.

“[An idol] is anything more imp...more

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Oct 27, 2009

Michael rated it

This is one of the books I'd categorize as a must read. Keller's thesis is that idolatry lies behind all sins, and he plumbs the idols that we all have in our lives (money, sex, power, theological, political, economic, and many others). He's at his best in identifying these idols and illustrating them in the lives of different biblical characters (Jonah, Jacob, Leah and Rachel, and others). More light could have been shed on replacing these idols with God, but that's rightly the material for ...more

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Feb 18, 2010

Janet rated it

Shelves: christian

Newsweek heralded Tim Keller as "...C.S. Lewis for the 21st century," which is to say that Rev. Keller communicates gospel truths simply, to a broad audience, in easy to understand terms. Keller's post-modern, largely Biblically illiterate or semi-literate readers are different than Lewis', which should be taken into charitable consideration when evaluating his work.

Counterfeit Gods is a relevant examination of idols, intrinsic to Western culture, with which Western Chri...more

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May 25, 2010

Jo DiFonzo rated it

Shelves: christian

“Every human being must live for something. Something must capture our imaginations, our hearts most fundamental allegiance and hope. But the Bible tells us, without the intervention of the Holy Spirit, that object will never be God himself.” (pg 3) Thus Keller begins to build his case. He starts by establishing the fact that the human heart is an “idol factory,” willing to grasp at any number of things to replace God. At one point in the book he expresses the idea that Bible is filled with stor...more“Every human being must live for something. Something must capture our imaginations, our hearts most fundamental allegiance and hope. But the Bible tells us, without the intervention of the Holy Spirit, that object will never be God himself.” (pg 3) Thus Keller begins to build his case. He starts by establishing the fact that the human heart is an “idol factory,” willing to grasp at any number of things to replace God. At one point in the book he expresses the idea that Bible is filled with stories detailing the toll that idolatry takes, and Keller uses story after story from the Old Testament to illustrate how money, love, power, success, and a host of other idols can take first place in the human heart. Keller’s exposition of these Bible stories was one of the strongest points of the book. He put the stories in a new light, still interpreting carefully, and I was delightedly surprised by his insights.

So what is the solution to counterfeit idols? This was a point that Keller hammered on again and again. Simply put, it is to know God more. “We have to know, to be assured, that God so loves, cherishes, and delights in us that we can rest our hearts in him for our significance and security and handle anything that happens in life.” (pg 17) Further, Keller argues that God’s love is most wondrously displayed to us in Christ’s death on the cross. We must meditate on it to come to a full understanding of God’s love.

There are times when Keller is positively eloquent. I found when writing down a quote that I wouldn’t know where to stop—I wanted all of it! So, another quote for good measure.

“To rejoice is to treasure a thing, to assess its value to you, to reflect on its beauty and importance until your heart rests in it and tastes the sweetness of it. ‘Rejoicing’ is a way of praising God until the heart is sweetened and rested, and until it relaxes its grip on anything else it thinks that it needs.” (173)

Keller’s one big fault is that the book reads a little like a Theme and Variations. He has his point, and my goodness, he’s going to get it across. He states the same solution to various idolatry problems over and over again in different words. By the end, the chapters felt a tiny bit formulaic. However, since it is an excellent point, I don’t think I should complain too much.

Very much worth reading. Keller’s one point struck home with me. (less)

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Mar 20, 2011

David rated it

In "Mere Christianity" C. S. Lewis sets out to make modern arguments for non-believers to accept the compelling logic of Christianity. Timothy Keller's "Counterfeit Gods" on the other hand, is most likely to strengthen Christian insiders. That is to say, the author's arguments are not compelling unless the reader already professes the fundamentals of the Apostles Creed.

Within the insider's framework, Keller offers at least six valuable ideas:
1. The comman...more

