I wanted to get back to you sooner after reading your post on Rob Bell. This man is dangerous in his handling of the word of God. First, he does not even believe it is. For his many errors, this is the first place to look at. His view of the Bible as quoted below. If you trust the bible then you need to look closer at what this man is doing. I invite you to read the below and listen to this classic sermon we have linked below. I personally have seen this so many times over, it grieves me deeply. Recently Rob Bell has influenced Greenbay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, to abandon his biblical roots.
Rob Bell Insidious Influence
How Rob Bell Led Aaron Rogers to abandon his faith
One of the most well-known progressive Christians today is the author, speaker, friend-of-Oprah and former pastor Rob Bell. Bell has famously mused that Hell is not a real place and encourages people not to take the Bible literally.
And, he’s influenced major thought leaders like Oprah, author Elizabeth Gilbert and others with his more “open” views about what Christianity is. One of the most famous people he’s influenced recently is Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In a fascinating new EPSN profile of Rodgers, the athlete delves into the Christian faith he grew up believing in — and how meeting Bell was a turning point for him in rejecting the doctrine he’d held so dear all his life.
“I think in people’s lives who grew up in some sort of organized religion, there really comes a time when you start to question things more,” Rodgers said in the profile, adding that when he couldn’t find the answers to his questions he went searching for alternate versions of theology.
Meeting Bell, who then sent him books on an array of spiritual subjects and became a real-life friend, made a huge difference in Rodgers’ spiritual outlook.
From ESPN:
Over time, as he read more, Rodgers grew increasingly convinced that the beliefs he had internalized growing up were wrong, that spirituality could be far more inclusive and less literal than he had been taught.
…I ask him whether he still sees himself as a Christian, and he says he no longer identifies with any affiliation.
“…I think organized religion can have a mind-debilitating effect, because there is an exclusivity that can shut you out from being open to the world, to people, and energy, and love and acceptance.”
Rob Bell Doesn’t Trust the Bible
Bibliology is the study of the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible is the inspired source of knowledge about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, and eternity. I believe that God has given His complete written word in the 66 books of the Bible (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament). Introduction to the doctrine of the bible. It all starts here with a proper respect and understanding of our bible. It is our earnest desire that you learn the fundamentals of the faith and grow in grace and mercy. 2 Peter 3:18
“All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16
Rob Bell’s Corrupt Bibliology
Below is a telling admission from the Bell’s in this 2004 Christianity Today article. Note that they do not adhere to the bible. To them, it is a human product. I have attached a classic sermon on the process of what happens to a church or denomination that accepts a corrupt view of the bible. The process is ALWAYS the same.
[bctt tweet=”Rob Bell continues to lead many astray from the moorings of God’s Word. Aaron Rodgers is the latest. Why? #apostasy #robbell” username=””]
“This is not just the same old message with new methods,” Rob says. “We’re rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life. Legal metaphors for faith don’t deliver a way of life. We grew up in churches where people knew the nine verses why we don’t speak in tongues, but had never experienced the overwhelming presence of God.”
In fact, as the Bells describe it, after launching Mars Hill in 1999, they found themselves increasingly uncomfortable with church. “Life in the church had become so small,” Kristen says. “It had worked for me for a long time. Then it stopped working.”
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.” Excerpt from: The Emergent Mystique | Christianity Today pg. 2
As we have indicated in the past and as lovingly as we can we urge you to as we have with the many cultist I have met and studied that we always have to scale the game of semantics. The new liberals and cults all use Christian lingo, but assign their own meanings as it is with the postmodern crowd.
I hope you find this helpful and yes far too many comment on many things without doing their own homework. This is painful to have to constantly be pointing people back to the bible and not the latest fad or book by some church guru. Here is the sequence below.
1. A corrupt Bibliology: This a corrupt view of the nature and origin of scripture. This effects change on your Theology. The bible is our foundation. Jesus is the living word and if He confirmed our scriptures as the very words of God. Who are they to question Gods word with the echo of the Serpent theology, “has God said?’
