The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid.
—Martin Luther—
In March of this year (2023), in both a podcast and an article (his podcast notes), Wokepedia’s Kyle Whitt critiqued a presentation Andy Stanley gave at Dallas Theological Seminary several years ago. While the presentation has been around for a while, it recently resurfaced and has gained significant traction and attention.
Andy Stanley’s talk is titled “Your Assumption Is Showing,” and the megachurch pastor goes into great detail about why He believes Christians are wrong to “tether their faith,” and to encourage others to “tether their faith,” to the Scriptures as opposed to the event of Jesus’ resurrection. Yet it is Stanley who is making a faulty assumption here. This shouldn’t be an either/or, but a both/and proposition: We believe Jesus is Savior and Lord because of all the Scriptures tell us about Him in both the Old and New Testaments, and because after being executed for our sins on a cross on a Passover Friday, He rose from the dead the following Sunday morning.
We believe Jesus is Savior and Lord because of all the Scriptures tell us about Him in both the Old and New Testaments, and because after being executed for our sins on a cross on a Passover Friday, He rose from the dead the following Sunday morning.
Kyle Whitt does an excellent job of pointing out where Stanley is wrong, and of explaining how and why he is, in fact, a false teacher. I encourage you to read Kyle’s notes and to listen carefully to him as he offers keen observations and insights.
In this article I want to supplement, not replace, what Kyle has said. I’ll first provide five audio clips from Stanley’s talk; then I’ll offer five insights that, especially when considered against the backdrop of Kyle Whitt’s Wokepedia podcast, should compel Christians everywhere to reject the Andy Stanley’s assumptions about people and ministry in the 21st-century, and about the Bible, God’s sacred and holy Word.
Five Audio Clips
In clip #1, Stanley makes his main point.
Stanley recalls hearing atheist Sam Harris attack Christianity by attacking the Bible, and he says that in that experience, it occurred to him that Christians have wrongly sought to defend their faith by upholding and defending the truth of Scripture. Instead, contends Stanley, Christians need to focus on Jesus’ resurrection. Here’s clip #2.
Stanley continued in clip #3.
In clip #4, Andy Stanley also said this!
But wait! There’s even more! In clip #5, Stanley contends Christians don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead because the Bible tells us He did, but because eyewitnesses told us.
While these clips do not misrepresent what Stanley says, I would encourage you to watch and listen to Rev. Stanley’s entire presentation. The overall impact of it is unmistakable and undeniable.
Pressing ahead, I want to make five points that (again, especially against the backdrop of Kyle’s podcast), decisively refute Andy Stanley’s assumptions.
Minimizing the Scriptures in General
First, while Stanley claims to believe in the infallibility and inerrancy of the Scriptures, he nevertheless essentially disparages them my minimizing their importance and their reliability. Move over, Sam Harris! You don’t need to discredit the Bible; Andy Stanley is doing it for you!
Move over, Sam Harris! You don’t need to discredit the Bible; Andy Stanley is doing it for you!
Downplaying the Power of God’s Word
Second, Andy Stanley is downplaying the power of the Scriptures. In clip #3, He asks what the early Christians did without the Bible [as we know it]. We do not have to guess. They pointed both to a resurrected Christ and to the Old Testament prophecies that foretold His death and resurrection. They upheld and believed the Scriptures they had, even as the New Testament was yet to be written, and even as it was in the process of being written. Mr. Whitt said it well:
The early Christians pointed both to a resurrected Christ and to the Old Testament prophecies that foretold His death and resurrection. They upheld and believed the Scriptures they had, even as the New Testament was yet to be written, and even as it was in the process of being written.
[D]espite Stanley’s assertion, the Apostles did not base their faith solely on the resurrection, but based it upon the resurrection as the culmination of the entirety of the biblical narrative (1 Cor. 15:3-5, Luke 24:25-27). Hence why these witnesses of Christ also quoted the old testament so much (e.g., John 19:36-37, Romans 4:3, 1 Peter 2:6-8). Andy has already, famously “unhitched” from the old testament, and this explains a lot of why he posits the idea that the faith of the Apostles was solely on the resurrection as an event disconnected from all other context and prophecy. By contrast, Jesus Himself appealed to the old testament and prophecy to explain the gospel (Luke 24:25-27). Therefore, Andy has placed himself in opposition to Jesus, which is a very dangerous place to be.
Why were the early Christians so effective spreading the gospel? They used God’s Word when they shared it! The following passages testify that God’s Word itself is powerful and effective, even in the process of bringing unsaved people to salvation in Christ. The Holy Spirit uses the Scriptures in His work of convicting “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8).
In Ephesians 6:14-17 the apostle Paul wrote,
614 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God….
In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Paul wrote to his “son in the faith,”
315 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In Hebrews 4;12, the inspired writer said this about God’s Word:
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Failing to Affirm Biblical Eyewitness Accounts as Biblical
Third, Stanley mentions biblical eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection as evidence that the Lord rose from the dead, but he completely fails to acknowledge that the accounts he mentions are part of God’s Word. He almost implies that they aren’t in the Bible — but they are! Listen again to clip #5. Any objective observer should be able to see that Stanley is an ally of Sam Harris.
Failing to Tell, and Even Failing to Acknowledge, the Whole Gospel
Fourth, In clip #4, Stanley claims our story begins with Easter rather than in Genesis. But our story does begin in Genesis! What could be a more foundational reality than the truth that God exists? (See Gen. 1:1.) I also would submit that no one can adequately comprehend his or her need for Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection without knowing about sin, and it is in Genesis (Gen. 1–3) we are given essential background information about sin, guilt, and death.
Disparaging Jesus
Fifth, Andy Stanley fails to understand human nature. He wrongly believes that emphasizing Jesus’ resurrection alone will convince unbelievers to trust Christ for salvation. Jesus Himself revealed the true condition of the human heart. Hear and heed carefully the Savior’s own words in Luke 16:19-31. Especially take note of what He said in verses 29-31:
1619 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.
—Jesus, in Luke 16:31—
The Bottom Line
The Book of Acts in the Bible tells us that after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church at Pentecost. Peter preached a powerful sermon, one that reached a climax with these convicting words: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (v. 36).
In his sermon, Peter had quoted Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16:8-11, and Psalm 110:1. Luke, the inspired author of Acts, continued, reporting,
Acts 237 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children,
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
None of this was accidental or coincidental. As Jesus, during his ministry, told the Jewish leaders, men who sought to trick and trap Him at every turn,
John 538 [Y]ou do not have His [God the Father’s] word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life (emphasis added).
Let us not make the same mistake the Jewish leaders made. Let us also avoid the egregious mistakes Andy Stanley is making.
We dare not separate the Scriptures from Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. Yes, we understand that Jesus is God’s ultimate revelation of Himself to us, but Jesus did not replace the Scriptures. He upheld them and fulfilled them.
Accordingly, let us use them as we share the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection with others.
Many will respond!
Copyright © 2023 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved. Prepared for Exposing enemies within the church, LLC.