Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Southern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as Boyce College, didn’t take long to respond to Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church’s lead pastor and best-selling Christian author, after Stanley said he “never subscribed” to Mohler’s “version of Christianity.”
On Sunday, Oct. 1, Stanley gave a rare, non-livestreamed message to his congregation that was prompted by an article Mohler wrote last month titled, “The Train Is Leaving the Station: Andy Stanley’s Departure From Biblical Christianity.”
In the article, Mohler voiced his concern regarding a conference geared towards Christian parents with LGBTQ+ children hosted at North Point Community Church. On Monday, one day after Stanley’s message responding to him, Mohler wrote a follow-up article stating that Stanley “doubled down on his departure from Biblical Christianity.”
Albert Mohler: ‘This Is Not Biblical Christianity’
“On Sunday, Andy Stanley responded to my previous column about his departure from Biblical Christianity, speaking of my argument and noting, ‘Lots and lots of people saw it. That’s why we are talking about it today,’” Mohler said.
“He said a great deal,” Mohler added, “and he stated up front that he ‘never subscribed’ to the Christianity I represent, so he has not departed from it.”
Mohler said that Stanley described Mohler’s “understanding of Biblical Christianity as drawing lines” and Stanley went on to teach that “Jesus, unlike those who draw lines, drew circles. The SBTS president quoted Stanley’s words: “He drew circles so large and included so many people in His circle that it consistently made religious leaders nervous.”
“The problem with Stanley’s assertion that Jesus drew circles rather than lines,” Mohler said, is that “the four Gospels consistently present Jesus as drawing both.”
Mohler gave the example of Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, saying that the Samaritan, “unlike the religious leaders of His day, helped the man assaulted by robbers. Casting the Samaritan as the God-honoring character in the parable was indeed a way of drawing a circle.”