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Sep 06, 2011

David Sarkies rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: christian

This is a very confronting and challenging book and these types of books I find hard to criticise on the grounds that I can feel that I am attempting to justify actions that I know in my heart are wrong. To put it blunt this book is about modern day idols, though the way that Keller describes idols is not in the sense that we understand them, that being lifeless statues that we worship, but rather ideals, goals, and passions, that we set our heart towards in the belief that they will fulfil us ...more This is a very confronting and challenging book and these types of books I find hard to criticise on the grounds that I can feel that I am attempting to justify actions that I know in my heart are wrong. To put it blunt this book is about modern day idols, though the way that Keller describes idols is not in the sense that we understand them, that being lifeless statues that we worship, but rather ideals, goals, and passions, that we set our heart towards in the belief that they will fulfil us in place of the living and true God.
Keller explores what he considers to be the three main idols in our culture, and that is love, money, and power. Love, he explains, is when we believe that our fulfillment will be found in finding 'the perfect partner'. This, however, never happens, and if we believe fulfilment will be found there it will end up being very destructive to the relationship. We will expect great things from our partners, and when they do not deliver then we will be bitterly disappointed. Putting such high hopes in relationships never works. The same is true when it comes to children, because if we idolise children, then we put tremendous pressures on them to come out how we want them to, and when they don't, then it is destructive not only to us, but also too our children.
The second area is greed. Greed, interestingly, is something that he suggests that we in the Western World do not acknowledge as being a problem. What I have noted is that when we don't have money (and this is probably an Australian thing) then we consider those who do to be bad, and we heap all kinds on accusations against them because of it. Even if we do have money (and if you are on unemployment benefits then you are still wealthy compared to the majority world) then our bitterness will always be directed to those who have more. We hold a belief, and like love and sex, it is something that our society encourages us to believe, that is we have money, if we are financially secure, then everything will be fine. This was not they case to those who were hit by the Global Financial Crisis.
The third area he spoke about is power, and it is in this section that he raises some very challenging things about politics. He has noticed that over the years people have become so much more polarised in their political beliefs (and considering Keller is American, he is referring to American Politics, which over the last ten years is very evident, but it is also evident here in Australia as well). It is like that our hopes and dreams will be fulfilled if only our political party were in power, and anybody who supports the opponent is at best a fool, and at worst, downright evil. I know because I have been on both sides of the fence. While I do hold some passionate political views, his discussion on our response to politics is quite challenging. Granted, I may not like the attitudes and the policies of the otherside, but does that make my side any better – no. Further, if my side were in power, then would it make my life any better – unlikely.
Keller's conclusion, then, is that many of our problems inevitably stem from our idols, and while we may be able to get rid of one, if we do not, or are not, able to replace it with something substantial, such as the Lord Jesus (actually his conclusion is that the only god who can fill the void is the God who revealed himself through the Lord Jesus), then we are destined for an unfulfilled and very disappointing life. However he does acknowledge that even though we may accept that we have idols, getting rid of them is no easy chore, and that is because our heart is an idol factory and it will not be until we are remade in the image of God that it will stop producing idols, however it does not mean that we should just give in, but rather we need to learn to give our hearts entirely to God.(less)

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Apr 14, 2010

Brian rated it

Shelves: christian-living

This book was exceptional from one of todays greatest preachers. This whole book focuses on Idolatry. As humans we are never satisfied unless we find that satisfaction in Jesus. The temptations to put, money, love, power, sex or various other things in the leading position for our attention will ultimately leave us empty. Pastor Keller has so much insight into the human heart he really is a modern day C.S. Lewis.
The whole time I read this I saw my many attempts to do the very things I k...more

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Jul 28, 2010

Vaughn rated it

Keller explains how even good things become bad things when they turn into God things. His working definition of an idol is simply anything that ascends to the place that only God should occupy in our lives, and he shows how career, money, sex, and even family can become idols in our lives, taking the place of God but lacking the ability to live up to the positions where we place them.

But he takes the book a step further and shows it's not enough to simply remove idols. People have ...more

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Jul 23, 2010

Melissa Stebbins rated it

Timothy Keller shows how good things become idols when they become ultimate things, when we look to them for our meaning. Throughout the book he uses biblical characters to illustrate how idols work in our lives to cause destruction. I felt that sometimes he pushed the explanations a little further than the biblical accounts warranted.

Keeping God front and centre in your life is always difficult and Keller is realistic in his assessment that in this life we will need to continual...more

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Jan 29, 2012

Sharon rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: i-own

One of those books (Like "What's so amazing about Grace?") that everyone living in the modern world and its climate today, should read. Although I do agree that people who are already Christians will find it more useful that a non-believer. I found this book very interesting and loved the examination of idolatry through the stories in the Old Testament (Jonah et al) Although some of it I had already guessed at or discerned for myself (such as those trying to fulfill themselves through ...more

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Jul 13, 2011

Brett rated it

Shelves: christian-living, gospel, theology

The human heart is an idol factory, argues Keller (invoking Calvin). Often times idols are truly good things that we seek to fashion into god-things. Interlacing biblical stories and contemporary culture with stinging insight, Keller unpacks the power of idols such as money, sex, and power in our society and our personal lives. He masterfully draws us back to the gospel, however, demonstrating how only Christ can truly fulfill these deepest longings. Keller's examination of idolatry also inc...more

