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For those concerned about the plight of homiletics within the Church, this quarter’s Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society (Spring 2014) has picked up our article on Tim Keller’s exegetical method, “Getting Sanctification Done: The Primacy of Narrative in Tim Keller’s Exegetical Method.” It is also available under the same title at the Trinity Foundation.
Tim Keller is the pastor of one of the largest and most influential PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) congregations in the country, so his approach to the Scriptures is of no small concern to us. The article evaluates Keller’s exegetical method using his own words about his approach to homiletics. As noted in the article,
“… it does not take long to discover a pattern of eisegetical license in Keller’s works, a license he affords to himself as the need may arise in order to support his prevailing narrative, whatever it may be. This pattern was especially odd because of Keller’s admonition to his hearers that we must ‘be true to the text, listening as carefully as we can to the meaning of the inspired author.’ As the examples … will show, his advice is more of a suggestion than a rule. … Because Keller is one who is quick to dismiss the opinions of others because their opinions violate ‘authorial intent,’ it is valuable to know whether he exhibits a reasonable duty of care when handling ‘authorial intent’ himself.”
What we find, ultimately, is that Keller teaches a form of sanctification by worship, and by this thinks he can “get sanctification done on the spot,” even if it requires him to affirm things that he does not believe to be true.
But sanctification is by the truth (John 17:17), not by worship. Sanctification by worship is nothing more than mysticism, which is why Keller has such an affinity for Roman Catholic mystics as we noted in And the Diviners Have Seen a Lie, and Wolves Within the Gate.
We hope this article will be a helpful resource to those who either consume, or are concerned about, Keller’s vast quantity of books, papers, sermons and other ministry related materials.
Enjoy.
Unfortunately, it does not take long to discover a pattern of eisegetical license in Keller’s works, a license he affords to himself as the need may arise in order to support his prevailing narrative, whatever it may be. This pattern was especially odd because of Keller’s admonition to his hearers that we must “be true to the text, listening as carefully as we can to the meaning of the inspired author.”[1] As the examples in the following section will show, his advice is more of a suggestion than a rule.
“What is Truth?” (John 18:38)
In The Reason for God, Keller explains that he is writing the book in order to show how he implemented a “moderate or conservative” church in a “liberal and edgy” city (xiii). With that in mind, it is easy to see why he cited Matthew 21:31 to his readers saying, “It was the Bible-believing religious establishment who put Jesus to death.”[2]There is some tangible benefit to casting the religious establishment of Jesus’ day as “Bible-believing” to his liberal and edgy readers. But the problem is that Matthew 21:32, the very next verse, declares that “‘the religious establishment” did not believe at all, and they certainly were not “Bible-believing” (see also, John 5:46). Was it the intent of the inspired author to portray the Pharisees as “Bible believing”? Of course not. The New Testament repeatedly portrays those who rejected Jesus as the unbelievers (John 8:45-46; Romans 3:3, 10:21, 11:20; 1 Timothy 1:13; 1 Peter 2:7-8). But the context of the passage and the consistent testimony of the New Testament was no barrier to Keller who needed a narrative for his book.
In Prodigal God,[3]Keller wanted to show that the parable of the Prodigal Son contains “the secret heart of Christianity” (xiii), and adds this paradox for good measure: “one of the signs that you may not grasp the unique, radical nature of the gospel is that you are certain that you do” (xi). To underscore this theme, he uses Matthew 21:31 again to show that Jesus’ teaching attracted the irreligious while “offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day” who “studied and obeyed the Scripture” (Prodigal God, 8, 15, 29-30). It hardly seems to matter to him that Jesus described His bride, not the Pharisees, as the obedient Bible-believers who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17, 14:12). The consistent testimony of the New Testament is that Jesus was rejected by those rife with disobedience and unbelief. But Keller needed a narrative to carry the message of the book, and the original context of the passage did not seem to matter.
In Counterfeit Gods,[4] Keller’s objective is to show that we moderns are tempted by heart idols like “beauty, power, money and achievement” (xii). Indeed, we are. Keller uses Ezekiel 14:3a to suggest that the elders of Israel were struggling with heart idols, not physical idols, and indeed were not even aware of, and could not see, any physical idols in their midst:
In Ezekiel 14:3, God says about the elders of Israel, “these men have set up their idols in their hearts.” Like us, the elders must have responded to this charge, “Idols? What idols? I don’t see any idols.” God was saying that the human heart takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. (Counterfeit Gods, xiv)
But the second half of Ezekiel 14:3 states explicitly that their idols were in plain sight, “before their face.” The Israelites had not forsaken “the idols of Egypt” (20:8), and were offering incense to their idols “round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak” (6:3). Who can possibly read Ezekiel and then have the elders of Israel saying “Idols? What idols? I don’t see any idols”? But this plain context of Ezekiel 14:3 was no constraint to Keller’s narrative. He was writing about heart idols, and it served his purpose to cast the elders of Israel as puzzled and ignorant, unaware that they were worshiping physical images.
