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Timothy James Keller (September 23, 1950 – May 19, 2023) was an American Presbyterian pastor, Reformed theologian, and Christian apologist. He was the chairman and co-founder of Redeemer City to City, which trains pastors for service around the world. Keller was also the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the author of The New York Times bestselling books The Prodigal God (2008), Prayer (2014), and The Reason for God (2008). The prequel for the latter is Making Sense of God (2016).

Early life and education

Timothy James Keller was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 23, 1950, to Louise A. Keller (née Clemente) and William B. Keller, a television advertising manager. His Italian-American mother baptized him as a Catholic.

Keller was a graduate of Bucknell University (BA, 1972), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div., 1975) and Westminster Theological Seminary, where he received his D.Min. in 1981 under the supervision of Harvie M. Conn. Keller attended the Lutheran Church in America during his upbringing. At Bucknell, he joined the campus fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and during Seminary was an associate staff member at Framingham college in Massachusetts.

Career

Keller was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He served as a pastor at West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, for nine years while also serving as director of church planting for the PCA. Keller also served on the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, where he and his wife Kathy were involved in urban ministry.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Keller was recruited by his denomination to start Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989 after two others had turned down the position.

In 2008, Keller published his first book since his 1989 report to his denomination on diaconal ministries, Ministries of Mercy. The book, The Reason for God, was based on common objections to the Christian faith heard during his ministry in New York City. The book reached seventh on the New York Times Nonfiction bestseller list.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church grew from 50 people to a total attendance of over 5,000 people each Sunday as of 2008, leading some to call Keller "the most successful Christian evangelist in the city". In 2004, Christianity Today praised Redeemer as "one of Manhattan's most vital congregations".

The church's emphasis on young urban professionals, whom Keller believed exhibit disproportionate influence over the culture and its ideas, has given the church an unusual makeup for a US megachurch. The majority of the congregation is made up of single adults; it is also over forty percent Asian-American, and has many congregants working in the arts and financial services. In his preaching, "he hardly shrinks from difficult Christian truths, [but] he sounds different from many of the shrill evangelical voices in the public sphere." Keller often critiqued both the Republican and Democrat political parties and avoided taking public stances on political issues, resulting in a politically centrist church.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church has also founded Hope for New York, a non-profit organization that sends volunteers and grants to over 40 faith-based ministries serving social needs in New York City; the Center for Faith and Work, to train professionals in Christian theology; and Redeemer City to City, to train and fund pastors in New York and other cities.

Keller was a co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, a group of Reformed leaders from around the United States. His mentoring of younger church leaders, such as Scott Sauls in Nashville and Steve Chong in Sydney, increased his influence globally.

On July 1, 2017, Keller stepped down from his role as senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. The move was part of a larger vision to shift his efforts from preaching to training the next generation of church leaders and starting new churches in global cities through Redeemer City to City.

Theological views

Keller shunned the label "evangelical" because of its political and fundamentalist connotation, preferring to call himself orthodox because "he believes in the importance of personal conversion or being 'born again,' and the full authority of the Bible." He identified with Calvinist theology, although he had been critiqued by some in that tradition for his interpretation of its doctrines. He was described as a "doctrine-friendly emerging pastor".

Gospel versus religion

The centerpiece and underpinning of Keller's ministry was his teaching of the doctrine of the gospel, emphasizing the doctrines of total depravity, unmerited grace and substitutionary atonement. This teaching is summarized in his oft-used explanation, "The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope." This understanding of the gospel is contrasted to what Keller called "traditional religion" (which he defines as a set of rules, rituals or actions that enable an individual to earn salvation or favor with God) as well as "irreligion" (which he defines as the belief that there is no God or no need for his favor). This has been referred to as a "gospel third way", or "gospel-centered" approach. Typical of this teaching is his interpretation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (see The Prodigal God), based on a teaching of one of Keller's mentors, Edmund Clowney.

Apologetics

Keller's preaching and writing in his apologetics is characterized by a respectful orientation towards an educated and skeptical audience outside the faith. His most explicit work on the subject was The Reason for God, which he attributed to thousands of conversations with skeptical New Yorkers over the course of his ministry (Reason, p. xix).

On creationism, Keller stated that his view is not strictly literal and that evolution is "neither ruled in nor ruled out" in his church. Keller wrote on the topic for the BioLogos Foundation.