Book Review: Counterfeit Gods

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

Author:  Timothy Keller

Publisher:  Dutton, 2009; 210 pp. $19.95

Recommendation (4-star scale):  

I first started thinking of idolatry as something more than a metal or wood structure made with hands ten or twelve years ago when reading a short article by Philip Yancey.  It piqued my interest and started me thinking in new ways, but it hardly produced a fully developed theology of idolatry in my mind.

My understanding grew as I was introduced to several articles and messages by a variety of Biblical counselors, including David Powlison.

So when I saw the title of this book about a month ago, I was quite excited and interested to see how Tim Keller might develop this topic.  I was not disappointed.

The book contains seven chapters and an epilogue.  Using the lives of Biblical characters like Abraham, Jacob and Leah, Zacchaeus, Naaman, Nebuchadnezzar, and Jonah, Keller provides a framework for understanding theology as an issue of the heart, and then demonstrates how idolatry is worked out around the themes of love and sexuality, money, success, power, and even the cultural idols that influence the lives of believers.  Also of great benefit in the book is the epilogue where he addressed the issue, “finding and replacing your idols.”

…idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong.…Why do we fail to love or keep promises or live unselfishly?  Of course, the general answer is “because we are weak and sinful,” but the specific answer in any actual circumstance is that there is something you feel you must have to be happy, something that is more important to your heart than God himself.  We would not lie unless we first had made something — human approval, reputation, power over others, financial advantage — more important and valuable to our hearts than the grace and favor of God.  The secret to change is to identify and dismantle the counterfeit gods of your heart.

In that same chapter he then demonstrates the significance of spiritual disciplines — “Spiritual disciplines are basically forms of worship, and it is worship that is the final way to replace the idols of your heart.  You cannot get relief simply by figuring out your idols intellectually.  You have to actually get the peace that Jesus gives, and that only comes as you worship.”

The strength of the book is in how Keller provides definitions of idolatry and demonstrates through the Biblical text how idolatry takes place.  He is a clear and compelling writer, has obviously read widely and researched extensively as he developed this theme.  He is also careful to repeatedly say that there is a difference between surface idols (like money, power, and sex), and the “deep idols” that drive those surface desires:  “motivational desires and temperaments made into absolutes,” including power, approval, comfort, and control (sovereignty).

The weakness of the book is two-fold:  1) for all the research that Keller did, much of it seemed to lean on secular or theologically liberal resources — he is more comfortable being somewhat eclectic than I would be — making me unsure of some of the conclusions he was drawing from the text; 2) Keller is amillennial in his eschatology, which influences how he will interpret passages, again making me somewhat wary of the conclusions he was drawing from the text.  For instance, when drawing from the life of Nebuchadnezzar to illustrate the idol of power, he draws this conclusion after retelling Nebuchadnezzar’s descent from king to cow:

What happened?  One of the great ironies of sin is that when human beings try to become more than human beings, to be as gods, they fall to become lower than human beings.  To be your own God and live for your own glory and power leads to the most bestial and cruel kind of behavior.  Pride makes you a predator, not a person.  That is what happened to the king.

I’m not sure that is necessarily a valid interpretation (or application, for that matter) of that story.  The story does reveal that God will not share His glory and power with another, there is only one King and sovereign (and it is not Nebuchadnezzar, or any other man), and God judged Nebuchadnezzar uniquely for his folly.  And I agree that living for one’s own glory and power may make him act like a beast — I’m just not convinced that was what Daniel intended to convey in telling that story.

That being said, I would agree with another preacher I heard recently who said of Keller, I may not always agree with how he develops an idea, but by the time he gets to the conclusion, I generally agree with him.  My sentiments exactly.

Overall, this book is well worth reading.  It is helpful in its overview of the topic of idolatry, and insightful in many ways.  Just read it with caution and discernment.

If you want more information about the book before purchasing it, you can find the flavor of it from a number of resources.  The publishers of the book have developed a small website related to this book, providing a few resources, including an excerpt from the book and a link to many free audio sermons from Tim Keller’s pulpit.  Additionally, the sermon, “The Girl Nobody Wanted,” which is the basis for his second chapter, “Love is Not All You Need,” is still available for download through Preaching Today.  The majority of the sermons that became the foundation of this book can be found through Redeemer Presbyterian’s website.