{"id":3477,"date":"2011-06-28T10:17:13","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T15:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/?p=3477"},"modified":"2011-06-28T10:17:13","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T15:17:13","slug":"lets-ditch-the-old-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2011\/06\/lets-ditch-the-old-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Ditch The Old Testament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tired of carrying that big heavy Bible around? Well, Pastor Andrew Farley has a\u00a0heretical<\/del> novel solution\u2026..<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s chop it in half!!<\/p>\n

That way we don\u2019t have to deal with any of those difficult passages in the Old Testament. Why do exegesis when you can just ignore the passages you don\u2019t understand<\/del> like?<\/p>\n

After all, Mark Driscoll has built a very \u201csuccessful\u201d ministry around this very premise.<\/p>\n

Besides, it\u2019s not like the New Testament is interested in the Old Testament anyway. It only quotes it about 300 times or so. Clearly the New Testament was written for 21st Americans with no real connection to the Hebrew Bible.<\/p>\n

If only somebody had thought of this before. Oh wait they have\u2026..<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pastor says today\u2019s Christians don\u2019t need the Old Testament traditions<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0IRIE PRICE \"\"<\/div>\n
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL<\/div>\n

Got religion? Well, it\u2019s time you lost it, says the Rev. Andrew Farley in his new book, \u201cGod without Religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christians need no spiritual relationship with the Old Testamet, including the Ten Commandments and the principle of tithing, considered by many Christians as traditional hallmarks of the faith, posits Farley in his book.<\/p>\n

Farley is a Texas Tech associate professor of applied linguistics and pastor of the church Ecclesia.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod without Religion\u201d peaked at No. 8 on the Washington Post\u2019s best seller list in early June.<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s ideas have elicited opinionated responses.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour book cannot go to press,\u201d Farley recalled someone emailing in response to one of his \u201cGod without Religion\u201d seminars.<\/p>\n

Farley\u2019s insistence about tithing as an unnecessary spiritual discipline irked the email sender, the author said.<\/p>\n

Although the sender claimed Farley\u2019s message would damage American churches, Farley asserts just the opposite in the book: abandoning religion may help Christians reclaim their faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love Jesus in general,\u201d Farley said during an interview with The Avalanche-Journal. \u201cBut maybe they\u2019ve been burned by the church one or two times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judgmental followers, guilt trips and calls for adherence to Old Testament commands may cause the burns, but they are the result of religion, not New Testament teachings, Farley writes.<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Tired of carrying that big heavy Bible around? Well, Pastor Andrew Farley has a\u00a0heretical novel solution\u2026.. Let\u2019s chop it in half!! That way we don\u2019t have to deal with any of those difficult passages in the Old Testament. Why do exegesis when you can just ignore the passages you don\u2019t understand like? After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLet's Ditch The Old Testament<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Tired of carrying that big heavy Bible around? Well, Pastor Andrew Farley has a\u00a0heretical novel solution..... Let's chop it in half!! 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