Craig S. Keener (born 4 July 1960) is a North American academic, Charismatic Baptist

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, theologian, Biblical scholar and professor of

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

Asbury Theological Seminary Asbury Theological Seminary is a Christian Wesleyan seminary in the historical Methodist tradition located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. It is known for its advocacy of egalitarianism, giving ...

Biography

Keener was born on 4 July 1960.

Education

In 1982, Keener got his B.A. from the

Central Bible College Central Bible College (CBC) was a private"Central Bible College"

(now part of

Evangel University Evangel University is a private Christian university and seminary in Springfield, Missouri. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God Christian denomination, which is also headquartered in Springfield. The campus sits on that were originally ...

). He got his M.A. in 1982 and M.Div. in 1987 at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (now of Evangel University). In 1991, he received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

Studies and Christian Origins from Duke University.

Career

Keener was associate pastor of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

until 2011. Biola University
-2927 Craig Keener
biola.edu, USA, retrieved June 29, 2022 Keener became a professor at Hood Theological Seminary, then professor of New Testament at Palmer Theological Seminary at Eastern University for nearly 15 years. Since 2011, Keener has been (F. M. and Ada Thompson) professor of

Wilmore, Kentucky Wilmore is a home rule-class city in Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,686 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the United States Census Burea ...

. Keener has taught in various countries, especially countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. From 2014 to 2019, Keener was the editor of the '' Bulletin for Biblical Research''. He has authored a number of commentaries on New Testament books as well as books and articles. His popular ''IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament'' (1993) has sold over half a million copies. In 2020, he served as the president of the

Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral exch ...

Scholarly expertise and views

Keener's expertise lies in

Background, the book of Acts,

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

Miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

the Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and Ethnic/racial Reconciliation.

Bruce Chilton Bruce D. Chilton (born September 27, 1949 Roslyn, NY) is an American scholar of early Christianity and Judaism. He is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College, former Rector of the Church of St John the Evangelist and formerly Li ...

lauded Keener's 2009 book ''The Historical Jesus of the Gospels,'' writing that it "marks a notable moment in the critical study of Jesus." He based this claim on the fact that Keener uses the study of Jesus' Jewish environment to argue for the authenticity of the Gospels. Keener has an Arminian theological standpoint on

soteriology Soteriology (; el, σωτηρία ' "salvation" from σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special significance in many religion ...

, supporting conditional preservation of the believer. Keener holds

egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

views.

Awards

The ''NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible'', for which Keener authored most of the New Testament notes, won Bible of the Year in the 2017 Christian Book Awards, and also won Book of the Year in the Religion: Christianity category of the International Book Awards.

Personal life

He is married to Médine Moussounga Keener, who holds a Ph.D. from

University of Paris 7 Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...

. He and his wife have two children, David and Keren.

Works

Books

* * * * - based on the author's Ph.D. thesis * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Articles and chapters

(n.b. partial list) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Keener's Personal Home page

Official site for Keener's Bible background research
(Mostly popular-level, including Bible studies) {{DEFAULTSORT:Keener, Craig S. 1960 births Academic journal editors American biblical scholars American Christian theologians Arminian ministers Arminian theologians Asbury Theological Seminary faculty Assemblies of God Theological Seminary alumni Baptist ministers from the United States Bible commentators Central Bible College alumni Duke University alumni Living people New Testament scholars Palmer Theological Seminary