2. A corrupt Theology: Dr. Martin identifies liberals as picking and choosing scriptures THEY feel are relevant. Mythologizing the passages that don’t speak to them. This leads to an allegorization of much of the bible instead of a consistent historical grammatical method of interpretation. So it’s up to their own imagination.
3. A corrupt Christology: The logical sequence of a little leaven leavens their whole theology to the point they have a different gospel and another Jesus. One that is not deity, virgin born, raised from the dead. It’s all up for scholastic gymnastics and faith goes out the window for higher thinking.
4. A corrupt Pneumatology: The corruption continues naturally as a dead corpse that has no breath, and the stench fills the church with corrupt ideas of how the Holy Spirit works today. So the liberals both old and new (Read Emergent) do not have a correct view of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit today that works in the hearts of men to convict men of their sins and lead them to Christ.
5. A corrupt Morality: This is the end result of first denying what the bible clearly teaches (Bibliology). Second it naturally adversely affects their (Theology) which finds scores of corruption in the foundational doctrines of the denying the Trinity, Deity, Virgin Birth, and many others. This ultimately leaves the people who sit under these false teachers to believe that they are saved and they are in fact hell bound apostates. All kinds of sinful life styles are not only condoned, but promoted under the sanctity of there man made theology. This is the logical result of departing from Gods word and to relegating the bible to a form of religion but denying the Creator who bought them with His own blood.
6. Why does this happen? Simple they love the praises of men more than the praises of God. They are in it to change and make a god after their own evil hearts. They want to in the worst scenarios have a tax free business while promoting their form of godliness but denying the power there of: from such turn away. I mean run!
I hope you don’t think this is a personal attack on anyone. We are admonished to test all things and that the last days would be marked by false prophets, false teachers and apostates. I personally take guarding the gospel delivered once and to earnestly contend for it.
Shalom, Keith
Bibliology For a lengthy meat and potatoes classroom setting on how we can and should trust the bible.
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Dear sir or ma’am still ignorant of linguistic theory,
The fact that you still cling to the words of scripture as some distinctly absolute representation of the will of God with no human contact baffles me.
The very fact that the Bible is composed of……words…..means that it is inherently subjective. This is self-evident. War, as a word, has entirely different connotations to you and I. And thus, it has different denotations as denotations are simply connotations over time. Denotations are not fixed. Language is not fixed.
Now what is fixed is the significance of the metaphors and the symbolism in the Bible. The study of this is called Seminology. When God says “I am the water of life” this will have a similar effect on you, me, and a starving child in Africa who knows English. We all experience different things hearing these words, however we all participate in the metaphor. We need water to live. We understand the revelatory truth at the core of the statement.
So your claim that attributing human subjectivity to the Bible somehow devalues it is ignorant, and frankly shamefully naive in this day and age. If God wanted a concrete and completely literal text, he would have hammered it out into mathematical equations (well, even those aren’t concrete and literal….since when did we agree on representing force with “f”, mass with “m” and acceleration with “a?”). God wanted a text which interacted with humanity as deeply as possible. He wanted one that burrowed into our thoughts.
And how did he accomplish this? He communicated in language: the building blocks of our thoughts. Inherently subjective as each humans thoughts differ based on unique genes and experiences. The subjectivity of the book is not rooted in the encoding, but in the decoding of the reader.
In this way, Bell is far more of a defender of the literalism of the Bible than you. What he is saying is that we need to return to the concrete meanings and metaphors endowed in the text by the writers, as inspired by God.
As for Mr. Bell, he has testified again and again that he affirms the Bible as an authoritative document and that he affirms the Resurrection and all of the other Orthodox Christian beliefs. Bishop Pike certainly didn’t waste any time declaring his un-Orthodox beliefs. If Bell held such heretical beliefs (as opposed to the delightful tidbits you cherry-picked from interviews and texts), I am sure he would be out there espousing them.
