Unmasking the many faces of sin

John Woods reviews What Is Wrong with the World? by Timothy Keller.

Cornelius Plantinga, whose book Not the Way it is Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin is cited by Tim Keller in this book, suggests that from his observations “preachers mumble about sin”. I think that Plantinga is right, preachers often miss the mark when it comes to preaching on sin, which can often too vague to be helpful or so narrow that it fails to penetrate the hearts of every sinner.

This book of sermons by Keller is the first set of posthumous sermons that have been edited for publication. There is always a worry that, like the famous musician whose reputation is dented by the release of an album of mediocre out-takes, Keller will not be served by trawling his back catalogue. Keller, however, is more like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, whose out-takes contain many unreleased gems.