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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
This is a very helpful interview of Rob Bell from the UK (with Adrian Warnock as an opposing viewpoint). I've posted the video of the full interview below, but you can go to the link to find short clips as well. The "Hell" one is particularly eye-opening. It's pretty clear that Bell is in no way an Evangelical, at least if we use the classical meaning of the term. Most of these issues and questions would be rather easily solved if people had a robust and Biblical understanding of election and salvation by grace.

5 comments:

Charlie's Church of Christ said...

I'm a definite Rob Bell fan, or whatever you'd like to call it, and so in some ways I think I can help flesh out what he's trying to say. Let me first note that I appreciate the interviewer really trying to get clear answers from Rob (not something Rob has done much of). He does it in a very graceful way, thank heavens, instead of just trying to pin him to a wall (no one wants to be in that position so why do we do it?)

Now here's what I really think - for years I've been dissatisfied with how we interpret the gospel and specifically deal with heaven and hell. In my opinion the Bible does not deal with people's fate after an earthly death nearly as much as we think it does. Many, many passages I was taught as a child aren't saying what I was told they are saying (specifically about the Kingdom of heaven - as that is not an elaborate or fancy religious way of saying heaven - they're not interchangable). So I think why Rob can seem tough to pin down is people are asking him question in that Baptist worldview and he's operating from a fundamentally different system. And I think people are failing to see this.

I also think what Rob is pointing out is that not only is there not a singular historic Christian orthodox viewpoint - but also that this Romans Road way of seeing things hasn't been around forever - it may even be fairly new in Christianity when we speak relatively.

I also think one of Rob's main points is that YES God does punish and give consequences - but they are for a restorative and transformative purpose. They are not merely angry purposes that go on forever - his justice, wrath, whatever have a point - so that we can repent. And to me that is a lot more beautiful (and logical) than a eternally punitive God. There is no point to that, in my opinion.

I'm nervous to read your response Darius!

Darius said...

Charlie, I'll respond sometime in the next day or so, but I'm spending most of today celebrating my son's birthday, so it won't be immediate. Thanks for the comment!

Charlie's Church of Christ said...

for the love of everything please celebrate your son's birthday and worry not about replying!

Darius said...

Charlie, since you posted some very similar thoughts on your blog, I'll let my comments over there stand as my response to your comment(s) here. Cool? :)

Charlie's Church of Christ said...

it is cool - since the night I watched this video I wrote my impromptu post.

I MEAN NO I DEMAND A DIRECT REPLY!!! ;p

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The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel The Main Thing
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Overcoming Sin and Temptation
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Disciplines of a Godly Man
Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
Respectable Sins
The Kite Runner
Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, ... anabaptist/anglican, metho
Show Them No Mercy
The Lord of the Rings
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
The Chronicles of Narnia
Les Misérables


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