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Feb 09, 2010

Kirk Fatool rated it

This book was great! Keller is master at always explaining how Christ is the center of the bible. What he does here is to explain how idolatry works. But his definition is much more broad than little wooden statues. Keller discusses political, sexual, religious idols and many more. Furthermore, he provides new insights into stories we have heard many times before. His exposition on the story of Leah and Jonah is fantastic. This is a great book for new and old Christians alike. New Christians wil...more

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Jan 01, 2012

Frank Peters rated it

· review of another edition

This is another outstanding book by Timothy Keller. The book is a study of “Counterfeit Gods”, that is, those things that control us, which we typically deny. Keller does a really excellent of digging through the various levels of deceit that we use to convince ourselves that we are actually OK, and striving for what is right and correct. He also described various levels of gods in our lives, and how it may appear that we are being controlled by one thing while really this is just a result of so...more

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Nov 13, 2011

Bethany rated it

Most people are disappointed when good fiction ends. I was disappointed when this great nonfiction ended.

Keller is an engaging writer both intellectually and personally. At one point toward the end of the book, he mentioned a topic for further study that I wished he'd just delved into then and there. I wanted more. The book was substantial. Other than having some differences of opinion on some inferences from the Jonah story, his illustrations packed a punch, and I left being more awar...more

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Jul 19, 2011

Chuck Claunch rated it

This book was recommended reading from my church, as it's going to be used as a reference in some of the teaching later this year. I thought the first 3/4 of the book was great, and pertained greatly to my own situation. Keller does a great job of really showing how we can treat various aspects of our lives as idols. He also did a good job of pointing out idols I didn't even realize I had set. That part of the book helped me greatly. The last couple of chapters of the book got very politica...more

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Jan 21, 2010

Minna is currently reading it

This book is rocking my world, and I mean that in a good way. I'm moving through this book slowly, not because I want to savor each page, but because I spend most of my time trying to avoid reading it.

When I do (finally) pick it up, I am confronted with another counterfeit god, previously unbeknownst to me. Ignorance can be bliss, and this process of discovery is painful. Spiritual smackdown can be good though, as it leaves me yearning for Christ, my one and only true hope.
...more

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Apr 23, 2011

Jeanie rated it

Shelves: serious-about-god-theology

This book is helpful to any christian. It is much needed in our world today with all that is happening, economic, relationships, cultural differences and even political. Our country alone, we are divided. Maybe we are divided because our hearts divided because of our idols. This book helps you identify your idols, how to replace your idols (you can never remove them, for they grow back) and gives you examples from the bible that give you another insight to God's redemptive plan. I was very ...more

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Feb 23, 2010

Amy rated it

I REALLY wish I could give ratings in 1/2 star increments, but since I can't, I'll have to say 3 stars for this one. I'd heard a lot of hype about this book and was really excited to read it. It was good, but didn't quite live up to expectations. The book dealt with the main idols of our culture. There was a brief mention of the "deep idols" like security, affirmation, and belonging, but I wanted a lot more of this. Keller says these are the main causes of all idolatry, yet he spe...more

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Jun 02, 2010

Ashley rated it

To label Counterfeit Gods a handbook might cheapen its content, but in essence that's what it is- Keller addresses our hearts' desires (idols)and delves into well-known Old Testament stories to illustrate their strength in our lives. In the Epilogue, Keller helps readers identify their own idols through answering questions such as "What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? How do you spend your money?".

This book ...more

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Nov 08, 2010

Alissa is currently reading it

This book is thorough. It seems to me that it covers the major areas in our world that a counterfeit God can be found--and not just the plastic Buddha's we see in stores. It is much less literal as it turns out. :) I have certainly been convicted. This is good, though. It allowed me to recognize what I had made an idol out of, ask for forgiveness, and focus prayer on not doing so again. I'm not done with it yet, but so far, I'd say it's worth the read, even if you think you have the gist of the ...more

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About Timothy Keller

Dr. Timothy Keller is founder and pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. Over the past 20 years, the church has grown to five services at three sites, with a weekly attendance of over 5,000. Named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Churches in America, Keller’s ministry is notable not only for winning over New Yorkers who are skeptical to faith, but also for its missional ...more

More about Timothy Keller...

Books by Timothy Keller

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just

Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road

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Quotes from Counterfeit Gods: The ...

“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.” — 12 people liked it

“If you want God's grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing. But that kind of spiritual humility is hard to muster. We come to God saying, "Look at all I've done," or maybe "Look at all I've suffered." God, however, wants us to look to him - to just wash.” — 8 people liked it

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title link	preview: Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters
avg rating	preview: Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters Goodreads rating: 4.31 (1075 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6403690-counterfeit-gods?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255698620m/6403690.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6403690-counterfeit-gods?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters by Timothy Keller[/url]

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

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