# Anyone Familiar with the Theological Views of Ray Vander Laan?



## Beezer (Apr 5, 2018)

Greetings,

Is anyone on the board familiar with Ray Vander Laan? The church my family attends is using video lessons of his titled "Life and Ministry of the Messiah" for a midweek study. 

Having never heard of the man I did a brief search and found this description on the "That the World May Know" website. 

_Since receiving his Master's of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1976, Ray Vander Laan has been actively involved in studying and teaching Jewish culture using the methods of Jewish education. He has continued graduate studies in Jewish Studies in the United States, Israel, Turkey and Egypt. He has been a teacher for 35 years and is an ordained minister with the Christian Reformed Church. He has also authored a book entitled Echoes of His Presence, published by Focus on the Family. Vander Laan founded That the World May Know Ministries in 1998. Ray has taken over 10,000 people with him on his study tours of Israel, Turkey and Egypt.

Ray's preaching and teaching ministry is focused on understanding the Bible in light of the historical and cultural context in which God placed it. This perspective on the Bible highlights God's call for His people to be a transforming influence on their culture. He uses research of the top scholars in the fields of archaeology, history, and Biblical study as tools to explore the Biblical text ever more deeply. His gifts, expertise, and calling are to link that cultural information and the Bible so that its message applies to our lives today in very practical ways._​
Does anyone have any first-hand experience with Vander Laan's ministry? Anything heterodox in his teachings? 

Thanks in advance for any insights provided.


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## Ryan&Amber2013 (Apr 5, 2018)

I think he is fascinating. I didn't even know he was reformed either. I don't know about his doctrine as i was younger when I watched him.


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## Guido's Brother (Apr 6, 2018)

Being CRC should make you wonder.


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## Gforce9 (Apr 6, 2018)

Brian,
I can't speak to his theology, but I did watch the entirety of his VHS series "That The World May Know some 20 years ago. From what I recall, it was well done and informative. I don't remember any theological liberalistic influence because of how long ago, however.


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## arongahagan (Apr 9, 2018)

A teacher should not always be judged by his students, and I am not doing a 'guilt by association' thing here, but Rob Bell claimed RVL as his "rabbi" and inspiration for some teachings (source). The same caveat applies to pointing out the producer (or at least promoter) of his _That The World May Know_ series which is James Dobson's _Focus on the Family_. That may explain why the series had, at least to me, more of a 'broadly evangelical' bent to it rather than solidly Reformed (e.g., "crossing the 'Jordan Rivers' of your own life").

Without proper grounding, the focus on the OT and Israel and the modern-day land could open one up to the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) that was (is?) growing popular for a while, not to mention the widespread support of modern-day geopolitical Israel (which is not the Israel of the NT - Rom. 9) which can end up in very dark places (think John Hagee and CUFI, AIPAC). The Jews rejected Christ and were exiled from the land.

Nevertheless, the Old Testament series was informative. I didn't watch the New Testament series so cannot speak to potential 2nd Commandment issues.

All that to say, as with most everything, read/watch with discernment.


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## greenbaggins (Apr 9, 2018)

I watched _That the World May Know_ twice all the way straight through. I thought it was very well done indeed. I would call it "archaeological" and "geographical" commentary on the Bible. He goes to various places in the Holy Land and explains texts related to particular places, and brings out facets of biblical teaching that you don't get very many other places. He did not bring out distinctively Reformed teaching, but I heard nothing unbiblical. It was evangelical. I didn't see anything that would support Rob Bell's teaching, or the Hebrew Roots movement. I have no idea where he now is theologically, but I would recommend the series, especially to anyone planning on going to Israel.

Reactions: Informative 3


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## Beezer (Apr 9, 2018)

arongahagan said:


> Without proper grounding, the focus on the OT and Israel and the modern-day land could open one up to the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) that was (is?) growing popular for a while, not to mention the widespread support of modern-day geopolitical Israel (which is not the Israel of the NT - Rom. 9) which can end up in very dark places (think John Hagee and CUFI, AIPAC). The Jews rejected Christ and were exiled from the land.



You grabbed my attention with this comment. I left this out of my initial post; however, the driver for me inquiring about Vander Laan in the first place is the fact the church I'm at, which is SBC affiliated, hosted a rep from Jews for Jesus last month who held a traditional Passover Seder celebration at the church. The pastor, a man of Jewish heritage, is also a dispensationalist (in a John MacArthur sort of way) and he's made a number of comments about Israel that have concerned me. Ever since noticing a giant shofar and detailed model of the Tabernacle displayed in his office along with other Hebrew paraphernalia I've been on guard and hyper-sensitive about things pertaining to Israel.

Hmm. I'm going to have to think on this some more. Thanks for commenting.


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