# Tim Keller American **Reformed Protestant pastor, apologist, and church-planter** (1950-2023). He founded **Redeemer Presbyterian Church** in Manhattan (1989) and **Redeemer City to City**, a church-planting network. He is one of the most influential modern evangelical voices on **cultural apologetics, urban ministry, and engagement with a post-Christian world**. His book *The Reason for God* (Dutton, 2008) is the most widely read modern evangelical apologetic written for secular skeptics. Keller matters to the codex in several ways. His apologetic style (engaging the *defeater beliefs* that secular skeptics already hold, rather than leading with classical proofs) shapes [Conversation Scenarios](/codex/conversation-scenarios/) §8 (deconstructing Christian), [Listening Tools](/codex/listening-tools/) #5 (Honoring the Objection), and the broader [Meaning-Centered Evangelism](/codex/meaning-centered-evangelism/) approach. His teaching on idolatry (*Counterfeit Gods*), prayer, suffering, and marriage feeds the [Christian Living](/codex/christianity/) cluster. He died of pancreatic cancer on May 19, 2023. --- ## Biographical sketch - **Education:** B.A. Bucknell University (1972); M.Div. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1975); D.Min. Westminster Theological Seminary (1981). - **Pastorate:** West Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Virginia (1975-1984); Westminster Theological Seminary faculty (1984-1989). Founded Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989. - **Redeemer Presbyterian Church** grew from a few dozen people to a network of congregations with thousands of members in Manhattan. Keller also started Redeemer City to City (RCTC) to plant urban churches in major global cities. - **Personal:** Married to Kathy Keller, a theology and ministry partner; three sons. Died May 19, 2023 after a two-and-a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer. --- ## Major works ### Cultural apologetics - **The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism** (Dutton, 2008), Keller's signature popular apologetic. He takes on the seven big objections secular people raise (there cannot be just one true religion; how could a good God allow suffering; Christianity is a straitjacket; the church has caused so much injustice; how can a loving God send people to hell; science has disproved Christianity; you cannot take the Bible literally) and engages each one in its own terms. It is the bestselling modern apologetic for secular skeptics. - **Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical** (Viking, 2016), the prequel to *Reason for God*. It first questions the secular framework itself, before arguing for specific Christian claims. - **Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters** (Dutton, 2009), applied teaching on idolatry as a frame for the human condition. ### Pastoral / theological - **The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith** (Dutton, 2008), re-reading of [Luke 15](/codex/luke-15/). - **Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering** (Dutton, 2013), pastoral-theological treatment of suffering. - **Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God** (Dutton, 2014), extensive treatment of Christian prayer. - **The Meaning of Marriage** (with Kathy Keller, Dutton, 2011), Christian marriage framework. - **Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter** (Viking, 2021), resurrection theology. ### Pastoral methodology - **Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City** (Zondervan, 2012), Keller's church-ministry framework. - **Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism** (Viking, 2015), homiletics framework, addressing contemporary plausibility-structure objections. --- ## The Kellerian apologetic method Keller's approach is **contextual** rather than classical-evidentialist. He drew on Lesslie Newbigin's missionary work with Western culture. The basic instinct: 1. **Find the secular framework** that makes Christianity seem unlikely to a given audience. 2. **Engage the *defeater beliefs*** inside that framework, the assumptions that have to be in place for the skeptic's view to feel live. 3. **Show the defeater beliefs are themselves open to question.** Often, on their own terms, they undercut themselves or lack support. 4. **Then introduce the Christian claim** as the better explanation, now that the defeaters have been cleared away. This is different from the classical-evidentialist approach (Craig, Habermas), which leads with positive arguments for Christianity. Keller's approach clears obstacles first, then presents. Keller's method shaped the codex's [Apologetic Method Comparison](/codex/apologetic-method-comparison/) (cultural apologetics as a fifth method alongside classical, evidential, presuppositional, and Reformed epistemology). It also shaped the [Listening Tools](/codex/listening-tools/) and [Meaning-Centered Evangelism](/codex/meaning-centered-evangelism/) approach in the Evangelism cluster. --- ## Influence and reception Keller is widely seen as one of the most influential evangelical pastors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The main reason: he **showed that a thoughtful, serious Reformed Christianity could thrive in the most secular American city** (Manhattan), when it engaged the culture carefully. The Redeemer model has been copied around the world through the City to City network. Reception is largely positive across evangelicalism. The main critiques: - **Strict fundamentalist evangelicals** thought he gave too much ground to culture. - **More conservative Reformed voices** thought he softened distinctive Reformed doctrines in the name of context. - **Some progressive critics** wished he had gone further on issues like women's ordination. (Keller held a complementarian view; see [Women in Ministry](/codex/women-in-ministry/).) His death in 2023 brought tributes from across the global evangelical world. They reflected his deep influence on modern urban ministry and apologetics. --- ## See also - [Apologetic Method Comparison](/codex/apologetic-method-comparison/), Keller's cultural-apologetics as the contemporary method - [Apologetics](/codex/apologetics/), broader category - [Evangelism](/codex/evangelism/), Keller's influence on the listen-first contextualized approach - [Conversation Scenarios](/codex/conversation-scenarios/), §8 deconstructing Christian deploys Keller's framework - [Listening Tools](/codex/listening-tools/), Keller's method emphasizes hearing-first - [Meaning-Centered Evangelism](/codex/meaning-centered-evangelism/), Keller's *Reason for God* is a foundational text - [Hypocrisy](/codex/hypocrisy/), Keller's chapter 3 of *Reason for God* - [Problem of Evil](/codex/problem-of-evil/), Keller's chapter 2 of *Reason for God* + *Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering* - [Hell and Eternal Punishment](/codex/hell-and-eternal-punishment/), Keller's chapter 5 of *Reason for God* - [Bible and Hermeneutics](/codex/bible-and-hermeneutics/), Keller's chapter 6 of *Reason for God* - [Women in Ministry](/codex/women-in-ministry/), Keller's complementarian position (held in PCA) - [Idolatry](/codex/idolatry/), Keller's *Counterfeit Gods* framework