Andy Stanley Defends Teaching Methods Against Charges His Approach Undermines Scripture

Christian Post ^ | 10/5/2016 | BRANDON SHOWALTER

[Gamecock]

Pastor Andy Stanley is defending his approach to preaching amid questions from prominent evangelical leaders who contend his methods undermine the Bible's authority and pave the way for unbelief.

In a lengthy article in Outreach magazine on Friday, the pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, responds to his critics and affirms that he believes in biblical inerrancy. What he is doing, he argues, is changing the angle from which he speaks to more effectively engage a post-Christian society, particularly millennials who have left the Church.

Controversy arose in light of Stanley's recent sermon series wherein he argued that because increasing numbers of people in the United States do not lend credence to the Bible, Christians should dispense with the "because the Bible told me so" rationale for believing its truth claims.

Appeals to biblical authority do not translate particularly for millennials who pursue higher education beyond high school, Stanley said.

"The dechurched who grew up in church exit because they find the version of Christianity they've grown up with unconvincing, uninspiring and irrelevant," Stanley said. Moreover, ample evidence exists for the resurrection and the claims Jesus made about Himself even if one does not believe that a worldwide flood took place or Hebrew exodus from Egypt occurred, he said.

But such a tack bothered Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler who wrote last week on his website that defenses of the Christian faith have never been more necessary. And it is impossible to access that faith without the written Word. Stanley, Mohler argued, was "undercutting our only means of knowing Christ and His resurrection from the dead — the Bible," and warned that his approach would inexorably lead to "abject disaster" for the Church.

"This is an apologetic disaster and would leave Christians with no authoritative Scripture. Instead, we would be dependent upon historians (among others) to tell us what parts of both testaments we can still believe," Mohler said.

"Those parts will inevitably grow fewer and fewer. This is what must happen when the total trustworthiness, sufficiency, and authority of the Bible is subverted," Mohler continued.

Nothing could be further from the truth, Stanley replied in response to such charges. Mohler and others, he asserted, have misunderstood him.

Although Scripture does not provide guidelines for ministering to a post-Christian world, Stanley notes that at several times in the New Testament readers witness Peter and Paul operating from a different framework and using different language when speaking to Jews or Gentiles.

In Acts 17, for instance, the Apostle Paul addresses the Athenians, and urges them to repent from their idolatry. Yet although he refers to Him, Paul doesn't mention Jesus by name. To some that might seem like an egregious omission, like Paul was leaving out an essential element of the Gospel, when really he knew his audience's frame of reference.

"To say Paul's approach to the Gentiles in Athens differed from his approach to the Jews in Pisidian Antioch would be the understatement of understatements," Stanley said. "But his central message was the same. God has done something in the world on behalf of all humankind."

Stanley insists he is doing a similar thing today.

"So will you consider retooling in order to win some and save some? Are you willing to take a long, hard look at everything you're currently doing through the eyes of the post-Christian? Are you ready to be a student rather than a critic? We don't have time for tribes. We don't have time for the petty disagreements that only those inside our social media circles understand or care about," Stanley said.

"We're losing ground. The most counterproductive thing we can do is criticize and refuse to learn from one another. So come on. If you believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's all I need to know. And in light of what's at stake, in light of who is at stake, perhaps that's all you need to know as well," he concluded.

[Gamecock]

But such a tack bothered Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler who wrote last week on his website that defenses of the Christian faith have never been more necessary. And it is impossible to access that faith without the written Word. Stanley, Mohler argued, was "undercutting our only means of knowing Christ and His resurrection from the dead — the Bible," and warned that his approach would inexorably lead to "abject disaster" for the Church.

"This is an apologetic disaster and would leave Christians with no authoritative Scripture. Instead, we would be dependent upon historians (among others) to tell us what parts of both testaments we can still believe," Mohler said.

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[achilles2000]

Stanley isn’t the issue; it is the sin of sending children to government schools to be schooled in atheism and statism that is the issue.

[P-Marlowe]

"We're losing ground....."

That's because there are just too many preachers like Stanley and not enough like Spurgeon.

[Mr. Douglas]

And it is impossible to access that faith without the written Word.

---

A lot of people, thoughout the centuries, have come to an acceptance of God’s Grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus without ever seeing a bible.

Having a bible definitely helps, but it is not a requirement.

