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Alumni Spotlight: Ken Keathley

Keathley continues legacy of theological training at Southeastern, moving from student to professor
As an alumnus of Southeastern, Ken Keathley has done more than just learn from Southeastern professors – he has become one himself and continued to influence students in their theological training.

Keathley, professor of theology and dean of graduate studies at Southeastern, is a two-time graduate of the seminary, earning first his Master’s of Divinity degree and then his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Southeastern. It was during his time as a student that Keathley began teaching at Open Door Baptist Church in Raleigh, and felt God tug on his heart to pastor and teach.

Keathley was called to teach at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and then New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, during which time he experience Hurricane Katrina. The following year, as he was still living “in exile” after Katrina, as he calls it, Keathley was offered a position teaching at Southeastern.

“Matt, my son, was already in the undergraduate program here. It was coming back for us. A lot of the faculty had taught me, or been in class with me, or were members at Open Door when I was there. I had always dreamed and hoped I’d get to teach here,” Keathley said.

“I really do believe in the theme of Southeastern,” he said. “The Great Commission Resurgence is more than a cliché or a mantra – it’s a theme and focus here.”
It’s the desire to teach solid theology that led Keathley to become a professor, and it is that same desire that led him to recently write a book on Molinism. The book, entitled Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach, is due for public release in January.

“It’s a philosophical system, but the elements that make up a Molinist model come from the Scriptures,” Keathley said. “It affirms a high view of sovereignty, and holds to a view of free will generally associated only with Armenians. The beauty of this paradigm shows that one can hold to both. That’s what makes Molinism attractive.”

In addition to espousing the positive aspects of the Great Commission Resurgence from the lectern and the pulpit (Keathley is an interim pastor, as well) and writing and publishing his book, Keathley is also preparing for his family to grow as his son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Deana, prepare for the arrival of their son, due in early December.