Don’t Believe in Jesus’ Virgin Birth? Not a Problem, says Andy Stanley

December has apparently proven to be an interesting month for the Rev. Andy Stanley, son of a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and lead pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta — one of the largest congregations in the country.

Though it is only now breaking in to the open, the Baptist world has been rocked by a Dec. 4 sermon in which the son of famed TV evangelist Charles Stanley discounted the importance of believing in the virgin birth of Jesus.

“You ask me, “what theological doctrine is required knowledge for salvation?” That is not the point.”

Actually...it IS the point of this thread and the article that spawned it.

And if someone has a theological question, I’ll point him to the Word of God, not creeds drawn up by philosopher-priests.

If you feel qualified to discuss the details of the Trinity and how Jesus relates to the Father and the Holy Spirit, please feel free to write something to clarify it for those of us who are more likely to add it as number 5 on the list:

Three things are beyond me;
four I can’t understand:

the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship at sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman. - Proverbs 30

No, it is not the point of the thread. Mr. Stanley, as a preacher, is to be held to a higher standard because he purports to proclaim the truth of God’s word, which in this case, he does not do! God did not call him or any preacher to proclaim anything but His word, His truth. Read the prayer of Daniel in chapter 9. It has much to digest both for those who preach and those who hear them. What Mr. Stanley says can mislead, which clearly it is doing. That is the point!

Whether he himself is a believer or not is not my concern. It is God’s, both with those who preach and those who hear.

“not creeds drawn up by philosopher-priests”

I can see, Mr Rogers, that you are so firmly mounted on your hobby horse that there is no point in continuing this exercise, so I will let you ride on slaying dragons.

“Mr. Stanley, as a preacher, is to be held to a higher standard because he purports to proclaim the truth of God’s word...”

Has he denied the Virgin Birth? On the contrary, he says believes and teaches it.

“What Mr. Stanley says can mislead...”

So can anything someone says, if taken out of context.

“...so I will let you ride on slaying dragons.”

I haven’t tried to slay anyone. It is the other side that wants to slay. And for what? Because someone has said believing in the Virgin Birth is not a doctrinal requirement for someone to become a Christian.

The Apostle Paul forgot to mention it as well...

If it was Joseph’s chromosomes that eventually made up Jesus’ other DNA half, why did Mary ask how it was that she would be with child? Wouldn’t she expect Joseph would be the father by the usual, natural means?

It made no sense to her, because they hadn't come together yet. So either the wedding date was suddenly going to move up, or something else. Her question indicates that she perceived a situation that wasn't going to wait.

If she had figured the conception was going to wait until the marriage, she would have had no reason to ask how. Now if I had this happened to me the last thing I would assume is that this was any kind of normal conversation or message.

I suppose it would have required a visit by Gabriel, because what if it were just some merchant telling her this information out of the blue? What if she were, say, shopping at a little store she had never been before, and then the store owner (stranger) starts speaking all this weirdness? A perfectly reasonable response would be to express nervous laughter on the inside and think, "Boy, the characters you run across these days." :)

Then again, people have entertained angels unawares.

Zecharias had no excuse for his question , because it was, "Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Come on, fella, didn't Abraham and Sarah ring a bell? Just goes to show that God can look beyond that kind of lapse, straight into the heart.

Gotta love this stuff.

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