Is Christianity Divisive? | Tim Keller at UC Berkeley 

I`m brasilian baptist pastor, I'm lerning with pastor Tim Keller by yours books and your ministry. God Blessing.

Thanks alot for this I subbed.

To the philosophy students: Two “friends”, philosophy students who made very good grades, from their armchairs in the student lounge, knew that we had been picketing a restaurant near our college because they did not accept the one black student in our college, also a friend of the philosophy students. The philosophy students had a great idea! They suggested that we, mainly women, provoke the police so they would spray us with tear gas. The philosophy students would then be sure we were photographed, especially if we were victims of police abuse. This was in the 60s. The owner of the restaurant was a John Bircher. We continued picketing but we did not follow the authoritarian instructions from the philosophy students even though we were only women.

Religobabble starts at 16.52.

Jesus is the seeing man telling the blind men what the elephant looks like in its entirety. He made the elephant, He also tells them the internal structure of each individual organ which can’t be seen from the outside.

Have you ever heard of the Cambrian explosion?

So I feel.... or I think.... what God is LOL. Instead of reading the bible, living it and experiencing it. Otherwise you do risk damnation.

No, there will someone who can't see who eventually will know the elephant. But it will still be someone with horizons wider than the one who says the elephant is a tree trunk or a rope or vacuum cleaner hose or whatever and do not want to investigate further.

The "explaining it away" Only doesn't work for him because he (along with the other critics he mentioned) doesn't understand how the scientific method works to give us actual objective answers and circumvent our instincts to anthropomorphise nature. It's strange how he doesn't think there is a trustworthy way to actually find the truth even with science being results based.

What a completely ignorant statement, I was hoping you would actually contribute something meaningful. I can't think of any theistic religion that has a bearded sky man, must be a new one. Anyway, naturalism gets you a lot of things, such as social Darwinism and the doctrines by Neitchze which Hitler agreed with and presented to Stallin and Mussolini. This century has been the bloodiest and it is due to naturalism which Neitchze said it would be if we move toward naturalism. Do your HW for once.

summons christopher hitchens

I miss him, as a young guy who has been listening to his sermons. But I know he is with Christ, and that makes me happy

World religon require people to reach up to their gods. however the God of the Bible reaches down to us.

This man astounds me with his gift of preaching I always end up in tears of joy What a thinker Praise Our God for this man Thank you Tim ✝️🇬🇧🙏

OUTSTANDING! Questions thoughtful/provocative. Answers thoughtfully responsive. Particularly useful is your lesson on basic humility in light of salvation from one's fallen situation by the grace of the LORD.

Fantastic talk. Judging by questions asked, the audience must have been a freshman seminar?

Thank you for making this available! I am grateful that God did not exclude me, especially since I SHOULD be dead! In 2012 I suffered a brain aneurism that put me in a coma for four weeks. When I regained consciousness, I was told that I said about my wife of 17 years, "I'm not sure who she is, but I think I like her a lot." (And no, I don't remember saying this!!). In 2013, my home church held a 'Celebration Service' that was filmed and posted onto RU-vid as well. Run a search for "Charles Frank Kurtz" and you'll find it. Then tell everyone you know that miracles STILL happen!!! The fact that I'm still alive to say this is proof!!!

I'm not religious but I really like this guy.

Love this. A moral performance narrative vs Christians with a Grace Narrative. When you feel like you're a good person because of your activism, you can't help Looking down on people you think are bigots. Christians with a Grace Narrative. We are all sinners and need saving. No one is better than anyone else. Even Jesus said, why do you call me good?, only God is good.

Considering these kids all got into Berkeley they are asking terrible questions.

That was different from the vast majority of people's teachings today. Different in a good way.

I was disappointed how he evaded the homosexuality issue. It was like suddenly he was a politician.

Sounds like bad news for atheism. Evolution compels us to seek God, denying this only causes atheists to obsess about God.

Us trying to understand God's ways is like an ant contemplating an elephant.

Thank you I have learned so much. God Bless Dr Keller

Noumenon became phenomenon--------Wish I thought of that!

Thats a Great point, I had to lose everything i thought grand in life as well to finally accept God. God is worth losing everything for, Gods love cant be found here on earth. So i guess i entirely agree with you then lol, how do you think the best way is to witness ?

I have a hard time watching the Q&A. B/c here is this intellectual and evangelical giant, someone who if I had an hour with him, I would be so honored, trying to reason with these arrogant, ignorant puppies trained in their expensive post-modern obedience classes, who are so atrophied in the knowledge of the nature of God, who can't even speak intelligently about the concept of faith and/or having it, and don't care. And Keller is being so...FREAKING...humble and gracious. gah!!

