Princeton Theological Seminary has reportedly come under fire for honoring an influential and popular conservative Christian pastor.
The Rev. Tim Keller, a theologian and founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, is set to receive the 2017 Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Witness on April 6, Religion News Service reported.
And though the seminary hailed Keller for being"widely known as an innovative theologian and church leader, well-published author, and catalyst for urban mission in major cities around the world," others are criticizing the selection of a leader in the Presbyterian Church in America – the conservative wing that doesn't permit the ordination of women or LGBTQ people, RNS reported.
"I'll let others argue finer points of Rev. Keller's theology," the Rev. Traci Smith, a San Antonio, Texas, pastor who is associated with the liberal Presbyterian Church USA, wrote on her blog.
"My personal soapbox is much less refined. It boils down to this: an institution designed to train men and women for ministry shouldn't be awarding fancy prizes to someone who believes half the student body (or is it more than half?) has no business leading churches."
And Christian Century magazine author Carol Howard Merritt objected to Keller's promotion of the view Christian women should be submissive to their husbands.
The seminary's president, the Rev. Craig Barnes, defended the honor in an email to faculty and students, RNS reported.
"A core conviction of our seminary to be a serious academic institution that will sometimes bring controversial speakers to campus because we refuse to exclude voices within the church," he wrote, per RNS.
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