I’ve Got Some Reading To Do
So, my friend Matthew who works up at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan sent me this package today. Inside the bubble wrapped envelope contained four books. Velvet Elvis, Sex God, Jesus Wants To Save Christians, all by Rob Bell, and The Hidden Power Of Electronic Culture, by Shane Hipps. The copy of Velvet Elvis is even signed. Now I have obviously heard of Rob Bell before, and even had a little time to talk to him at Matthew’s wedding earlier this year, but I haven’t had a chance to check out his books yet. Sorry Rob.
Anyway, because Matthew sent me all three of them, I’m debating whether to just start at the beginning and dive into Velvet Elvis or if I want to start with the new one. Any ideas?
Also, I’d love you know what you guys thing about Rob. I know he’s a pretty controversial guy, but I haven’t really heard why. He seemed like a nice guy. And he’s got cool design ideas for his books, and Matthew likes him, so what’s your take?
iv read them all except the new Rob Book.
He doesn’t write books like books are usually written! if that makes sense? I found that Velvet Elvis & sex God were written like a manuscript from a sermon/message………not that this is a criticism………i have blogged about him several times, i need to watch The Gods arent angry sometime soon
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uh oh…what we all think about rob?
them might be fightin’ words depending on who shares…
Hey,
I’ve read Velvet Elvis… And from that and other information I’ve seen from bell, The most controversial thing is the fact that he is some what Post Modern (or to say that, he writes as if he believes in relative truth).
In Velvet Elvis, He explains that he believes that the Doctrines of the church (or Theology of the Church) are like a trampoline, and they must have the ability to flux. To say that if we find something in science that disproves the bible we are to accept this new truth and abandon Scripture. The major problem with this is that you remove the authority of Scripture within the Church.
This is very prominent in our culture, and for many people it is very appealing. it scares me to no end because this is where liberal theology begins: The denial of the authority of Scripture.
Now, with that said, I’ve heard him preach great messages! His leadership and preaching styles are cutting edge; however, just like every other person on this planet, we must weigh his opinions against Scripture.
Read his stuff see what you think man…
Here is what I think of Velvet Elvis (have not read the others):
http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2007/01/book-review-velvet-elvis.html
Here is a take from Dr. Ben Witherington:
http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2007/02/velvet-elvis-and-king-has-he-left.html
I grew up in a church close to Mars Hill, and people I know and trust as spiritual leaders had some issues with Rob. I haven’t read any of Rob’s books, but the emergent stuff in general is something I have qualms about, and also relate to on many levels. I think I’ll reserve my comments until I give Rob’s books a shot.
I love his Nooma series. They have this way of reducing me to tears.
I’ve only read Velvet Elvis, and I don’t know tooo much about the argument’s about Rob Bell. But I loved Velvet Elvis.
And with regards to what Cory said…
I interpreted the “trampoline” thing a little differently. He talks about how our faith shouldn’t be like a brick wall that will crumple when one brick is removed or weakened. That is, if there is a scientific argument that SEEMS to contradict what the Bible says is true, our faith shouldn’t crumble, and neither should we completely ignore what arguments are being thrown at us. Our faith should be strong enough that we continue to stand when science or alternate viewpoints tell us we’re wrong. It’s not that we disregard our theology or Biblical truth, but that our arguments in defense of our faith should not be dependent on science lining up with them.
He says: what if someone proves there was no virgin birth? (He doesn’t say that can or ever would happen…just what if.) Would your faith in Jesus crumble? He seems to be arguing that your faith in Jesus should be strong enough and “flexible” enough that it could withstand something like that.
I hope that makes sense.
Maybe Rob Bell elaborates on his trampoline/brick wall idea more elsewhere, but Velvet Elvis is all I’ve read and that’s how I interpreted it.
I’m a fan of bell… I don’t agree with everything he says, but overall I find his books really good. He is a great communicator…
I will never disagree about Bell’s ability to communicate. He is great at that.
