Many modern people tend to be offended by a number of the classic Christian doctrines held by the Church. Claims to miracles in the gospels, the atonement, the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus are often hard to swallow for millions of people around the world today and, judging by all the disapproving facial expressions, they generally appear to leave a bad taste in the mouth. Why not, they say, do away with all these offensive archaic doctrines and get down to the real heart of the thing – the moral teachings of Jesus? Why not focus on loving your neighbour, avoiding selfishness, resisting materialism etc? These things, they say, are the real ‘essentials’ of Christianity. In this sermon, Tim Keller lays a case that such a perspective robs Christianity of its true nature and unknowingly contradicts the actual teaching of Jesus himself. How so? From the very beginning of the Church the early Christians deliberately called the message of Christianity a ‘gospel’ rather than labelling it a new ethical code or philosophical school. Why would they make this distinction? A Gospel, Keller explains, is essentially a message declaring news of an extraordinary historic event. The other world religions ultimately come to us in the form of philosophy or teaching – whether a wise man like Buddha or a prophet like Muhammed they both typically introduce to the world a system of rules and principles to follow; an ethic or philosophy. If you take away the historic events surrounding the origins of these religions they can, to a large degree, continue to stand no worse for wear because they are essentially teaching, abstract ideas and principles. Christianity is radically different. The Christian message is essentially news in that it reports on what God has done for us, in history, in time, in real events. Trying to force the Christian message into the format of a philosophy, Keller argues, is to rob it of its power and defining characteristics.