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

by Timothy J. Keller

In any culture in which God is largely absent, sex, money, and politics will fill the vacuum for different people. This is the reason that our political discourse is increasingly ideological and polarized. Many describe the current poisonous public discourse as a lack of bi-partisanship, but the roots go much deeper than that.

they go back to the beginning of the

world, to our alienation from God, and to our frantic efforts to compensate for our feelings of cosmic nakedness and powerlessness. The only way to deal with all thes...

fear and anxiety are the reason that many seek political power.

Those in power know that they are the object of jealousy and stand in the crosshairs of their competitors. The higher a person climbs the greater the possibility of a terrible fall, for there is now so much to lose.

Human beings have very little real power over their lives. Ninety-five percent of what sets the course of their lives is completely outside their control.

all we are and have is given to us by God.

Power idols are a “deep idols” that can express themselves through a great variety of other “surface” idols.

Idols of power, then, are not only for the powerful. You can pursue power in small, petty ways, by becoming a local neighborhood bully or a low-level bureaucrat who bosses around the few people in his field of authority.

all human power crumbles in the end.

The central goal of life is not to sacrifice, or to deny oneself, but to be happy and feel good about yourself