Christians Must 'Unhitch' Old Testament From Their Faith, Says Andy Stanley

To justify this, Stanley preached last month about Acts 15, which described how the early church decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians.

Glad Stanley clarified this for us. So many churches today are trying to bring back animal sacrifices and regulations about trimming beards. You hear about another every week.

Stanley’s comments sound like a “gentler” version of what RHE preaches in her forthcoming book ironically titled Inspired.

Yup, absolutely. It’s not like Jesus and the Apostles and early leaders of the church ever quoted the Old Testament or anything. Seems that Stanley is getting to be an expert in writing things out of the Bible that cause him difficulty, much like his father’s modification of his views on divorce when that became a personal issue for him. Family tradition, I guess.

This is so tired and recycled. Same thing Rob Bell (one more in a long line) began to teach about a trajectory theology (or whatever he called it) that the NT is more enlightened than the OT. What this leads to is we are more enlightened than the NT because we understand slavery is wrong, and therefore it’s OK to understand that the NT teaching on women in the church and homosexuality is a product of another time and place.

His OT profs must be so proud.

When churches understand that the assembly of the saints is not for evangelism, folly of this variety will suffer its well deserved death.

https://theblazingcenter.com/2018/05/i-just-unhitched-jesus-from-the-ol…

What’s all this stuff in the book of Hebrews about priests and the Most Holy Place and a guy named Melchizedek? It feels kinda like Old Testament stuff to me, and I’m definitely done with that. That horse has been put out to pasture and shipped to the glue factory (that’s how that analogy goes, right?) I’m thinking I should probably unhitch Hebrews as well.

And honestly, Galatians is a little on the weird side. It’s like, who are Sarah and Hagar, and why are they so mad at each other? What is this, Jersey Shore? Definitely need to unhitch this as well. Farewell, Galatians.

Can we also talk about 2 Corinthians 3? Why does Paul keep going on and on about Old and New Covenants? I’m like, “Dude, we’ve got the resurrection. Why do you keep looking for love in all the wrong places?” Kylo Ren had it right when he said, “Let the past die.” Time to unhitch 2 Corinthians.

I remember leading a Bible study through Hebrews, and one person constantly complained she didn’t get it at all. Now while I “get” people not getting Hebrews, I was amused that this young lady was the only person in the room with a theology degree from Colorado Christian U. Of all people in the room, she’s the one who ought to have “gotten” a bit of those wondrous pictures in Hebrews….and apparently she was owed a tuition refund, so to speak.

(another two guys spent most of their time arguing Calvin vs. Arminius, neither of them having read a word of either one’s writing….suffice it to say that my “classroom management” was less than stellar at times, I’m afraid)

http://www.davidprince.com/2018/05/10/a-response-to-andy-stanley-jesus-…

Stanley summarizes his view of the Old Testament by saying he thought about putting up a slide that read, “Thou shall not obey the Ten Commandments,” but decided against it in fear that people would take a screenshot of it to post online. He might as well have posted the screenshot himself because that is exactly what he is arguing. Stanley contends that the sexual ethic of the New Testament is severed from the teaching of the Old Testament and is simply to “treat others as God in Christ has treated you” and that “Paul is explicit about morality but does not tie it to the Old Testament.” Of course, the New Testament says far more about sexual ethics than Stanley suggests and what it teaches is in complete continuity with the Old Testament.

What is going on here? It is tragic, but simple. Stanley is adapting his message to the changing culture that rejects many of the Bible’s teaching about origins and ethics. He is not offering a new approach to the Bible but rather an old one which positions us as judges who pick and choose what really matters in the Bible. That old approach has a name: it’s called theological liberalism.

Jesus would like to weigh in on the Old Testament’s worth:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk 24:25-27)

John the Baptist’s father would also like to add his two cents (Lk 1:68-75):

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

So much for context.

Not to be outdone, Simeon, the man who’d been “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Lk 2:25), has something to say, too (Lk 2:29-32):

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.

Luke, too, kinda thinks the OT is important for us:

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.