Tim Keller's Scholarly Lies - In Plain Sight

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A lot of you watched this Tim Keller is trying to scam you video that's on your screen right now. I thought it was a good video, and I'm really glad that it got some traction. A lot of you seem to find it very helpful as well, but not all of you.

And I did want to respond to one comment in this video, because I think it'll actually be pretty illustrative of a common problem. And I think a lot of you will find it very encouraging. And also, I figure, why not ride the Tim Keller view count wave a little longer?

Why Scholarly Credentials Do Not Silence Biblical Critique

In any case, yeah, I found this article by Tim Keller very illustrative of just the big problem in Big Eva in general. It's a lot of words, it says a lot of stuff, but ultimately it isn't very helpful at all.

This is a little trick that I've learned over time. Sometimes people will share something, and they'll say, this is so helpful. When somebody does that, and you read the article, and you're like, this isn't helpful.

Like, what do you mean? Just ask them. Ask them why they found it helpful. A lot of times you won't get an answer, but sometimes you will, and it'll give you a window into how to think about it, how to address it, and how to talk to that person.

Because sometimes people find something helpful about an article that you just can't even believe that they find helpful, but at least it gives you a way forward in the conversation. So anyway, here's the response I want to respond to, because this is a very interesting one.

I pinned it, because I found it so interesting. Michael Milne says this. He said this about 20 hours ago. He said, the scam is, this guy thinks he's smart enough and educated enough to criticize Keller.

Actually, as I tried to listen to more, I gave up, because this guy's logic is so contorted, it is nonsense. And of course I responded with the requisite LOL. And so this is interesting. I get called stupid all the time.

I'm used to that. It's not an issue. I don't really care about that. But I want you to see the presuppositions here, because I'm sure that many of you, in your conversations, and maybe in your Facebook feed, and your small groups and things like that, have heard something similar, where it's almost like you don't have enough education to criticize this.

In fact, people say this kind of thing all the time. You don't even understand Keller. How could you criticize him if you don't understand him? And there's this kind of false mystique around people that have scholarly credentials, right?

Like PhDs, people that have a doctor in front of their name. Look, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with being a doctor, a PhD. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. It shouldn't be the kind of thing where if you see a doctor, you should be instantly suspicious.

I'm not saying that. But what I am saying, though, is that that doctor in front of somebody's name actually doesn't mean anything about the arguments themselves. And the thing is, someone who's very smart can make a very obviously stupid argument or an obviously stupid mistake, and you don't have to be a genius or a scholar or smart enough to be able to identify that.

Sometimes it's very easy to identify nonsense for what it is. Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes PhDs are able to dazzle you with words and concepts that make no sense, and you can't catch up with them. And the thing is, I would suggest probably not even dealing with scholars like that because a really truly good scholar is someone who's able to make a very complex idea understandable for common people.

That's how you know they've got a mastery of a subject, when they can make you understand it at a basic level. I'm not saying at the complex level that it necessarily is, but if somebody is trying to explain something to you and it's just confusing and they're using big gigantic words that you don't understand and stuff like that, there's a very good chance that they don't actually understand it as well as they're claiming to understand it.

And so that's something that you should take to the bank, real scholars, good scholars. And I'll give you a perfect example, and I'm intentionally trying to trigger a lot of you because a lot of you think that this guy's degrees are fake or something like that.

But Dr. James White, you listen to Dr. James White, and he is able to make very complicated, high-sounding things understandable for common people. That's the appeal to James White. And so you know that there's a certain level of understanding when it comes to James White that might not exist for some scholar who uses highfalutin language and you just listen to him and you're instantly confused.

That's not a good scholar. Maybe they understand it, maybe they don't. I don't know, but it makes no difference to me if they understand something but they're not able to explain it to me. I mean, what good is that?

And so look, guys, I know I'm not the dumbest guy in the room. I know that. But I also know that I'm not the smartest guy in the room either. And so let me encourage you that if you don't have the qualifications, you don't have the education to criticize Tim Keller, let me encourage you that it's still very possible to see stupidity for what it is.

And I don't say that Tim Keller is a stupid man, but many things in this article were very stupid. So here's an example of what I mean. So we're reading this article and we come to the second point on biblical justice, right?

This is something that I mentioned in my first video. Here's what Tim Keller says, okay? Quote, another example of inequity is unfair business practices. Leviticus 19 .13 and Deuteronomy 24 .14 speak of unfair wages.

That's what Tim Keller says. Now, when you hear unfair wages in this cultural context, what do you think? Well, you think of wages that are too low, unfairly low wages. In fact, you will see this directly from Tim Keller's content.

In his section on institutionalized sin, Tim Keller also says this. He says, socially institutionalized ways of life become weighted in favor of the powerful and oppressive over those with less power.

Examples include criminal justice systems, commercial practices such as high interest loans, and unfairly low wages, which he cites James 5 verse 4 for. So, okay, this is the thing. So Tim Keller, I'm sure he's a massive intellect.

I am sure that he's way smarter than I am. He's gone to school longer than I've been alive. I'm sure that there's all of that kind of stuff. But don't ever be tricked into thinking that you can't just do what a normal person would do and look these verses up to see if they say what he's saying.

