Andy Stanley: ignoramus or liar ?

 Amazon's Eusebius !!!

This post is regarding Atheists, pseudo-historians (like Dan Brown) & pseudo-pastors (like Andy Stanley & Rob Bell)….and their assertions that Constantine forced a “temple model” religion (aka imposed Christianity) on the people of his empire, thereby corrupting Christianity through Imperialism.  This assertion is absolutely wrong, according to the writer Eusebius, who was the ancient Historian who recorded the events regarding the Early Church. Eusebius recorded the Emperor’s Edict of 313, “We have LONG intended that freedom of worship should not be deigned but that EVERYONE should have the right to practice his religion as he choose.  Accordingly we have had given orders that Christians and ALL OTHERS should be permitted to Keep the Faith of their own sect and worship.” (Quote occasionally CAPSLOCKED for emphasis by myself).  

Its clear that Constantine’s empire was one of the first large scale governments to TRULY legalize freedom of religion, often to an extent greater than that of America today, therefore Andy Stanley’s assertions that Constantine corrupted Christianity by establishing “temple model” is without question wrong. Therefore Mr. Stanley is either #1 – completely ignorant of Church History, making him derelict in his duties as a teacher or #2 – he knows the history and purposely lies about it to advance his own personal agenda.

As a follow-up I’d recommend all Christians read the writings of the Early Church, even stuff I personally don’t agree with has an amazing amount of knowledge, intellect & understanding in it as you can see these people are TRYING to faithfully apply Biblical truths to their lives. I’d also recommend reading Dr. Paul Maier’s translation of Eusebius’ The Church History; the quote from above is from Book 10, chapter 5 (available at Amazon, link provided).

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For some context: here’s a little Andy Stanley FYI from his recent sermon series “Brand New”.

So what’s wrong with “temple model”?

For the past few weeks, [Andy] Stanley has been exhorting Christians to ditch their traditional “temple model” ways.  The “temple model,” as defined by Stanley, “grants extraordinary power to sacred men in sacred places who determine the meaning of sacred texts.”  “The temple model is you-centered,” Stanley explained.  “The heart of the temple model is this question: what must I do or believe to make things and keep things right between God and me?”

So basically, the problem with temple model is it’s Gospel-focused? Andy Stanley must really hate the gospel to be so outspoken against its emphasis. 

* note things to avoid at all costs as Andy Stanley explains the Temple Model as one that you see in so many ancient (and current) religions. It is centered around: Sacred Places, Sacred Texts, Sacred Men & Sincere/Superstitious Followers.