Rob Bell – “Pastor” of Mars Hill in grand rapids, Mi. is gaining a huge audience in the modern church today. Which led me to look into this guy and see why he’s been dubbed by RELEVANT magazine as one of the top most influential pastors in America.
What i found by reading some of his book “Velvet Elvis”, is that this guy is wacko!
BUT, he’s packing
out stadium’s, college campuses, and churches all across the country.
With his cool, hip, postmodern style of philosophic thinking and speaking, he is winning the hearts of emerging and emergent type churches with his very high tech, movie-like short films called “NOOMA“. They are widely being used in churches as teaching dvd’s to mostly college age, and young adults.
Here is an article, PART ONE and PART TWO pointing out many of the unorthodox doctrinal views held by postmodern “preacher” Rob Bell.
Here are some quotes from Bell’s Book:
“Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith“.
On scripture:
“The Bible is a collection of stories that teach us about what it looks like when God is at work through actual people. The Bible has the authority it does only because it contains stories about people interacting with the God who has all authority”
-Velvet Elvis, p.65
“…it wasn’t until the 300s that what we know as the sixty-six books of the Bible were actually agreed upon as the ‘Bible’. This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that “Scripture alone” is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible from the church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God’s word, in the same breath I have to affirm that when those people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true. In affirming the Bible as inspired, I also have to affirm the Spirit who I believe was inspiring those people to choose those books.”
-Velvet Elvis, p.68
[The Bible is a] “human product…rather than the product of divine fiat”
- Emergent Mystique, Christianity Today
On heaven and hell:
“”When people use the word hell, what do they mean? They mean a place, an event, a situation absent of how God desires things to be. Famine, debt, oppression, loneliness, despair, death, slaughter–they are all hell on earth. Jesus’ desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth. What’s disturbing is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about Hell here and now. As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hell coming to earth.”
- Velvet Elvis, p.148
“Heaven is full of forgiven people. Hell is full of forgiven people. Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for. Hell is full of forgiven people God loves, whom Jesus died for. The difference is how we choose to live, which story we choose to live in, which version of reality we trust. Ours or God’s.”
- Velvet Elvis, p.146
On the Fall:
“I can’t find one place in the teachings of Jesus, or the Bible for that matter, where we are to identify ourselves first and foremost as sinners. Now this doesn’t mean we don’t sin; that’s obvious. In the book of James it’s written like this: ‘We all stumble in many ways.’ Once again, the greatest truth of the story of Adam and Eve isn’t that it happened, but that it happens.”
- Velvet Elvis, p. 139
On “Ultimate Reality”:
“I don’t follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into ultimate reality. He teaches me to live in tune with how reality is. When Jesus said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’, he was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest levels of existence. For Jesus then, the point of religion is to help us connect with ultimate reality, God.”
- Velvet Elvis p. 83
On the Nature of the Atonement:
“So this reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for everybody. Paul insisted that when Jesus died on the cross he was reconciling ‘all things, in heaven and on earth, to God. This reality then isn’t something we make true about ourselves by doing something. It is already true. Our choice is to live in this new reality or cling to a reality of our own making.”
- Velvet Elvis p. 146
On the Virgin Birth:
“What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births?
But what if, as you study the origin of the word “virgin” you discover that the word “virgin” in the gospel of Matthew actually comes from the book of Isaiah, and then you find out that in the Hebrew language at that time, the word “virgin” could mean several things. And what if you discover that in the first century being “born of a virgin” also referred to a child whose mother became pregnant the first time she had intercourse?”
-Velvet Elvis, p. 26
On Faith:
“Who does Peter lose faith in? Not Jesus; he is doing fine. Peter loses faith in himself. Peter loses faith that he can do what his rabbi is doing. If the rabbi calls you to be his disciple, then he believes that you can actually be like him. As we read the stories of Jesus’ life with his talmidim, his disciples, what do we find frustrates him to no end? When his disciples lose faith in themselves….. Notice how many places in the accounts of Jesus’ life he gets frustrated with his disciples. Because they are incapable? No, because of how capable they are. He sees what they could be and could do, and when they fall short it provokes him to no end. It isn’t their failure that’s the problem, it’s their greatness. They don’t realize what they are capable of….God has an amazingly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things. I’ve been told I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I’m learning is that Jesus believes in me….God has faith in me.”
-Velvet Elvis, pp. 133-134
For further reading on Rob Bell and his unbiblical positions CLICK HERE…
To see a review of his book with quotes, and counters, go here—->Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show.
i really like how you clearly explained the theological problems you have with Rob Bell. way to go.
You said: “For further reading on Rob Bell and his unbiblical positions…”
I have not found one thing that Rob Bell talks about that is umbiblical. It may be way over the head of those unschooled in the bible and its history but that’s not Rob’s problem to fix, is it.
Yes. UNBIBLICAL. I don’t know what your having a problem seeing. Unschooled? I have actually been schooled through bible college. I have a bachelor’s degree in practical theology. And you spelled “un-biblical” wrong.
Some of those quotes are absolutely incredible (especially the quote about the fall; maybe he has never read the book of Romans)… how they can pass for “Christianity” is beyond me.
good stuff, i searched for some info about Bell and google and was directed here. i have had some doubts about things written in velvet elvis…and this concisely sums it up. i appreciate it…thanks
Fantastic!! I am being challenged to read this book by emergents in my area, I *dread* doing that, and you have laid it out plain for me. I can use this to fight back! Thanks and God Bless!!!