Let's go to James chapter 5 first because that's the New Testament. Let's just start in the New Testament because that's what Christians typically do. James chapter 5 verse 4, and I'm using the Christian standard Bible just to give a little ground to my opponent here because this is the new hotness.

Here is what James chapter 5 verse 4 says. It says, Now, again, this is almost embarrassing, guys. I honestly don't really want to even explain this because you don't need this explained to you. You're a reasonable human being.

Maybe you don't have degrees. Maybe you're not a scholar, but you can read English. You can read English. You know basically how to interpret the Bible. Lots of you do. Lots of us have taken classes. We've done Sunday school.

We've followed people that have taught us how to do this. Does anything in James chapter 5 verse 4 talk about how low the wages are? That they're unfairly low? Does anything about it say unfairly low wages?

No, as a matter of fact, it does not. What it says is withholding pay. Withholding pay from the workers. And it's saying the pay that you withheld. It's the pay that they earned from you. You withheld it.

And that's crying out. That's crying out to God. And God has heard those cries. Because you withheld pay that those people who mowed your field, they mowed it not because they liked you. They mowed it for money.

And you withheld their pay. It's not about how low the wages are. It's about you stealing from the people who mowed your lawn. And do you know how I know this? Because this is actually not the first time that God talks about this.

Because as you might, whenever you see a command or a moral command in the New Testament. You need to understand that in the New Testament, James and Paul and Peter and Jude. They're writing, and at the time when they're writing, their only Bible is the Old Testament.

So everything that they talk about regarding commandments and laws and things that you should teach. When they say teach everything that Christ commanded. Well, we know what Christ commanded. Because Christ was a teacher of the book.

Christ taught the book. And the book in those days was the Old Testament. So let's go to the other two references that he made. Where he said that this is about unfair wages. Let's check this out. Let's go back to the beginning here.

It was Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 24. So let's start with Leviticus. This is one of my favorite books. Leviticus 19 .13 Because this is what he's saying. This is about unfair wages, right? This is Tim Keller saying this.

This is a massive intellect of Tim Keller. And I'm not disparaging him. I know he's smart. But this is the kind of thing that makes me laugh. Because you don't have to be a genius to refute this. Look at what Leviticus 19 says.

Remember, this is unfair wages according to Tim Keller. That's how he summarizes this verse. Leviticus 19 .13 says this. Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning.

Guys, this is what James is referring to. This is what James is referring to. A person, he hires somebody to do some work for him. And because, you know, listen. What's the person going to do? Take me to court?

He's poor. Instead of giving him the money right when he does the work. He oppresses the poor person. And the Bible says this is actually a form of stealing. This is breaking the commandment, thou shalt not steal.

And it says that's oppression because he needs that money. He needs that money to survive. And if you hold it to the next day or the day after. You're like, yeah, I'll get you back next week. Because you know in your mind.

You're like, well, he can't sue me. What's he going to do? He's poor. I'm going to keep this money for now. And I'll give it to him later. If you do that, you're actually stealing from him. Because you hired him to do a job.

And it's oppression to not pay him the way you've hired him. Right? The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning. So James in the New Testament is referring back to this law. Neither one of them is about unfair wages.

Neither one of them is about unfairly low wages. Both of them are about stealing. Both of them are about stealing. But let's give Tim Keller, the massive intellect, another shot. Deuteronomy 24, 14. Let's give him another chance.

Guys, you don't need to be a genius to know this kind of stuff. Look, you guys can read English. I'm not making this up. It's on your screen right now. This is what these verses say. Here's what Deuteronomy 24, 14 says.

It says, quote, Do not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy. Okay? Do not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy. Whether one of your Israelite brothers or one of the resident aliens in your town or in your land.

You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets. Because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise, he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be held guilty. Do you see? The language is so similar to what James was saying.

It's going to cry out to the Lord and the Lord will hear him. This is the same exact concept that Leviticus was talking about. It's the same exact concept that James was talking about. You hire a worker and you say, I'm not paying you right now.

I'll pay you later. Even though you agreed to pay him right then and there. That is stealing. That's a commandment violation. That's oppression. Because you're using your advantage. He's actually right about this.

You're using your power advantage to get one over on someone who has less power. But it's not about unfair wages. It's not about unfairly low wages. That's a lie. Guys, that's a commandment violation.

What Tim Keller does here, you don't need to be a genius to understand, is a commandment violation. This is not about unfairly low wages. This is about stealing the wages that are owed to the person. It's almost embarrassing, guys, to say this.

Because again, I've gained so much from Tim Keller. I've gained so much from Tim Keller. But you don't need to be a genius to see he is twisting the Bible here. He's making a passage about not paying someone what you said you would pay him.

Into a passage about minimum wage laws. My goodness, how could you do this with a straight face? Honestly, I might be wrong about some passages of Scripture. Granted, I understand that. I might be wrong about that.

But how can you read this and be this massive intellect? Because I'm not refuting this guy. Tim Keller is smart. How can you read this and say, Oh yeah, this is about unfairly low wages. Guys, don't ever be intimidated by someone who has a PhD or a doctor in front of their name.

