Keller: systemic racism is real

'Institutional racism' is real, says Tim Keller, former senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

The internationally-known pastor, writer and speaker, who was diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer, was speaking out about the controversial racial analysis tool known as Critical Race Theory (CRT).

CRT is a framework of legal analysis holding that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of humanity but is instead a socially constructed (or culturally invented) category used to oppress and exploit people of colour.

Answering the ‘accusation’ that he has endorsed CRT and has become too ‘social justice’-orientated, Keller said: ‘I only expound what the Bible says about justice – and it says a lot. Some fear that emphasising social justice leads to a loss of concern for evangelism. Anyone who knows anything about Redeemer or my ministry knows that never happened. I am chiefly an evangelist in my calling.’

As for CRT itself, Keller said firstly that he had previously critiqued CRT in ways which many of its adherents find hard to accept. Secondly, he said, many people assume that CRT means simply ‘talking a lot about racism’. But he insisted the Bible often addresses the sin of being a ‘respecter of persons’ on the basis of their class, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, or any other social status – and said he had therefore been addressing racism from the Bible since the start of his ministry.

Nevertheless, Keller said he does ‘believe what the Bible teaches (and also what the American black church has been saying for decades)’ – namely, that ‘there is such a thing as ‘systemic’ or ‘institutional’ racism. That means there are social structures that disadvantage certain groups or classes of people even when nearly all those working within the structure are not personally and individually racist in their beliefs and attitudes. Many consider that anyone believing in systemic racism is automatically a proponent of CRT. That’s not true. In my writings I show that the concept is taught in Scripture’.

In his interview, with US website wng.org, Keller was also asked what he thought was the greatest threat to modern-day Christians. He said: ‘The … greatest threat is the failure of the American church itself, in four key ways. Firstly, the mainline church wedded itself to liberal political parties, and the evangelical church has done that with conservative political parties, and so we are now seen as nothing but a political power bloc. Secondly, there have been numerous egregious examples of hypocrisy, with many prominent church leaders being found guilty of various forms of abuse and corrupt behaviour. Thirdly, instead of admitting past ways in which the American church has participated in the marginalisation and exploitation of various peoples, a vociferous segment of the modern evangelical church has refused to repent and listen, and instead has become harsh and denunciatory in its communication. And finally, it has failed to fulfill the Great Commission in our time, in that it has not discovered a way to evangelise a post-Christian, secular culture’.

David Killingray, Emeritus Professor in History at the University of London and an expert on racial issues, commented: ‘The US was born and reared on racial discrimination, Britain ruled a racially constructed empire, and in both societies race is still a major issue. With such histories it should occasion no surprise that racism is a subject of serious intellectual questioning, for example, Critical Race Theory.

‘Christians have a unique contribution to make to this debate: that God in Christ created all humanity, is the Saviour of all people, and demands that we do not fall into the sin of despising one another. Where that sin is evident, Christians need to challenge the social, economic, and cultural institutions on which it thrives – to promote social justice. Christians today, particularly on both sides of the Atlantic, need to learn how to evangelise a post-Christian secular culture. This task has been made more difficult by those, especially in the US, who claim to follow Christ, but are intellectually adrift and without a moral compass, captives to conspiracy theories and occult ideas. Such dissolute influences and images resonate around the world, an additional burden on the work of Christ’s church’.