Praise Jesus. I’m glad your taking a stand man. God bless ya.
Hi friend,
I stumbled across this and felt I had to say something. I’ve read a lot of critiques of Rob Bell, and I always come away thinking “these people don’t get it”. Every quote from Velvet Elvis that is used against him (and not just here in your post), is taken horribly out of context and if the critics and readers would just keep reading, that would become obvious. Similarly to how we can take verses from the bible and use them incorrectly to justify an action or way of thought. I think a lot of Rob Bell’s preaching is geared toward Christians, Christians who have already accepted and embrace Jesus as savior. I think a lot is also geared towards people who have grown up in or around the church and been hurt or offended by it, because we both know there is a lot of hypocrisy in the “church”. The bits about heaven and hell and atonement, I don’t believe Rob Bell is denying those things. I believe he is just saying that they are things to be thought about right here and right now because it’s not just what happens later. And God has forgiven everybody already, as Jesus has already died. It’s up to us as a people now to choose to follow Him. I think you, Rob Bell, Jesus, and myself are all a lot more similar than you might think.
grace and peace,
f.
F.
I thank you for your kind heart in approaching my post. Rob Bell is a great speaker. He is cool, and trendy. I don’t like his doctrine. It’s very humanistic. His faith is very thought out but yet very open to mystery. I don’t see where these quotes are out of context. They are taken out of his thoughts on biblical doctrines. The very title of the book sounds alarms in my head, “RE-painting Christian Faith”? Now i would understand if it was changing the ‘ways’ we present doctrine to people. But he is wanting to RE-paint Christianity as a whole! New everything. He is following in the footsteps of Brian McLaren.
As far as ‘all are forgiven already’, that is ridiculous. If all are forgiven already, why repent of anything. That destroys human responsibility. It’s universalism.
I heard Bell say one time in speaking about him and his church, “we do not hold scripture in highest authority, that is for Jesus”. Bell should know that the bible IS Jesus. Not literally of coarse but it is His word. His character, His heart, His thoughts. It is God breathed out onto paper. John chapter 1 states that “the Word became Flesh”. To say “the bible is not highest authority, Jesus is”, is just stupid.
When scripture is highest authority (sola scriptura) you are saying, I hold to what Jesus has spoken. I do what Jesus says according to what He has said. There is no NEW revelation. Thats why Jesus said in REV. Do not add or take away from this book. If you follow the bible your following Jesus and vis versa.
Hey,
don’t thank me for being kind, i’m just trying to be like Jesus. Think of how christianity has been skewed by people to get what they want, and I think you might better understand where Rob Bell is coming from. I think he is saying that Jesus is the highest authority, not the verses that people can oh-so-convincingly quote out of context, but Jesus, and what Jesus meant when He said them. And by being forgiven already, what I meant is this: Jesus has already died. Jesus was nailed upon the cross and rose again. That has already been done. It is in our history, now it’s up to us to acknowledge that, and repent our sins to our gracious God. Our God who is standing there, loving us and so filled with joy when people come to know him.
And yes, we should follow the bible, and hold to what Jesus has said, but how do we know what that truly means and looks like? That may sound like a dumb question, but think about it..there are some confusing statements in the bible. And God is so much deeper and bigger then us, we can’t possibly understand him just by looking at the bible. We need to think, pray, read, study. A lot of what Rob Bell does is investigating the scriptures and trying to figure out what Jesus’ words meant in that moment to those people; direct translations of Hebrew and Greek, cultural implications at the time- that kind of thing. I don’t know if you’ve actually read Velvet Elvis, but I’d like you to read (or re-read)chapter 2, to hopefully better understand that Rob Bell’s thoughts and doctrine do not directly oppose yours. And then, I urge you to listen to this question and answer session from Mars Hill with Rob Bell and another guy from the church, Joe Hays. It’s from 5/6/2007. Hopefully you can find it online, because I don’t have it on my computer.
much love,
f
Thank you so much for posting these excerpts. I live in Grand Rapids and am so grieved to see the havoc that the poison promoted by Rob Bell has brought to the lives of many of my friends and family. We first became acquainted with Mars Hill when my step-son’s mother felt comfortable there despite living a life in blatant sin. Now several years later, she is pregnant with her third baby out of wedlock and living with another boyfriend AND STILL FEELS COMFORTABLE AT MARS HILL. We know several other Mars Hill members from different walks of life who all seem comfortable with sin, worldliness and relativism. It’s very hard to use scripture to help open their eyes because they aren’t convinced that scripture is the absolute truth.
The vision for Mars Hill on their website is so grievous to me. What about preaching the truth of the Bible, holiness and the fear of the Lord? What about the last days in which we live when we are warned that people will swarm to where they are told what their itching ears want to hear??? Why did the world hate Jesus? John 7:7 tells us that the world hated Jesus because he showed them that their works were evil. Telling people the truth is necessary for them to be saved. People don’t have their eyes opened to their sinful state and their need for a savior just by seeing how nice someone is or by how someone serves them!!! They need to hear the truth about sin and how they need to be saved by the blood of Jesus and have a new relationship with sin!