[JudyinCanada]

Our small group did a couple of Andy Stanley studies. Aside from this article, there was something that annoyed me about Andy Stanley. I didn’t enjoy his teaching - he seemed to be more of a performer, going after some laughs and trying too hard to be “cool”.

Perhaps it’s my age, but I like a more serious teacher - one not full of himself or too much hype.

[nevermorelenore]

Agree! Not a Stanley fan ...

[Mr. Douglas]

Christians should dispense with the “because the Bible told me so” rationale for believing its truth claims.

---

I tend to agree with that, if only because of some of the arguments I’ve had with devout believers. In one case, the guy, red faced, lifted his big KJV above his head and said, “I believe what the word says”. I said, “I do too. Where we differ is in our interpretation.”

People often use the word to support their beliefs that they acquired in Summer Junior Bible School and have not studied it since. i.e. they can’t support their position from a biblical perspective and refuse to even open the bible with you to discuss it. Further, they call you a heretic, or worse, because you disagree with that opinion.

Kinda weird, when you think about it. It is also a textbook example of dogmatism. It’s fine to disagree with someone, but you need to be able to back up your claims and successfully refute theirs, especially before calling them an agent of Satan. Just sayin’.

[dragonblustar]

I felt the same way about him. Such a shame.

Sometimes I wonder if Andy thinks he’s better than his father. I wonder if that stems from his mother’s divorce from his father?

[Mr. Douglas]

“This is an apologetic disaster and would leave Christians with no authoritative Scripture.”

Only if it stops there. I don’t think that is where he’s going with it, though.

[Gamecock]

Oh I don’t know, Daniel and his friends attended the University of Babylon and turned out just fine.

[Mr. Douglas]

In Acts 17, for instance, the Apostle Paul addresses the Athenians, and urges them to repent from their idolatry. Yet although he refers to Him, Paul doesn’t mention Jesus by name. To some that might seem like an egregious omission, like Paul was leaving out an essential element of the Gospel, when really he knew his audience’s frame of reference.

---

This is a very good point. And once it sinks in to the listener of Paul’s words, THEN he gives the zinger - Jesus.

[Mr. Douglas]

This is one reason I believer public schools should be eliminated. There are many more reasons, but they are not needed like they were a hundred years ago.

Time for parents to teach their own kids, and with the tools available both online in and hard copy, an IDIOT parent could effectively raise and teach a genius child.

[LeonardFMason]

2 Timothy 3:16-17 King James Version (KJV)

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

The Bible is no accident. It is the WORD of God. I am college educated, love science, and believe that ALL of the Bible is true.

“Dumbing it down” to appeal to the lost is wrong. Andy Stanley hasn’t/won’t/never will SAVE a soul. GOD SAVES through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the redemption he wrought by suffering death and the punishment for sin on the cross.

God says it. I believe it. That’s all I need.

[Frapster]

And it is impossible to access that faith without the written Word.

The word 'word' there is 'rhema' instead of 'logos'. It's an important distinction that separates the deists from the theists (usually) in that 'rhema' is about personal revelation.

[achilles2000]

Yes, by all means...if your child is a prophet of God who has been taken into captivity. Of course, I don’t know any public, private or home schooled child who fills the bill. But, of course, perhaps your school district is filled with them. The Bible tells us how we are to educate our children, and I missed the part that says we are to hand them over to the priests of Ba’al.

[AC Beach Patrol]

A lot of people, thoughout the centuries, have come to an acceptance of God’s Grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus without ever seeing a bible. Having a bible definitely helps, but it is not a requirement.

Like the early Church up until approximately 1455 A.D. (Gutenberg).

[Gamecock]

God has always, and will continue to, watch over His own.

[SecAmndmt]

“Oh I don’t know, Daniel and his friends attended the University of Babylon and turned out just fine.”

I don’t see the parallel.

Our post-Christian culture is to a large extent a result of the government school system (plus the media, and “pastors” like this). The Barna surveys indicate that something like 80-90% of children (from Christian parents) who attend government schools leave school at age 18 with a secular humanist worldview.

The Proverbs tell us to “get wisdom” and “get understanding”. Fools are unwilling to learn. This culture, including Christians, seems largely unwilling to learn. That is why regardless of who we elect in November, the Republic as we know it could be finished in less than a generation.

[ealgeone]

If we’re losing ground it’s because we’re ceding ground. Christians have to be in the marketplace of ideas. If we just sit in our churches we will continue to lose ground. We’ve got to be on the offense with the Word in action and deed.