Or don't ever be intimidated into silence by saying, You're just not smart enough to refute this. God gave us the Bible. God gave us the Bible and he wrote it in such a way that commoners can understand it.

Look, I'm a commoner. I get that. I'm not a pastor. I didn't go to seminary. I always joke about myself. I went to public school. Look, I'm not the stupidest man in the room. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I'm stupid.

But what I am saying, though, is that you do not have to be a genius. You do not have to be a massive intellect. You do not have to be the best speaker in the room to say, Tim Keller, I see you quoting Leviticus 19.

I see you quoting Deuteronomy 24. I see you quoting James chapter 5 and saying that it's somehow talking about unfairly low wages. That is wrong. You are lying about that because I looked at all of those passages and it just simply doesn't say that.

It doesn't say that. Don't ever be intimidated into saying something that's so patently obvious. That's why I always talk about it as if it's like that emperor who has no clothes. Look, the kid wasn't a genius.

The kid wasn't a massive intellect, high IQ. He just said, look, I'm looking at that emperor. You're saying he has great clothes on, but he's freaking naked. Like, it doesn't take a genius. He's naked.

And so, this is the thing, man. Gaslighting is all over the place these days. Don't be gaslit. You're not crazy. You're not crazy, my friends. And I'm not trying to disparage Tim Keller here. I'm not saying that he's stupid and I'm smarter than him.

All I'm saying is, look, I'm reading the book and I'm reading what you say, and it doesn't match up. It doesn't match up. And if you watched The Dividing Line this week, he talks about the Carmen Christie in Philippians chapter 2?

Whatever. Where he talks about, Tim Keller says it's about a divesting of privilege and stuff like that. And all of this kind of thing. And James White tears that apart. James White tears that apart through exegesis.

And it's the same kind of thing as what Tim Keller does here. It's like, you're saying that it's about a thing that it's not about. Like, if you read this and read, well, you know, we have to pay fair wages.

And, you know, what do people think when they hear fair wages these days? Well, they think, you know, the fight for 15. They think minimum wage laws. And nothing in your article refutes that. And so, you're making a case here for things that aren't biblical.

Minimum wage laws are not biblical. I don't think it's biblical to ban workers that can't make, that can't do value of a certain amount. I think that that's evil. I think that actually oppresses poor people.

That's the twisted thing about this, guys. Because Tim Keller is using this in passages that are about not oppressing poor people, right? These passages, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, James, they're about how we shouldn't oppress poor people.

And all this serves to do is get people to be like, oh, yeah, you know, Tim Keller said it's about unfair wages, so we should have $20 minimum wage. And the minimum wage laws, guys, get this. In the service of, quote-unquote, not oppressing poor people, minimum wage laws oppress poor people.

Like, that's what's so twisted about this. It's upside down. The things that end up getting promoted in this stupid article by Tim Keller, and this is a stupid piece of propaganda where he claims that the book of the law in the Bible is against unfair wages, and someone takes that and runs with it and goes with minimum wage laws, that actually does oppress poor people.

Because when you ban workers that aren't providing value of $20 an hour or $15 an hour or $10 an hour, because that's what it is. Minimum wage is a ban on work of lower-skilled varieties. That oppresses poor people.

That oppresses poor people. They'll never be able to get a leg up. They'll never be able to get a head. And so that's why it comes so forcefully at this, because it is twisted. It is saying left is right.

It is saying up is down. It is saying black is white, and that's not true. If you follow Tim Keller's logic here, if you follow his article here, you will end up oppressing people. You will end up hurting the poor.

That's the problem. It's not just an oopsie. It's the exact opposite of what you should do. I'm not a capitalist because I'm pragmatically a capitalist. I'm not a capitalist because it's the best thing that'll work.

I'm a capitalist because socialism in all of its forms is sinful, according to Scripture. It is evil, according to Scripture. It is oppressive, according to Scripture. And I can prove it in a very kind of simple way, whereas Tim Keller's over here abusing the text of Scripture.

Deuteronomy 24 doesn't say this. Leviticus 19 doesn't say this. It's just he's saying it, saying the opposite, and what'll happen if you go with him is that you'll end up doing the very thing that this article is pretending not to do.

It is against human flourishing to lie about the Bible, saying that Deuteronomy 24 is about unfairly low wages. That's against human flourishing. That's against loving your neighbor. And most importantly, it is rebellion against the God that gave us life.

I would encourage you to never be intimidated, no matter how many PhDs they have. If they're telling you the Bible says X and you know it says Y, just say no. No despair, baby. No despair. I hope you have a great weekend.

Thank you so much for watching. I hope you found this video helpful. God bless. Also, a few of you have said that I look tired lately, and I really appreciate your concern. Thank you so much for wishing me well and all that kind of stuff.

I've been getting decimated by allergies lately. My eyes are just a disaster when I wake up. I don't know what's going on. But it's also a little unseasonably cool, and sometimes when the seasons change, asthma is killing me.

But anyway, thank you so much for your concern. As far as I know, I'm fine. God bless you. Take care.