Tim Keller’s new book, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters, is releasing October 20. I previously posted a series of excerpts from Chapter 1, which is outstanding. Here’s just one:
“Each one has its shrines—whether office towers, spas and gyms, studios, or stadiums—where sacrifices must be made in order to procure the blessings of the good life and ward off disaster. What are the gods of beauty, power, money, and achievement but these same things that have assumed mythic proportions in our individual lives and in our society? We may not physically kneel before the statue of Aphrodite, but many young women today are driven into depression and eating disorders by an obsessive concern over their body image. We may not actually burn incense to Artemis, but when money and career are raised to cosmic proportions, we perform a kind of child sacrifice, neglecting family and community to achieve a higher place in business and gain more wealth and prestige.”
And here’s a two minute video of Keller explaining why he wrote the book: