The King's Cross

I first fell in love with Tim Keller as an author after reading his book, The Prodigal God. If you have not yet read that--let me implore you to make it the next book that you read, particularly if you, like me, were raised in the church. It will give you a fresh (but convicting) appreciation for the story about the prodigal son. That being said, Keller's latest book, The King's Cross, is well worth a read.

As a wanna-be Bible scholar that has never attended seminary, I look for books that feed my desire to better understand the Word of God. The King's Cross is a study of the book of Mark which I found both thought provoking and informative. As you may know King's Cross is the name of a major train station in London--in fact I was there just a few weeks ago! Keller took the title of his book from this station--a name which so perfectly encapsulates the deity and the servitude of Christ. 

Keller chose the book of Mark because, according to Papia (60-135 A.D.), a bishop of the early church, Mark was most likely the secretary and translator for the apostle Peter. Keller asserts that it is possible that the Gospel according to Mark was almost entirely based on the eye-witness accounts of Peter, which explains how this book contains testimony about events at which Mark himself was not present. 

Perhaps the most basic and profound idea in The King's Cross is this: Most religions are based on advice--and they give us a series of "to-dos" and "not to-dos;" but the Gospel is not advice, it is news--Good News. Keller writes:

 Most religions have the same logic: If I perform, if I obey, I'm accepted. The gospel of Jesus is ... diametrically opposed to it: I'm fully accepted in Jesus Christ, and therefore I obey.