The Faces of Ministry at Ligonier: Dr. Keith Mathison
Keith was born and raised near Houston, Texas. After becoming a Christian following graduation from high school, he was baptized in October 1986. A month after graduating from Houston Baptist University in 1990, he was married, and a few months later he began studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. While at Dallas, Keith encountered Dr. John Gerstner’s critique of dispensationalism and began to study the issue more in depth. Also while at Dallas Seminary, he was able to attend the annual W.H. Griffith Thomas lectures, given that year by Dr. R.C. Sproul. Through his study, Keith eventually became convinced that dispensationalism was biblically indefensible and transferred to Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando where Dr. Sproul was then teaching.
Keith serves in two different capacities at Ligonier. He is an Associate Editor of Tabletalk as well as Professor of Biblical Studies with the Bible College. He began working at Ligonier part-time in March 1996, becoming full time a couple of months later in July. In April 2000, he was asked to develop and implement a course of study for a certificate in theological studies, which eventually became the certificate program offered by Ligonier Academy today. In September 2001, Keith began working as an editorial assistant with Tabletalk magazine, and in July 2003 he became an associate editor. In 2008, he was asked to help develop the curriculum for what is now Reformation Bible College. Keith says that he enjoys working at Ligonier “because of the emphasis on providing solid biblical and theological teaching to laymen. The scholarly level work is absolutely necessary, but it doesn’t do much good if the fruits of such study remain on dusty library shelves and are read by only a handful of specialists.”
Keith also enjoys writing and has written, edited, and/or contributed to several volumes including Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God?; Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope; The Shape of Sola Scriptura; Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper; and From Age to Age: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology.
He has been married for 21 years to his wonderful wife Tricia, and they have two wonderful children.