scared by rob
The Bells started questioning their assumptions about the Bible itself — "discovering the Bible as a human product," as Rob puts it, rather than the product of divine fiat. "The Bible is still in the center for us," Rob says, "but it's a different kind of center. We want to embrace mystery, rather than conquer it." - from Christianity Today's "The Emergent Mystique" (see Brian McClaren's response, since the full text of the article is only available for subscribers of CT)
I have really enjoyed listening to Rob Bell's sermons for the last couple years (see the podcast list to the right), and have read his first book Velvet Elvis (I own Sex God, but haven't gotten to read it yet since I loaned it out to Kit right away). I often refer to Rob as a reference on some cool historical and spiritual background in sermons. I even have shown some of his Nooma videos to begin discussions at Day 7. You can say I am a fan.
Of course, in the midst of all this I know there is a lot of controversy that surrounds him. His basic approach of saying things that get people rethinking their assumptions and talking through their strongly held beliefs has been offensive to "fundamental" Christians. It shakes their world, and to be honest, I like it when it shakes mine. Many have run off the deep end without considering that Rob often says things that he may not actually believe to get people to talk and think. They think he actually believes these things (like his musings about whether Mary was a virgin in Velvet Elvis). I have staunchly defended him by saying that I think it is clear, especially in his weekly teaching, that he has very classic Christian beliefs, but new expressions to get us to really apply all the implications.
With all this said, I was scared by this quote I stumbled upon from Christianity Today. I wish I had the context to where he says that the Bible is a "human product." I can place a ton of different contexts where this might be appropriate . . . though they are a stretch.
I wonder how you view the Scriptures and the often debated influence of their human writers? Does this quote make you nervous if you consider the Scriptures "God inspired"?
3 comments:
You know that I'm pretty cautious around Rob Bell, so I'd really like to see the context of that quote. I'm not sure what he means by "conquering" the Bible; if it is to fully understand it then I think we will all fail. And if we think we do understand it completely, then we're being fools.
I think his point is to see it in a new way (the New Kind of Christian thinking). I always enjoy seeing Scripture in a new light, but it has to remain rooted in truth. I can remember several times where I felt spiritually invigorated after gaining new understanding, only to find out, after some quick fact-checking, that I was completely wrong. Looking through new eyeglasses is a wonderful experience, but we shouldn't seek it as an experience in itself. God will give the experience to us if we seek after Him.
I understand that Rob wants to get us thinking, and that's good. But sometimes he is very one-sided in his focus, that it's misleading. He has one Nooma video on death, and he went to great detail explaining Jewish customs of comforting others, but absolutely nothing on the Resurrection. I think that Biblically, there is no comfort from death other than the Resurrection. I've found his thoughts on the name of God interesting, but have heard several people say (and I assume this is from him) that YHVH means "breathing" in Greek. Despite being the wrong meaning, it's the wrong language. I don't know that Rob ever made that claim, but it seems to have misled others.
So back to your question, the quote doesn't scare me much, simply because I follow the (possibly very bad) form of judging comments by the commenter. But the claim that the Bible is God-inspired is huge, and I really should be more adamant in confirming it.
Toph--
The Greek root for breath is where we get our word for spirit (deliberate lower case "S"). Think of the many meanings for "inspiration." -OG
Bell posed the question as to whether the Hebrew pronunciation of YHVH literally sounds like breathing. The Greek and Hebrew words for spirit also mean wind and breath.
I appreciate your testing of commentators, I know that's what Bell asks for in Velvet Elvis.
I think its important to not try to make evey topic about exactly what we want it to be about. I think in the Matthew Nooma Rob wanted us to begin to think about what it means to be there for people who are going through loss. Or, to revisit what it means to grieve losses. The loss of someone to death was his primary subject, so Ressurection might be appropriate in this context. But what about when there is a loss of relationship? Forgiveness might be part of the answer there.
In any case I think Rob wants us to first care for the person and journey through the grief before offering plans or platitudes to fix it.
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