I agree that we should have the ability to listen, and defend our faith from skeptics, that’s is called apologetics; however, the problem I have with bell is that he messes with the philosophical idea of truth. Our faith, or belief system is built upon the idea that God’s word is The Total Truth of the universe. To deny, or to say that our truth is relative (or like a trampoline) is to say that the bible is false.
it does you no harm to read his books. i feel the same way about shane claiborne, as he’s pretty controversial. just read it with an open mind and it’s good. that is what i believe god wants us to do anyhow – have our minds and hearts stretched. there are things in bell’s books that i believe god has put on his heart to write. with that, when you read it, you’ll find that god is showing you things and teaching you. nothing wrong with that.
i recommend his books to everyone. mainly cos i think it’s a bit ‘uncultured’ to not know about bell and the progressive thinking in the christian world. it helps us know what we want to believe and not believe. and whether we want to go a different route with our faith or stay the same. god stays the same, we can change through him. i just say, keep that in mind when reading his stuff, cos you might find yourself thinking some weird thoughts at times. all in all – no harm in reading it.
I’ve read “Velvet Elvis” and also found his “relative truth” message to be very disturbing. The above example of the virgin birth being proven wrong is just one area. While he doesn’t say that has been or even could be, he’s asking what if…? Would it shake my belief? DUH! First off, let me be clear in saying that the virgin birth could NEVER be PROVEN wrong because it did in fact happen. However, if something that foundational to Christian theology as this were to somehow be found false, then that would mean the whole Bible is false and could not be trusted. There would be no more Christianity. The Bible is how God reveals Himself to us (not the only way of course, but definitely the most substantial in terms of information) and it clearly states that it is inerrant, complete, whole and written for the sole purpose of us being able to know The Truth and that man is without excuse.
I’m not suggesting you don’t read the books at all. It’s a good read so to speak, but take it for what it’s worth. It’s not authoritative at all. While he quotes scripture, he takes it out of context most of the time; nothing new in that error and he’s certainly not the only one.
I’m sure many find this man very controversial as well, but I suggest reading “The Truth War. Fighting for Certainty in the Age of Deception” by John MacArthur. Many see him as a “staunch hardliner” who’s past his prime. He isn’t the “hippest” guy on the scene these days, but I’ll wager there’s very few that REALLY know scripture inside and out the way he does. Combine that with his ability to teach and discern the truth and you’ve got someone Satan wishes never existed. He discusses Rob Bell’s works as well as some others in the Emergent Church movement and addresses everyone of their views in light of what scripture says. As Christians, we should always do that first, and whatever doesn’t stand up, is false.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Uncertainty in light of our human limitations is a virtue. Uncertainty in light of God’s word is not.”
Beth
i’m not at all crazy about the emergent movement, in fact, i think all the church movements are misfounded but i did like some of the insight that bell has. He understands what christianity can look like outside the fundamentalist empire-embracing and hedonistic prosperity gospel movements that tend to dominate american christianity.
I dont agree with a lot of things he says, but I do appreciate the nooma series. I read Velvet Elvis and chewed the meat, but spit out the bone.
Rob seems like a cool guy and his teaching techniques are pretty cool..and understandable. I’ve heard some of his sermons and have read Velvet Elvis and it seems like he is genuinely concerned for others.
With that said, I think that if you do read or listen to Rob, you need to go and measure it up next to scripture. Obviously it’s important to do that with anyone, but I have found some of his teaching quite far away from the authors origninal intent.
I wrote a little about my concerns on some posts on my blog.
http://manofdepravity.com/2008/06/17/rob-bell-differing-views/
Brody,
I love him.
P.D.
I’ve only read Velvet Elvis. I loved it and passed it on to my music minister. He and his wife devoured it, then bought many copies to hand out to others. We go to a Southern Baptist church and I’ve been told SB’s are very anti-emergent.
I agree with what Lindsey said about the “trampoline” segment, but I know others that read it a completely different way and are now anti-Rob Bell.
I just finished Velvet Elvis yesterday. Sex God is next on the list and so on.
I am just happy to know that I am not the last person to read it
(google reader just recommended your blog to me! I think I will stick around a bit!)