Over the years, I’ve observed a number of Evangelical “thought-leaders” publish their musings about social issues while contending that both progressivism and conservatism are equally valid ways to express one’s Christian faith and that true biblical faith lies somewhere on the spectrum between the right and the left. As absurd as that sounds, progressive Evangelicals have been pushing this notion for years. This is the first in a series we will be publishing remembering these public musings in the wake of the hopeful Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

First up, Tim Keller, who published a Twitter thread contending that the Bible calls abortion a sin, but it doesn’t actually tell us the best way—conservative policy or Democrat policy—to reduce abortions. Keep in mind that essentially what Keller is saying here is that the Bible doesn’t tell us that it is the government’s duty to outlaw abortion (conservative) and that giving free handouts (Democrat policies) could be equally viable, according to his knowledge of Scripture.

Here is the link to the original thread on Twitter, and below is his post in full as originally posted:

Christians and the freedom of conscience in politics. The Bible binds my conscience to care for the poor, but it does not tell me the best practical way to do it. Any particular strategy (high taxes and government services vs low taxes and private charity) may be good and wise…

…and may even be somewhat inferred from other things the Bible teaches, but they are not directly commanded and therefore we cannot insist that all Christians, as a matter of conscience, follow one or the other. The Bible binds my conscience to love the immigrant-but it doesn’t…

…tell me how many legal immigrants to admit to the U.S. every year. It does not exactly prescribe immigration policy. The current political parties offer a potpourri of different positions on these and many other topics, most of which, as just noted-the Bible does not speak…3/5

…to directly. This means when it comes to taking political positions, voting, determining alliances and political involvement, the Christian has liberty of conscience. Christians cannot say to other Christians “no Christian can vote for…” or “every Christian must vote for…4/5

…unless you can find a Biblical command to that effect. 5/5 (From the Endnotes of the upcoming last article on Justice–coming out soon).

Some folks are missing the point of this thread. The Bible tells me that abortion is a sin and great evil, but it doesn’t tell me the best way to decrease or end abortion in this country, nor which policies are most effective.

Let’s offer some gentle correction to Tim Keller, shall we? God’s law describes clearly what he thinks about those who shed innocent blood—He hates it. He hates it so much that he demanded that those who commit murder be put to death (Genesis 9:6, Leviticus 24:17, Exodus 21:12, etc.). And God instituted the civil government, a ministry of God, to bear the sword of justice and carry out punishment on those who commit this evil (Romans 13). It really isn’t that difficult.