Amazing thank you for answering the way you do.

I come back to this exchange every now and then and give it a listen. Shelly Kegan demonstrates what a growing number of cultural observers will realize, it seems to me. His thinking is bankrupt. Kegan believes in materialism. He says this confidently. At the same time he seems not to be indifferent to sublimity and love, for example. He even extols such things He also uses abstract universals, such as laws of logic and reason. And he believes that everything is matter in motion. His personal commitments in thinking do not comport with his worldview. He leans on immaterial to live but denies it in his worldview. He speaks as if he does not believe the worldview he espouses. Surprise, St. Paul might say, for St. Paul wrote thousands of years ago in the Letter to the Romans that Kegan, as well all do is suppressing the truth [of the existence of the one true God] in unrighteousness and is without an apology before God [apology in the sense of a defense and a lack thereof before God: ἀναπολογήτους ). The (happy) inconsistency, arbitrary nature of Kegan's thinking is so apparent that it seems to be more of a moral / spiritual issue than an intellectual one since he does not seem he is at least 'doubting his doubts.' I can remember not seeing the blatant absence of consistent thinking in myself when I pursued existentialism / godless thinking.

0:31 I’m not sure where this question came from, because it does not represent any atheists I know of. Theists have simply not met the burden of proof. The violence and oppression endemic to religion is irrelevant. The problem is NO GOOD EVIDENCE. Believe what you like, but accept that yours is a faith endeavor, and there is nothing that you can’t take in faith, and therefore faith is harmful. This man’s argument that you can’t be critical of theist claims, because then you have to be critical of being critical and so thinking is corrup so just stop thinking - I hate to straw man anyone, but can someone tell me how he is not arguing to stop thinking? There is evidence for evolution. Loads of it. No evidence against it. There is no comparison to god claims, for which we have no supporting evidence, but merely hypothesis and nothing else. This guy is a preacher, and he is hoodwinking his flock into thinking that there is good reason to believe in god. He is fundamentally dishonest and this is why religious leaders are so abhorrent to me.

Outstanding!

The propensity if people to attribute what they don't know to an all powerful magic being doesn't mean that attribution is valid. God's from around the world duffer wildly, it would be more substantive if they were ALL remarkably similar.

Children instinctual in their hearts know there is a God. They do not struggle with that at all. Only when they being to see that people in church do not reflect to life of Jesus do they begin to question. I relate that from my own childhood. I had a question at about 4 that has taken me a life time to comprehend... Hypocrisy is not a word that children age 4 understated but they know it when they see it or feel it. They may hold God and Jesus close in their heart but they will end up questioning everything that comes up as they grow up. This is probably why we all have heard the stories of the pastors daughter or son. Belief in a God is not difficult. But the religions supporting the belief of God and how the teaching of religion is performed can lead young people astray. This is why so many young people are surprised when and elder all of a sudden turns to their religion when they age. Learning about the Christian God and Jesus is a life long learning process and through time. As one learns the lessons of life as time passes a greater understanding of the mistakes made become more clear and a deeper understanding of the relationship between God and humanity begins to unfold.

Keller's false gospel of Critical Race Theory is divisive. I'm glad there are more and more people who realize Tim Keller preaches a false gospel and are now rejecting his Marxist theology. Keller hid his anti-gospel message for a long time but now he can't help himself. His lie of making charity into a justice issue by insisting the poor have a claim on the wealth of others turns the true Gospel on its head. Instead of charity being a picture of God's grace to us, Keller turns charity into something we owe the poor. This paints the picture of the Gospel being something God owes us. Keller promotes the sin of partiality when he preaches the lies of systemic racism and white privilege. By insisting whites benefit to the tune of $1,000,000 because of their skin color and they received that benefit from people who committed injustice, therefore white people owe non-white people, Keller again turns the Gospel on its head. Instead of allowing Christ to impute His righteousness onto whites, Keller imputes the sins of others onto whites. Keller preaches a false gospel. Paul said in Galatians 1:8 that if anyone preaches a different gospel, let him be accursed. This Scripture applies to Tim Keller.

Still, atheists are fully justified, intellectually and morally, in rejecting Keller's Calvinist idea of God ;)

best 1hr and 20 mins spent

Man, this guy is pretty funny for being at a serious philosophy seminar!!!

Duh, of course, nice, talk but let's look at the history and reality.

