Does Helen Keller's Conversion Prove Faith Does Not Come By Hearing The Word of God?

Recently I had it argued to me that Helen Keller (1880-1968), the famous girl who became blind and deaf when she was 19 months old, and who was born in Alabama and taught to read braille by Anne Sullivan, shows via her "conversion" that people can come to faith in Christ without ever hearing anyone tell them about Christ. Before addressing that argument, let me first give the reader information about her supposed conversion.

Helen Keller did not experience a sudden, dramatic "conversion" to a traditional Christian denomination; rather, she stated that she had an innate, lifelong awareness of God and later formally embraced the mystical Christian teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg in her early teens.

To be aware or to believe that there is a god is no proof of having been saved. James made that clear when he said: "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!" (James 2: 19 nkjv) Lots of unsaved people believe in God or some god or gods. So Paul wrote:

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things." (Rom. 1:20-23 nkjv)

Here are unsaved people who believed in the existence of God as a Creator. Keller famously remarked later in life, "I always knew God was there, I just did not know his name," explaining that she sensed an underlying presence. But, that is not a sign of regeneration. Also, her sense that there was a god did not entail that she knew Jesus as Savior and Lord. 

Hardshell Baptists, because they are always intent on denying that one must hear the gospel or word of God in order to believe in Jesus, will sometimes argue that one may believe in Jesus by direct revelation apart from being told by a preacher or Christian layman who Jesus is, what he did, and how to be saved through him. However, that is simply against what is plainly declared by Paul in Romans chapter ten where he wrote:

“8 The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (vss. 8-17 nkjv)

After Helen Keller learned to communicate through her teacher, Anne Sullivan, her parents felt it was time for her to receive religious instruction. She was taken to Phillips Brooks, who told her simply about God and Jesus. So, she accepted the fact that God's name was Jesus and what Brooks told her. However, she did not know Jesus and what he had done prior to Brooks telling her. So, that fact shows that what Paul said is true. 

When Keller began to study the Bible for herself she accepted the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg (which came to be known as Swedenborgianism). Helen Keller at that point found inner solace, or as she says, spiritual sight, and an understanding of the divine through Swedenborg's writings, writing an entire book about her faith (My Religion, later titled Light in My Darkness). She also became a Socialist.

Swedenborgianism rejects the traditional doctrine of the Trinity as three separate persons, teaching instead that God is one person in Jehovah / Jesus Christ. "Got Questions" web page (here) says this about the teachings of this sect per their founder:

"These writings include teachings such as: God has many names, depending on the beliefs/religion of the individual; the Holy Spirit is not God; the Trinity does not exist; Jesus Christ’s death did not atone for our sin; salvation comes by practicing what you believe, whatever religion it might be; the afterlife is spiritual, but dependent on how well you lived in your physical body."

Actually, Swedenborgianism is a pseudo Christian cult similar to the Christian Science cult and similar to Scientology. They deny the literal second coming of Christ. Swedenborg is similar to Joseph Smith, saying that he had experienced a death and resurrection, and had gone to heaven and returned so that he could tell others about the spiritual realm. He also taught, like the Mormons, that some married couples will live as married couples in heaven. They have other beliefs that are simply against what the Bible teaches. 

In conclusion I say that Helen Keller did not profess to believe in Jesus or the gospel until Brooks told her about him, and this is in agreement with what Paul taught in Romans chapter ten.

Yes, there is a revelation involved in being saved. The Father revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God and not "flesh and blood." (Matt. 16: 16-17) Jesus, the Son of the Father, also is the one who reveals to men the Father, saying: "no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." (Matt; 11: 27 nkjv)

But, neither of these revelations occurs apart from hearing information about the Father and Son. When people hear someone inform them about the Father and Son, it is the Father and Son, and the Holy Spirit too, who must open the eyes (or reveal) to see and accept that information as being true. Peter had been taught about a coming Messiah but he did not come to recognize Jesus as he until his eyes were opened to see it as true. The statement that Peter believed in Jesus by the Father's revealing it, and not by men, does not contradict what Paul said in Romans chapter ten.