Would Keller Be Even Welcome in the PCA?

Published on by D. G. Hart

What an odd question, but this group of Presbyterian women might help Princeton Seminary administrators not feel so bad about the kerfuffle over Keller and the Kuyper Prize:

Meanwhile, Todd Pruitt has found another sign of harmonic convergence between women on both sides of the mainstream/sideline Presbyterian divide. Pastor Pruitt writes this:

If you listen to the podcast what you will hear is typical boilerplate liberation theology which is fundamentally unbiblical and incompatible with the gospel and the church’s mission. Sadly this has been allowed a foothold in the PCA. Some of us have been warning about it, apparently to no avail. It is nothing more than the latest incarnation of the social gospel which ironically destroys the gospel by replacing it with something else.

During the discussion the hosts dismiss the biblical pattern of male leadership within the church as nothing more than a manmade rule. They also mock those who uphold that biblical pattern and join that mockery with crude language. Keep in mind that these men and women are members of and serve in churches whose standards uphold those biblical patterns of leadership.

Near the very end of the podcast one of the hosts gives a brief nod of legitimacy to transgenderism. This is not surprising given the radical roots of their categories.

I will not labor over every problem with the content of this podcast. You will be able to hear for yourself if you choose. But be warned. It is very tedious. It is something that would be warmly received in the PC(USA) for sure. What is so troubling is that it is being received by some within the PCA. This will not end well. Experiments in the social gospel never end well.

If Tim Keller had done more to warn Presbyterian urbanists and Neo-Calvinists about the pitfalls of making the gospel social (and political or cultural), he might have shielded himself from recent controversy. That’s right. If he had done that, he’d never have been nominated for the Kuyper Prize.

Did Machen found Westminster Seminary for nothing!?!

17 thoughts on “Would Keller Be Even Welcome in the PCA?”

  1. That’s why he’s retiring as it begins to spiral beyond what his white, misogynistic self could comprehend. But he needs 82 mil as he heads out the door because, as it turns out, being for the city is about more development and less blight. Social justice looks really white, even yuppie.

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  2. The apparent answer to your (rhetorical) question is, Machen founded WTS so one of the hosts of the podcast could receive her MDiv and win prizes. “Ekemini Uwan received her Master of Divinity degree in 2016 from Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) in Philadelphia, PA. She is also the 2015 Greene Prize in Apologetics Award recipient.” I guess that is where she learned the “sound theology” Paul has in mind in Eph. 2, breaking down the dividing wall between the (socially constructed) genders.

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  3. “Socially constructed genders.” Because gender is fluid and psychoanalysts are wizards and declaration and action of the will is ‘the good’ that creates the reality and the faith is not primarily or even necessarily historical and Paul only escapes criticism because, well, how could he escape his historical context.

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  4. PW, religion as self-realization, my story, my journey, finding ‘the jesus’ in me is so….. I don’t know, modern and by modern I mean 1920 German protestant liberalism. It’s all myth don’t ya know.

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  7. PW, if you identify as a woman but you still take your lead(even unwittingly) from patriarchal, white, european men at the turn of the century, what exactly is it that you’ve been liberated from? That aside, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll surrender my political power right after you do.

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  8. Prizes…. one should be embarrassed to brag about being awarded one – whether from a seminary or one recognizing a meaningful achievement like a nobel prize in physics.

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  9. This whole thing is so weird. Keller is now the Lion of Westminster, Guardian of Apple (Pie), and Champion of Complementarian Womanhood with conservatives, but I wonder what the most progressive of his erstwhile flock make of all this? Is there an ick factor?

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  13. Mormons are like baptists. They can’t be elders in the PCA, but once they become members, then they can be TAUGHT (it’s optional as to when and where) every square inch of the Reformed faith.

    Mouw–“While many of us disagree with Keller’s stance on the ordination of women, we admire him greatly. His ministry—Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City—has done so much to model the practical application of Kuyper’s theology of culture to Christian ENGAGEMENT IN business, the arts, politics, journalism, and other areas of cultural leadership in seeking obedience to the lordship of Jesus Christ…. Indeed, there is an irony to be noted in this regard. Just last week I talked to a journalist who told me how much Keller had encouraged her in her calling to be a strong voice in her profession. “I see him as one of my key mentors,” she said. She is not alone in this. I have heard similar testimonies from women in the banking world, academic life, and other areas of public service.An important question for many of US now is: What happens next? What will this mean for the future? Several of US who have received the Kuyper Prize in the past have gone on record as holding to the traditional view of sexuality and marriage. Is there a new litmus test? Would folks like us automatically be ruled out as being too much like Keller on at least one key issue?”

    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/march-web-only/kuyper-keller-princeton-seminary-ironic.html

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