Rob Bell – Death of an Evangelical Subculture

Last Sunday, Rob Bell spoke at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco as part of their Grace Forum series.

Death of the Liberal Mainline Church

In his rebuttal to some of the criticism of Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins, Brain McLaren has explored the common argument that the mainline liberal Christian church is in decline because it has abandoned the true Christian faith. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-d-mclaren/will-love-wins-win-were-e_b_839164.html

Francis Chan – Fear Monger #2

The hell debate ignited by the publication of Rob Bell’s controversial Love Wins, does not seem to be slowing down out there in Christian land.

Francis Chan is the latest soldier to take up arms in defense of the “Truth” about hell against Bell’s “heresy” about love.

Francis Chan is writing a book to be published by David C. Cook in July. In preparation the publisher has released a 9 minute video in which Chan pleads for the prayers of his viewers as he works on Erasing Hell: What God Says About Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up.

Rob Bell’s Problem

Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids, Michigan has ignited a veritable firestorm in the evangelical world with the recent publication of his new book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

Bell’s Questions #2

Every theology carries an implicit image of the nature of God. In his book Love Wins, Rob Bell raises important questions about the character of God that is suggested by the theology we say we believe.

Bell’s Questions #1

In the midst of all the hell-fire and brimstone being hurled at Rob Bell in response to his new book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever Lived, there is one response that has been noticeably absent.

Unanswerable Questions #2 (see March 25, 2011)

Away from the glare of the TV cameras and the hostile stare of an antagonistic interviewer, Rob Bell has written the answer to his critics, he may wish he had been better able to explain on MSNBC when he was being grilled by Martin Bashir.

Rob Bell’s response to his critics can be read at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-bell/rob-bell_b_840353.html

The part of Bell’s response that is most helpful comes from a woman he quotes who, after reading his book emailed Bell with her response.

Unanswerable Questions #1

I continue to be haunted by the Martin Bashir/Rob Bell interview on MSNBC. I wonder how I would like to have answered Bashir’s opening question had I been in the hot-seat occupied by Rob Bell. Bashir nailed Bell with his opening attack:

Open Communion #3 (see March 18, 2011)

The recent MSNBC video clip of Martin Bashir pummeling Rob Bell over his new book Love Wins has gone viral in certain Christian circles. It is painful to watch Bashir pounding on Bell using the blunt instrument of his rigid dogmatic determination that everything in life should fit into his tidy predetermined little theolgoical prison.

At one point in the interview, in the face of Bashir’s unrelenting assault, Bell says, “I am a pastor.” I think what Bell was trying to point out was that he deals with real people. And there are times when the life situations of real people transcend our neat rational formulations for how God must always work in peoples’ lives.

It is important in doing our theology to consider the realities of peoples’ lives.

Rob Bell and Martin Bashir Interview

The MSNBC Martin Bashir “interview” with Rob Bell was painful to watch. I put the word “interview” in quotation marks because “stealth attack” might be a more apt description.