The following post is from early April....before Tim Keller was called home to his Lord and Savior:
Pastor....(New York City)....theologian and author Tim Keller has been around for a long time. He's only a few months younger than me....that proves it. Tucker Carlson ridiculed Keller and a few other notable Christians....this a few weeks ago....for in his opinion not defending Christianity enough on the issues of the day. If you are a Christian minister....and attacked by Tucker Carlson for not being as politically correct as he demands that you be....(yes Virginia....conservatives today also demand political correctness)....then you must have done something right....for Carlson....to paraphrase a line in film from many decades ago....has great advertising.....but nothing to sell. He has been confused and confounded and grossly wrong a number of times in the past few years.....but continues to hold sway many evangelicals.
Tim Keller is like John Piper in that they both believe that the church has to address issues of social justice. This doesn't go over well with the new Republican Party....that is constantly trying to stir up the faithful by pointing to Antifa and drag queens.....and it also doesn't go over well in a lot of churches....many of which have split over this issue. To these other folks....social justice will come when all the ships rise together....anything else is socialism.
There is a new biography out on Tim Keller.....actually it may be the first full book biography ever written about him. Collin Hanson is the author.....and Timothy Keller, His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation....the title. Keller has a lot of ties to Pittsburgh....his wife is from Pittsburgh....his own family lived in the area for a while....a lot of his early seminary friends are from Pittsburgh....and he has strong ties to Pittsburgher R. C. Sproul. In fact Pittsburgh seems to dominate the early chapters. I used a phrase from the book as the title to this post.
I could write a typical review....where I hit all the main themes....blah blah blah....but I would rather focus on what jumped out at me. Tim Keller is not a cookie-cutter....fresh out of the mold preacher. As with John Piper....Jonathan Edwards and C. S. Lewis had significant influence upon him. They both....Keller and Piper....are very wary of too much dependence on politics and government. Racial equality and harmony are primary objectives and biblical precepts of these two well-known pastors.
It might be a strange metaphor....but you will never find either Keller's or Piper's face on the front of a cereal box. Neither is afraid to disagree with other well-known Christian ministers on issues that are non-essentials of the faith....but....having this disagreement....they if at all possible will not let that disagreement cause a separation. That separation would have to be initiated by the other side. I myself....albeit the most insignificant of any commentator....have a serious difference of belief with Keller on one very important but non essential to salvation doctrine....but I can rejoice in Tim Keller....for I recognize a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ whom God has gifted tremendously.
I have never read a single book written by Tim Keller....and he has written many books....some widely-acclaimed....nor do I have any plans to read any of his books....but I recommend this biography to you. If you are anywhere near my age....you need to know what was going on in evangelicalism in our youth....things that affected the direction that we would take. And if you are much younger than us in the septuagenarian or sexagenarian classifications....then you also need to know some of the history of what may have been your own conversion.
I do want to add this though. Elizabeth Elliot plays a prominent role in the formation of Tim Keller and particularly Keller's wife. You May want to sit down as you read a passage on Elliot....on page 77.
One other thing. I picked the book up off the shelf at Barnes & Noble and went immediately to the blurbs....a couple of Christian historians that I am familiar with...OK....a couple of United States senators....OK....a few people I was not familiar with....and then at the bottom.....Sinclair Ferguson....I didn't even need to read what he wrote....I turned and headed to the checkout line!