In The Meaning of Marriage,[5]Keller sought to apply the Scripture to the institution of marriage, promising to adhere to “a straightforward reading of Biblical texts” (16). But within four pages, Keller had already recast Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:32, “This is a profound mystery,” as if Paul was stating that the institution of marriage is the mystery:
[I]t is not surprising that the only phrase in Paul’s famous discourse on marriage in Ephesians 5 that many couples can relate to is verse 32…. Sometimes you fall into bed, after a long, hard day of trying to understand each other, and you can only sigh, “This is all a profound mystery!” At times, your marriage seems to be an unsolvable puzzle, a maze in which you feel lost. (Meaning of Marriage, 21)
The context, however, is that Paul is explicitly referring to Christ’s affection for His church, and not to the legal union of the husband and wife. The reformers battled Rome on this very point, as Calvin shows, saying, “no man should understand him as speaking of marriage” in Ephesians 5:32, but rather that the “profound mystery” is “the spiritual union between Christ and the church.”[6] But this was no constraint to Keller. When writing a book subtitled “Facing the Complexities of Commitment,” his overarching narrative needed a verse that made marriage the unsolved mystery, irrespective of the context.
We could go on and on with examples, for there are many. We could also spend considerable time showing that in spite of these lapses, Keller actually states many things that are true. That Christ is preached, we rejoice, and Keller on many occasions does so. But to understand just what latitude Keller allows himself, it is necessary to produce more than a passing sample of his license. Because Keller is one who is quick to dismiss the opinions of others because their opinions violate “authorial intent,”[7] it is valuable to know whether he exhibits a reasonable duty of care when handling “authorial intent” himself.
– See more at: http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=293#sthash.UtSHbP4T.dpuf
Unfortunately, it does not take long to discover a pattern of eisegetical license in Keller’s works, a license he affords to himself as the need may arise in order to support his prevailing narrative, whatever it may be. This pattern was especially odd because of Keller’s admonition to his hearers that we must “be true to the text, listening as carefully as we can to the meaning of the inspired author.”[1] As the examples in the following section will show, his advice is more of a suggestion than a rule.
“What is Truth?” (John 18:38)
In The Reason for God, Keller explains that he is writing the book in order to show how he implemented a “moderate or conservative” church in a “liberal and edgy” city (xiii). With that in mind, it is easy to see why he cited Matthew 21:31 to his readers saying, “It was the Bible-believing religious establishment who put Jesus to death.”[2]There is some tangible benefit to casting the religious establishment of Jesus’ day as “Bible-believing” to his liberal and edgy readers. But the problem is that Matthew 21:32, the very next verse, declares that “‘the religious establishment” did not believe at all, and they certainly were not “Bible-believing” (see also, John 5:46). Was it the intent of the inspired author to portray the Pharisees as “Bible believing”? Of course not. The New Testament repeatedly portrays those who rejected Jesus as the unbelievers (John 8:45-46; Romans 3:3, 10:21, 11:20; 1 Timothy 1:13; 1 Peter 2:7-8). But the context of the passage and the consistent testimony of the New Testament was no barrier to Keller who needed a narrative for his book.
In Prodigal God,[3]Keller wanted to show that the parable of the Prodigal Son contains “the secret heart of Christianity” (xiii), and adds this paradox for good measure: “one of the signs that you may not grasp the unique, radical nature of the gospel is that you are certain that you do” (xi). To underscore this theme, he uses Matthew 21:31 again to show that Jesus’ teaching attracted the irreligious while “offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day” who “studied and obeyed the Scripture” (Prodigal God, 8, 15, 29-30). It hardly seems to matter to him that Jesus described His bride, not the Pharisees, as the obedient Bible-believers who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17, 14:12). The consistent testimony of the New Testament is that Jesus was rejected by those rife with disobedience and unbelief. But Keller needed a narrative to carry the message of the book, and the original context of the passage did not seem to matter.
In Counterfeit Gods,[4] Keller’s objective is to show that we moderns are tempted by heart idols like “beauty, power, money and achievement” (xii). Indeed, we are. Keller uses Ezekiel 14:3a to suggest that the elders of Israel were struggling with heart idols, not physical idols, and indeed were not even aware of, and could not see, any physical idols in their midst:
In Ezekiel 14:3, God says about the elders of Israel, “these men have set up their idols in their hearts.” Like us, the elders must have responded to this charge, “Idols? What idols? I don’t see any idols.” God was saying that the human heart takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. (Counterfeit Gods, xiv)
But the second half of Ezekiel 14:3 states explicitly that their idols were in plain sight, “before their face.” The Israelites had not forsaken “the idols of Egypt” (20:8), and were offering incense to their idols “round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak” (6:3). Who can possibly read Ezekiel and then have the elders of Israel saying “Idols? What idols? I don’t see any idols”? But this plain context of Ezekiel 14:3 was no constraint to Keller’s narrative. He was writing about heart idols, and it served his purpose to cast the elders of Israel as puzzled and ignorant, unaware that they were worshiping physical images.
