Where Do We Go from Here?

At a glance

Relevant Scripture

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20 KJV

UECF.NET summary

In the closing chapter, Keller steps out of argument and into invitation. He asks skeptical readers who have followed the case for faith to do what he asked believers to do at the outset: examine their own worldview's unproven assumptions with the same rigor they have applied to Christian belief, rather than granting their own position an automatic pass. For readers drawn toward faith, he describes trusting Christ as more than intellectual agreement with a set of propositions — it involves repentance (a change of heart's fundamental direction, turning from self-salvation toward grace) and personal trust in Christ himself, the kind of relational commitment a marriage vow involves rather than merely accepting a fact.

He also speaks to Christians who have read the book, encouraging them to hold their faith with both conviction and humility: confident enough in the reasons for faith to engage skeptics respectfully, humble enough to keep examining their own doubts and blind spots rather than treating faith as immune to questions. Keller closes by pointing past the book itself toward ordinary means of continuing the journey — prayer, honest conversation, Christian community, and further reading — treating The Reason for God not as a final word but as one step in an ongoing, reasoned pursuit of truth that he hopes both skeptic and believer will keep walking.

Main themes

• The invitation to examine one's own assumptions applies to the reader now, not only to positions argued against earlier in the book.
• Trusting Christ is relational commitment, not merely intellectual agreement with propositions.
• Believers are called to hold conviction and humility together, continuing to examine their own faith honestly.
• The book points beyond itself toward prayer, community, and ongoing pursuit of truth.

Key ideas

• Repentance, in Keller's sense, is a change in the heart's fundamental direction, not merely regret over specific acts.
• Trusting Christ is compared to a relational commitment (like marriage) rather than simple assent to a fact.
• Christians are urged to remain as open to examining their own doubts as they ask skeptics to be.
• The book's final word points readers toward ordinary practices — prayer, community, further reading — as the way to continue.

Important concepts

• Repentance — A change in the heart's fundamental direction — turning from self-salvation and self-rule toward trust in and dependence on God.
• Saving faith — Personal, relational trust in Christ himself, not merely intellectual agreement with facts about him.
• Critical rationalism (revisited) — The book's closing reminder that reasonable faith remains open to ongoing examination rather than treating any position, skeptical or Christian, as beyond question.

Related Bible references

• Revelation 3:20
• Romans 10:9
• John 1:12
• Matthew 11:28-30
• James 1:22

Practical Christian application

• Write down, honestly, where you personally stand after reading through this study companion — convinced, still doubting, or somewhere between — and take that honestly to God in prayer.
• If you are drawn toward trusting Christ, talk with a pastor, a Christian friend, or a local church about what that next step looks like practically.
• If you are a believer, name one doubt or question you have been avoiding, and bring it into the light rather than suppressing it.

Questions for study