Review: Counterfeit Gods

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

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As usual, Keller has read both the trendy and the traditional on the subject, and makes the best use of both. Idols are usually good things that have become ultimate things. Because our hearts are idol factories, we can turn anything into an idol. We can identify the idols in our lives by looking at our daydreams, our nightmares (what do we fear the most?), and our emotions.

Keller takes up several biblical narratives in the book to swing our hearts away from our false gods and back to the real God. In each narrative he brings out God’s grace in Jesus, and everything is done in a way that makes this book highly suitable for both Christians and non-Christians.

As a personal example of how our hearts can make an idol out of anything, I realized as I was holding this book in my hands, that this is my idol. How ironic that reading and learning are my idols and then I read a book about it! But the answer is not to throw away all my books. No, it is to throw myself at my Lord Jesus, and to do whatever little learning I am capable of in loving devotion to him and to his people.



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