A few days ago, Tim Keller used his own Gospel Coalition blog to issue an apology for this very bad interview he did back in 2008 in conjunction with the release of his The Reason for God. The matter came to light only now because the video of the interview was only just released by Veritas Forum. Keller's apology is good in that apologies generally are; but it's bad in that some aspects of the interview that are most unfaithful to Scripture aren't addressed by the apology.
Noting this, I submitted a comment under the Gospel Coalition's announcement of the apology. The comment appeared for a few minutes, then was removed. Five days ago I submitted a request to the Coalition's e-mail asking them to...
reconsider their removal of the comment. Having received no response from them, I'm posting the comment here:
Over at another web site, Keller's interview was transcribed, but the transcription needs a couple corrections:
First at 1:20, Keller catches himself saying "that's what we're stuck with," and backs up, beginning again and concluding this time with "that's what we have to say." Both mean the same thing, but the second is more nuanced.
The second error is at 2:27 where, quite understandably, the transcriber heard the definite article where Keller used the indefinite article. He didn't say "the Scripture" but rather "a scripture." He called himself a minister with a scripture.
Such masterful equivocation is utterly opposite the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus who confessed his faith before the ultimate sophisticates of Athens this way: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30, 31).
Keller now says he didn't know he was being recorded that night and wishes he'd not abused Deuteronomy 29:29, but his "need to know basis" is only the tip of the iceberg.
It appears this comment has gotten me banned from the Coalition's web site, so if any of our readers are able to get a comment under Keller's apology linking to this post, it would be helpful to those who can't see clearly and need instruction and I'd be grateful.
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UPDATE at 2:30 PM Monday, September 19, 2011: Michael Foster posted the following comment on Gospel Coalition's blog. It went up and breathed life into the discussion for an hour or so, but then it, too, was removed and now Mr. Foster is also banned.
Here's the comment banned from the Coalition's blog early this morning:
Five days ago I posted a comment under this (Gospel Coalition blog) thread. It appeared and then was removed. When it was removed, I sent an e-mail to the Coalition asking them to repost it but they've not responded. So now (here on Coalition's blog) I'm posting this link to a post over at Baylyblog where readers can read what the Coalition wouldn't allow:
Here's the comment published, then deleted from the Coalition's blog five days ago:
Over at another web site, Keller's interview was transcribed but the transcription needs a couple corrections:
First at 1:20, Keller catches himself saying "that's what we're stuck with," and backs up, beginning again and concluding this time with "that's what we have to say." Both mean the same thing, but the second is more nuanced.
The second error is at 2:27 where, quite understandably, the transcriber heard the definite article where Keller used the indefinite article. He didn't say "the Scripture" but rather "a scripture." He called himself a minister with a scripture.
Such masterful equivocation is utterly opposite the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus who confessed his faith before the ultimate sophisticates there in Athens this way: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30, 31).
Keller now says he didn't know he was being recorded that night and wishes he'd not abused Deuteronomy 29:29. The "need to know basis" is only the tip of the iceberg.
Dear Sir,
A few minutes ago I posted a comment in response to Tim Keller's apology. (It was comment #27.) The comment went up but it's now down. This leads me to believe that it's been removed for editorial reasons. If so, would you please return the comment to me as it appeared for a few minutes on your blog--the exact text.
As I recall, it went something like this:
Over at another web site, Keller's interview was transcribed but the transcription needs a couple corrections:First at 1:20, Keller catches himself saying "that's what we're stuck with," and backs up, beginning again and concluding this time with "that's what we have to say." Both mean the same thing, but the second is more nuanced.The second error is at 2:27 where, quite understandably, the transcriber heard the definite article where Keller used the indefinite article. He didn't say "the Scripture" but rather "a scripture." He called himself a minister with a scripture.
Such masterful equivocation is utterly opposite the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus who confessed his faith before the ultimate sophisticates there in Athens this way: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30, 31).
Keller now says he didn't know he was being recorded that night and wishes he'd not abused Deuteronomy 29:29. The "need to know basis" is only the tip of the iceberg.
If you did remove the comment for editorial reasons, I suspect it was due to your opposition to the site I linked which was the source of the transcription since that site is calling women and men to get in contact with you expressing their concern over the Gospel Coalition's need to clean up their house, theologically. They're right, but even if you think not, it's to your credit to show yourself magnanimous in allowing disagreement. It strengthens your readers' trust for you.Love,
Tim Bayly