If only elephant could talk asked the blinded to see light or get each other talk about, yet one only could convey it visibly true lest falsity parade every one of virtual reality alike democracy temporal choose next government in beliefs not faithful to certify but until all else failed it's grace as unity head possible view beyond and eternity?!

“YOUR SOUL WILL SHRIVEL”… Laughable BS.

aw that is really sweet.. If you told him he is an "giant " though he would roll his eyes lol..... Im glad your as frustrated with these people!

Each day we deal w/ someone who is-to some degree-ripe for sowing or harvest. I didn't meet Jesus through the church system, and He pretty much woke me up & shone in my face, a spiritual version of learning to swim by being thrown in the deep end. In 40 days, He settled my life issues that many who gradually come to the Truth never address. The morning I met Jesus, He said, "The wife will go. The job will go. The children will go. The house will go." In 3 weeks I was alone, & I knew my Master.

Ronjohn The bible does not describe what god looks like in the bible.

wow, amazing!

ahh, God is so good!!!

Blessings to you all!

Good to hear from Tim Keller, who is on point as usual. I still remember that review on Yelp of Redeemer Presbyterian Church from some ten years ago. Nothing I've ever heard or read about Redeemer has ever been proven more accurate or cogent. Excerpts edited for brevity and clarity: 1/17/2011 I have been to Redeemer West side and East side services. I still go from time to time. I used to take part in several of the volunteer opportunities at Redeemer. First, I will start with the founding Pastor Tim Keller. Tim Keller's sermons are some of the most thought provoking you will ever hear in your life anywhere! He is also an author. I would go so far as to say that he is one of the great thinkers of our time. He is also a visionary in many ways. My husband and I regularly purchase and listen to his sermons. So why only 3 stars? Because a church is more than just a pastor. Now there is no perfect church. But there are some serious things lacking here: First of all, there is no prayer meeting or focus on corporate prayer for the entire church. The very basic part of the Christian faith that Jesus himself said with his own lips was Matthew 21:13. "It is written," He said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers." Prayer is just talking to God, it doesn't require any special talent, skill or training. So the lack of prayer at this church is very alarming to me. And I haven't heard anyone speak of repentance at Redeemer --- ever. Again, I have listened to hundreds of sermons and been to at least a hundred services both on the W est and East sides. The church ministries are called "ministries" but are run like any secular organization. Redeemer Presbyterian is run like a business, a well-oiled corporate machine, and not a church. The other 2 things which are cultural and not spiritual but are off-putting to me are: 1. Most of the members and regular visitors to Redeemer are transplants, not New Yorkers, so the church is a large city church but run like a small town church where there are very few native New Yorkers. It seems most of the members are not established in the city and are just passing through. 2. The other is that it seems the majority of the congregation is looking for a spouse, and very aggressively. When you walk in, the first thing people do is look at your hand for a ring, and then are bold enough to ask if it is a wedding ring. That experience is not unique to me, but to all of the guests I bring here. In addition, in any volunteer group I have been to, the small talk from both men and women centered around trying to find a spouse. Then the few married people were usually complaining about their marriages. The pastor knows about this, and does see it as a problem because he addresses it in his sermons. But people don't seem to listen. It is like they are all living in 1950's rural America. One other major problem I have with the church is that it is mostly white and Asian. I believe the reason is that the congregation ---- and this is not the pastoral team's fault --- seems to be focused on their careers and making money, and not on God at all. God is there to bless their agendas; this is how they seem to operate. I believe this is true for a few reasons. One, the culture of the church and focus of the congregation seems to be on Whites and Asians who make good money and have high-end careers, rather than on God. A huge basic tenet of the Christian faith is Death to Self. But at Redeemer, when you hear testimonies approved by the pastoral staff, they usually start with the person's professional credentials. I do not see any Death to Self there, but actually the opposite: It's "Look at what I can do for God because of my high income and education." It is not wrong to have a high income or education as a Christian. But the focus (at Redeemer) is wrong. So for these reasons, I think the church is best for those who are not Christians yet but are seekers of God, or those established in the faith already. It is not good in my opinion for the average believer looking for a home church. But by all means, purchase Tim Keller's sermons and do something that the congregation fails to do: Learn from his sermons. The church in my opinion is more intellectual than spiritual. end

For anyone who is unsure about their salvation please check out Renee Roland on RU-vid, it really is all about Jesus.!

