ANDY STANLEY: IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN JESUS’ VIRGIN BIRTH, IT’S NOT A PROBLEM

 stanley-andy
Don’t believe in Jesus’ virgin birth? 
Not a problem, says Andy Stanley
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
 

Andy Stanley
Political Insider
AJC blog about Atlanta politics, Georgia politics, Georgia and metro Atlanta election campaigns. Because all politics is local.
December 27, 2016
| Filed in: Southern Baptists

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. His entry point:
“A lot of people just don’t believe it. And I understand that.
Maybe the thought is, ‘Hey, maybe they had to come up with some myth
about Jesus to give him street cred, you know, later on.’ Maybe that’s
where that came from.

“It’s interesting, because Matthew gives us a version of the
birth of Christ, Luke does, but Mark and John – they don’t even mention
it. A lot has been made of that….

“You’ve heard me say some version of this a million times, so
this will be old if you’ve been around for a while. But see, if somebody
can predict their own death and then their own resurrection, I’m not
all that concerned about how they got into the world.”

Many Baptists were aghast at what they saw as an unexpected new front opening up in the war on Christmas. From Baptist Global News:
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Louisville, Ky., took exception to Stanley’s view in a Dec. 16
podcast describing the Bible stories about Christ’s incarnation as “the
central truth claim of Christmas.”

“Just in recent days, one Christian leader was quoted as saying
that if Jesus predicted his death and then was raised from the dead, it
doesn’t matter how he came into the world,” Mohler said. “But the Bible
insists it really does matter and the answer given from Scripture very
clear in the gospel of Matthew and in the gospel of Luke is that Jesus
was born to a virgin.”

We’ll let the religion desk of the Washington Post weigh in as well:
This is not the first time Stanley…has had to defend remarks from
his sermons. Earlier this year, after critics accused him of
downplaying the authority of scripture, the nondenominational pastor
attributed the issue to his nontraditional preaching style.

“The real story is the handful of Southern Baptist professors and
writers (not so much preachers) who seem to have nothing else to do but
listen to bits and pieces of my messages,” he said in his statement to
The Post. “Anyone who listens to all three [sermons in the series] will
know that I stand firmly within the orthodox Christian tradition
regarding the incarnation of Jesus — including the birth narratives as
presented [in] Matthew and Luke.”

Stanley also said he believes people can become Christians without knowing the narratives around Jesus’ birth.
_______________________________________________________

 ANDY STANLEY MINIMIZES THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST
 (Friday Church News Notes, December 30, 2016, www.wayoflife.org, 
fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 
 
The following is from Matt Costella,
 Fundamental Evangelistic Association, Dec. 23, 2016: 
Andy Stanley, pastor of North Pointe Ministries in the Atlanta area, is no 
stranger to controversy. Stanley has made numerous statements just this 
past year that have generated controversy and resulted in backlash from 
conservative evangelicals. But Stanley’s December 3, 2016, sermon may be
 the most controversial yet. In his sermon, Stanley minimized the 
importance—if not the reality—of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. ‘A 
lot of people don’t believe it, and I understand that,’ Stanley said. He
 added, ‘Maybe the thought is they had to come up with some kind of myth
 about the birth of Jesus to give him street cred later on. Maybe that’s
 where that came from’ (Baptist News Global,
 ‘Virgin Birth Debate Interrupts Regular ‘War on Christmas’ Program,’ 
12-21-16). Stanley then noted that it is interesting that only 2 of the 4
 gospels mention the virgin birth, and said ‘Christianity doesn’t hinge 
on the truth or even the stories around the birth of Jesus … It really 
hinges on the resurrection of Jesus.’ Earlier this year, Stanley 
minimized the importance of the role Scripture plays in the life of the 
believer, and minimizing the importance of the virgin birth of Christ is
 simply the next step in this downward trajectory. The virgin birth of 
Christ is vitally important, for without the virgin birth, mankind would
 not have a Savior (the God-man) and no resurrection could have 
occurred! Despite what Stanley says, Christianity does
 hinge on the truth surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. Stanley’s 
statements are dangerous and his conclusions are completely 
unbiblical. Discerning believers must beware of those who minimize vital
 doctrinal truths in an attempt to relate to those who reject such 
truths in the first place.”
______________________________________________________
 ANDY STANLEY NEGATES THE VIRGIN BIRTH
 

Andy Stanley: Virgin Birth and Bible are Not Important