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Andy Stanley, attack on authority of Scripture, Biblical truth, Christian doctrine, church growth movement, discernment, Emergent church, emergent theology, false doctrine, false teachers, inerrancy of Scripture, Messed Up Church blog, postmodernism, Steven Kozar
From Steven Kozar’s Messed Up Church blog at the Pirate Christian site, this is great summary article of Andy Stanley’s false teaching and ongoing attacks on the Word of God and the Body of Christ, his church. Andy Stanley is hugely influential in the visible church, including in church leadership and church growth. Here are some reasons why that is a huge problem…
The Andy Stanley Cornucopia of False Teaching, Fast Talking and Postmodern Ambiguity
By Steven Kozar
Andy Stanley is one of America’s top pastors; he is probably one of the top three most influential pastors in the U.S.A. today. Unlike many of the more blatantly heretical pastors that are critiqued on Pirate Christian Media, Stanley has a very mainstream reputation and following. Most Evangelical Christians can’t even imagine that he might be leading them astray because much of what he says sounds pretty good; it sounds pretty “normal.” He is seen as a pastor who is simply taking traditional, Biblical Christianity into the future by re-packaging it and re-interpreting it for non-Christians. Because Stanley works hard to appeal to a postmodern audience, much of what he says can be interpreted multiple ways, so there is much disagreement about his teaching and what he “actually means.” This kind of confusion is not good.
- On one hand, he says that “it’s next to impossible to defend the entire Bible,” and says that “the Bible is not the foundation of our faith;” but he later tells his audience how he loves the Bible and reads it every day.
- He claims that pastors should “take the focus off the Bible on put it on the resurrection,” but we know about the resurrection because it’s written about in the Bible. Stanley seems incapable of simply saying that the Bible is God’s Word and it’s historical dependable.
- He repeatedly claims that the early church had no Bible at all until well into the third century, even though that is historically incoherent and dishonest. The early church had the separate books of the Bible before they were bound together in one volume.
Read the rest of the article here.
At the end of the article are a large number of excellent resources relating to Andy Stanley, which I encourage you to check out for yourself. Please pass them on to anyone else who will read them!
The Narrowing Path 
I was at one of the two churches that I attend regularly a few weeks ago. The main pastor was gone and the stand-in mentioned Andy Stanley in a favorable way. My son and I had a bit of a conversation about this on the way home. That afternoon, I watched John Haller’s prophecy update and found that about the first half of it was about Andy Stanley and related subjects Mr. Haller expressed the same concerns that Steven Kozar does in this article.
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Wow, that sounds like it was good timing! Interesting that it was a visiting pastor…it shows how easy it is for unsound teachers to obtain a platform to speak, even at fairly solid churches. It pays to be diligent at all times! The Lord bless you Chris. Your input, encouragement and prayers are always appreciated!
In Christ, Sherryn
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Thank you for your kind words, Sherryn.
I thought it was interesting, too. We seem to be surrounded by many who are willing to sacrifice solid theology for anything that increases attendance. It is sad that guys like Mr. Stanley have such a large audience and a good deal of influence.
Thank you for keeping us informed about those who are harming the cause of Christ through strange and unBiblical doctrines.
May God continue to bless your efforts and your family!
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I think that you took Mr Stanley’s comments out of context. Also with complaints about the music. That I have read in your blogs. I guarantee you that I. Jesus’ and the Apostle ‘s time they were not playing Amazing Grace but music of their culture. No matter who the preacher is I suggest that you go back and read the scripture yourself. Just because you don’t like his style does not mean he is a heretic.
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