Believing in the reality that people reside in "hell" and don't want to get out is a belief in immortally to humanity. Life as I understand it is a gift from God because Jesus overcame death at the cross. He lived an unselfish life always connected to His Father God. He conquered death. Eternal Life is therefore available to those who come to Him and develop a relationship with Him and have a desire to follow Him. But if a person denies Christ and continues in sin, they separate themselves for life. And sin has natural consequences...which is death. Hell is the end of life for sinners, they wish for the rocks and mountains to fall on them in the Presence of God. His glory is basically so glorious it is like fire. The Saints will live in the glory. And sinners will die, and the earth will be cleansed by fire and restored to its original state.

Rodney Stark does defend the Crusades.

Listen to evidence. Evidence backs up evolution. There isn't much evidence to back up a belief in the Bible or other gods.

You need to *carefully* re-read my *complete* post.

Holy Spirit wrote the Gospels using great witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ. Laus tibi Christe! 🪔🪔🪔🪔

Hes struggled with his belief here

The reason authentic Christianity still exists is because men and women are still meeting the risen Messiah Jesus/Y'shua to this day. He teaches and guides them, and they follow Him--not just His Words that are compiled in the Bible. Berkeley may be the wrong venue to make this assertion, but I wish Dr. Keller had shared his heart as well as his mind with the audience. He speaks of Jesus from a distance of intellect rather than as someone who knows Him intimately. Informative nonetheless.

I'm so perfect that's never happened to me... /sarcasm

"What is your take on it?" Are you asking me what I think caused it?

Does Keller see Jesus? How does he think he’s not a blind elephant groper?

Oh, I thought you were challenging me to a comment duel, or whatever. My bad. I realize I've been shown grace, but the point I was making is that dispensing grace to people, who I realize have received the same grace, yet insist on being nothing but ungracious, all while being royally wrong, can get taxing. I don't disregard the loving humanity message, I just have issues.

the way he fields the questions is atrocious!!! and then, he says he won't be too "loquacious" after butchering the first one, and "did i loose you" after fkn up another. trying to pass of his insufficiency as a reasoner as a problem with the questioners. i feel sorry for the inquiring parties...i would have had a headache listening to this idiot too

dodging the question. simple question. how is faith a reliable method or justification for believing? by believing a claim doesn't make it true. If it is not and you still want to be honest, you have to give up your Christian faith or else you are a liar. Reason for God is a book with reasoning that keeps believers believing. Read some atheistic/agnostic/skeptical literature for goodness sake.

Is Christianity divisive? Some say yes, others say no.

I agree with you, but i think he does not want to scare people. Sometimes it might be better to slowly open someones eyes, imagine waking up and immediately looking into the sunlight. I think that if people want the answer, they know where to find it, plenty of churches around the USA, why churches have to come to them is weird. I believe this says a lot about our culture. However Jesus did say go out into the world, but its ridiculous how people refuse to go out on sundays

Your testimony is the account of your Spiritual Birth. What was Paul’s testimony? (Acts 9, 22, 26) What's the children of Israel’s testimony? (Exo 13-14, Deut 4:34, 5:15, 7:8, 26:8, Eze 16, etc.) This testimony is your proof of Paternity, your claim of legitimacy, your right to inheritance. A toddler repeatedly asks its mother: "Tell me of when I was born," & the God-begotten are to recount the Blessed Event of their Birth as a spirit, for this period parallels Passover thru Pentecost. Bless U

"decrunchify"... awesome

Then I wonder why he is bringing that up in reference to authors "explaining it away" using reason and the scientific method to verify things like the universe is older than 6000 years and a virgin can't have a baby. It always seemed to me like an odd, nonsequitur tactic. The old 'I'm rubber your glue' argument which has nothing to do with the book. It sounds like they don't think it's possible to discover what things really are and are not true, even when the given claim is magic.

lol no they wouldn't... keep in mind he is still trying to be as pc as possible because this was very general.... Ive seen him behind closed doors just tear apart literally every aspect of life, logic and arguments.

One of the very best even though Dr Keller says he felt he struggled, not so.

.....but Jesus never actually said plainly that he was "the son of God". And if it was so clearly stated then why do so many Christians dispute that statement.

@zlcap2012 So much so that you felt the need to look up one of his video's and comment on it just to let people know . Hey this book wasn't good and did not impact my life. Sounds like it impacted it more than you know

Tim Keller is a master at winsomely saying nothing.

Thank God for Tim Keller. He's home now.

I am filled to the brim with love as I call them exactly what they are. Don't get all obsessed with me, I'm not in the mood for a back and forth thing right now.