In The Meaning of Marriage,[5]Keller sought to apply the Scripture to the institution of marriage, promising to adhere to “a straightforward reading of Biblical texts” (16). But within four pages, Keller had already recast Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:32, “This is a profound mystery,” as if Paul was stating that the institution of marriage is the mystery:
[I]t is not surprising that the only phrase in Paul’s famous discourse on marriage in Ephesians 5 that many couples can relate to is verse 32…. Sometimes you fall into bed, after a long, hard day of trying to understand each other, and you can only sigh, “This is all a profound mystery!” At times, your marriage seems to be an unsolvable puzzle, a maze in which you feel lost. (Meaning of Marriage, 21)
The context, however, is that Paul is explicitly referring to Christ’s affection for His church, and not to the legal union of the husband and wife. The reformers battled Rome on this very point, as Calvin shows, saying, “no man should understand him as speaking of marriage” in Ephesians 5:32, but rather that the “profound mystery” is “the spiritual union between Christ and the church.”[6] But this was no constraint to Keller. When writing a book subtitled “Facing the Complexities of Commitment,” his overarching narrative needed a verse that made marriage the unsolved mystery, irrespective of the context.
We could go on and on with examples, for there are many. We could also spend considerable time showing that in spite of these lapses, Keller actually states many things that are true. That Christ is preached, we rejoice, and Keller on many occasions does so. But to understand just what latitude Keller allows himself, it is necessary to produce more than a passing sample of his license. Because Keller is one who is quick to dismiss the opinions of others because their opinions violate “authorial intent,”[7] it is valuable to know whether he exhibits a reasonable duty of care when handling “authorial intent” himself.
– See more at: http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=293#sthash.UtSHbP4T.dpuf
Happy Queenship Of Mary Day Tim.
Jim,
Sometime soon, after the Bowls, I suppose, I’ll post something on the myth of Mary’s role as Queen Mother.
Thanks,
Tim
Tim,
Is the idea of Jesus being the new Davidic king a myth too?
Jim,
Is the idea of Saint Anne being the new grandmother of heaven a myth too ? Maybe it’s an underdeveloped dogma waiting for the big leagues.
Eric W, Exactly, waiting for the big leagues. Added revelation. And soon Joseph Smith will be an assumed relative?
Jim,
That’s just the point. You believe that Mary’s queenship is so intricately tied to Jesus’ kingship that to deny the former is to deny the latter. The myth is that they are tied together so that Jesus’ kingship requires a sovereign Mary. It is just a myth, but like so much of the Roman religion, as the myth goes up in smoke, so goes the whole system built on it.
Eric W makes a good point, too. There is a lot to work with, if you view the Church Fathers as a part of the “deposit of faith.” Jerome called Eustochium “God’s mother-in-law” (Jerome, Letter 22 To Eustochium, ch. 20). Since Rome has us all obligated to honor God’s “mother,” should we not also honor His “mother-in-law”? Or is the “queen mother-in-law” dogma still in it’s infancy?
Thanks,
Tim
Jim, the only mention of Queen of heaven in scripture is pagan. if you trace the whole Queen Mary thing in Roman catholicism it has a pagan origin as most of roman Catholicism. Romanism is mostly a mixture of Paganism with some Christianity sprinkled in.
Kevin, Is the Book of Esther in your Bible? Do you know what Esther means?
I’m familiar with the story in Esther. Did God commission the festival of Purim?
Tim, Have you read J.C. Ryle’s book Warnings to the churches. If not it is excellent. He deals in a section where Pau condemns what he call “meats” meaning all the ritual and ceremony that has take away from the gospel thru the history of the church. He was a great theologian and this small book is worthy of a read. God Bless Kevin.
Kevin,
I think you would enjoy his comments on Matthew 5…good stuff and easy to get online
Eric W , thanks bro.
Tim, I going to assume that Keller’s popularity blossoms out of peoples desire to have their ears tickled with something different and the lack of preaching and teaching of biblical truth in context thru which God rewords us and we are sanctified. These guys come out of seminary and they have to re invent the wheel with new methods approaches. Much is Springboard theology. I mean how is this different than what we see with the Stellmans of this world. Instead of being the guy who Pastors the church and prepares the saints for the work of the ministry thru the faithful teaching of already entrenched truths, theses young guys got the new deal. I mean to say sanctification comes thru worship and not the two-edged sword of the word which cuts to our core and changes us is a leap only one who is not centered themselves on truth. The divining rightly of the word of God is of the utmost importance, else we end up with Roman Catholicism, sanctification thru worship, mysticism, speculation, mostly with generations of Christians and non Christians who don’t hear the word rightly divided. C.S. Lewis said when confronted with a old theological book and a new one to read, pick the old one.