What is our relationship to the Old Testament? Aren’t the Jewish scriptures simply an interesting historical backstory? What was the foundation on which the New Testament church was built? It wasn’t any book. There wasn’t one. It wasn’t the Bible. There wasn’t one. And it wasn’t the Old Covenant because that didn’t tell the story of Jesus. The foundational event was the resurrection of Jesus Christ; so Moses is out, and Jesus is in. Christianity doesn’t need propping up by the Old Testament, so shouldn’t we feel free to “unhitch” it from our faith?
This declaration, preached by Pastor Andy Stanley in April 2018, should ring alarm bells for Christians everywhere. After all, Jesus and the apostles were absolutely convinced of the supreme authority of the Old Testament. Yet, Pastor Stanley would rather new Christians not leave the faith because of a struggle with the Old Testament; instead, he has encouraged them to “unhitch” it as the New Testament church did.
Join me on Monday, 20th August at 7:30pm (North Pine Baptist Church) as we explore Stanley’s comments, and seek to answer the question, “Can you retain the Christian faith while rejecting the Old Testament?”