I would agree a lot with you. But I think he knows how to show so much grace is because he knows how much grace he has been shown. And we have a lot of questions about our faith as well and need help from other believers and God to show us the truth, but I struggle with that too.

is this downloadable?

It has been a topic of scientific debate for quite a long time. What is your take on it?

Then you have Jesus the greatest man to walk to earth being asked questions from prostitutes and beggars. The purpose of the gospel is to share it with the lost ! Then again i fully get what your saying lol. Its the generation that we live in, they all think they are entitled to something, that they are superior to those that came before, i used to be 1 of these kids. It took prayer to turn me around, all we can do i guess is pray

Strategi No 3 blew my fn mind !

Well-articulated arguments!

If people cant see the wisdom in the Bible its their own doom.

you got some contact block thing i can't reply to you

I never said I looked down on them.

God is super logical.

Forgiveness ends divisiveness.

God bless Pastor Keller!

@djb5255 lol is that a good thing?

I wonder where does he bases his assertion that Paul did not really write hebrews ?

Yes. What's your point?

"veritas" and yet this has nothing to do with "veritas" OMG :)

Yes.

What' is heaven ?

He avoids answering the entire question on the Christian view on homosexual marriage.Yes or no does the Bible condone homosezuality and marriage..Very intelligent guy and he is able to talk around many issues.

If religion is indeed growing as Mr. Keller suggested, I believe it is a reaction to change and the fear of the future. He doesn't convince me that followers of one of ancient superstitions can have the power to go beyond it's inherent limitations. He seems like a rational, nice person, but there is a bit of chicanery in what he's promoting IMO- Dawkins and Hitchens would eat this guy alive if intellect was the forum- I'd chose that paying field than faith, but that's just me.

I have appreciated so very much this discussion on Christianity as Keller addresses skepticism. It is so important in the skeptical modern world. The last question, pointing to Luther, took this in a different direction. While appreciating Luther and his passion for faith in Christ, the historical truth of his life and beliefs are essential. He was debilitated by scrupulosity. His claim of "faith alone" was a relief mechanism from his terrible and painful personal practices. For the largely secular Berkeley crowd, this went beyond Keller's presentation of Christianity and faith in general. Dealing with Luther and the Reformation that followed from his rebellion, is a huge topic. There are many scriptures quoting Christ about what His followers must "do" beyond just "believing," unifying the mental/physical elements of belief The debate divided the Christian world. It best relates to Christians in his audience and merits its own separate discussion. I've ordered Keller's book and his recommended book by Richard Bauckham and look forward to reading them.

@justsaynotodrugs yup! this is a free forum...the book was given to me by my cousin, who didn't read it herself btw, after i gave her a dawkins book - which she also didn't read; smh. i give everything a chance and had an open mind about it. i spent time understanding his non-arguements so, yes, i feel that i am free to say something about it...i was almost going to do a book review vlog, but i don't have the time. ...which drugs are you saying "no" to exactly?

he says that real narrowness is when you disdain others who claim they have exclusive truth claims; well that's what he does every time he evangelizes someone because he is not willing to change his mind when he enters the argument. Because he is unwilling to hear and understand and change his opinion based on the arguments he is presented with, he disdains the arguments and he shows his narrowness. @Joel Lindquist, first off, I'm not really sure how this comment thing works or if you'll see this, but I think you're missing his point. Everyone has an exclusive truth claim, but which is actually true? The way I see it, or what he's saying is that truth claims are inevitable. No matter what, you will have a belief or claim about the world and life that you believe is true, at least for you. It's your own personal truth, which is essentially existentialism, right ? I think what he's saying though, is that there must be an ULTIMATE TRUTH, and he believes that what he believes, the Christian faith, is that ultimate truth, and if it is (hypothetically) then there is no narrowness is that, it's a fact. From you're comment and you're idea of what he's doing, you're technically doing the exact same thing he's doing. You are dismissing he world view and being narrow and only subscribing to your own. Those are just my thoughts, I hope I wasn't disrespectful in any way.

Jesus never said he was the 'son of god''.

0:27:49 - he says that real narrowness is when you disdain others who claim they have exclusive truth claims; well that's what he does every time he evangelizes someone because he is not willing to change his mind when he enters the argument. Because he is unwilling to hear and understand and change his opinion based on the arguments he is presented with, he disdains the arguments and he shows his narrowness.

wow, i love how you ascribed anger and further implied speculations about me. you're absolutely correct, i learned that christian apologetics are pretty weak.