And this is beyond a personal attack. You, like most other aggressive theologians, have flown off the handle making wild accusations based on ridiculously mis-contextualized quotes and fallacious reasoning to substantiate your own feelings of dislike for Mr. Bell. Perhaps it is out of jealousy. Perhaps it is out of vanity and narcissism and his flock’s size in comparison to your own.
I have extremely little respect for you or anybody else who attacks brothers and sisters while hiding behind the guise of defrocking false prophets. I have seen the same defense trotted out to justify the slander of Billy Graham and even C.S. Lewis by Reformed theologian cowards.
You certainly claim to know a lot about the hearts of Rob and his wife, the hearts of “heretics” and “cultists.” I hope you have the courage to explore why you have this visceral reaction to somebody whom, by his own admission, is out there trying to lead people to the Jesus described in the Bible. I also hope you have the courage to leave this comment up unmoderated.
Best,
Patrick
Patrick,
you stated… “The very fact that the Bible is composed of……words…..means that it is inherently subjective.” Really!
Inherently subjective when relating to truth is absurd. We note that you have not used any scripture.
Having said that the two things we note about “liberals” of all ages is the fact that they all have a corrupt Bibliology. Once the bible is classified as …”inherently subjective…” you are on the slippery slope of doctrinal destruction. But that seems to have little importance to those of you who would twist the words of God. It may surprise you that I hate religion. I love God and… “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4 or are you of the religious guise that just want to have your place and form a god after your own sinful hearts. “Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth…” 2 Timothy 3:4-8.
I don’t doubt the sincere hearts of Rob & his wife what I do doubt and can see is they are “False teachers” that we are warned over and over if you have actually read your bible. There are false teachers & false gospels
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him]…” 2 Corinthians 11:4, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ…” Galatians 1:6-7. Note the word perverted here is to twist from the original intent of the author which is the Holy Spirit.
So back to original statement. Words are subjective…. Friend I say this in love. Do you love God or men… Please look to the bible as your guide, not me or the Bells. Many Mormons, Muslims Jihadists, and Cults are sincere in what they believe. We need a sure foundation which is Christ found in the words of God which are NOT SUBJECTIVE. The author of the Holy Spirit has ONE intent in communicating the message of the gospel of His incredible love by going to the Cross and paying for my sins and yours so we don’t have to go to hell… Jesus spoke of this more than anyone else for He created it for Satan and his angels.
“Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him…add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6. This man is a false teacher and if I warn not the flock then I am accountable to God and not man. Ezekiel 33 and we are to mark those who cause division. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Romans 16:17-18.
They will cause many to have there faith shipwrecked.
Stay in the word and learn to discern, but it starts Patrick with respect for Gods word. It is not subjective. Listen to this I ask respectfully to someone who was on both sides of the fence.
May the peace of Christ lead you to repentance and fight the good fight for the faith and not men. https://amos37.com/2011/04/01/liberal-theology-lies-audio/
Shalom, Keith
The floor is open.
Thank you, Keith, for replying to Patrick on the authority of God’s Word rather than just your opinion. Patrick, like Rob Bell, has purposed in his heart with help from the Deceiver to “interpret” the Bible using his own finite and corrupted mind rather than depending on the work of the Holy Spirit to give him wisdom and discernment. I am so glad that I found the Amos 3:7 site possibly by providence. Seekers of truth need all the help we can get and we know our help comes from the Lord and His Word. Keep up the good work!
Helen,
Your welcome. We find most people flaunt opinion and are just lacking facts about bible knowledge. That’s why we are here. Too teach, inform and warn the flock of God.
Many years ago Rob Bell spoke at our church in Grand Rapids, MI where he was a pastor at that time at another church in Grand Rapids before he was Senior Pastor at Mars Hill. The first time I heard him I was very impressed with his thought-provoking messages. He kept my attention and challenged my thinking. I hope at that time he was more grounded in God’s Word, but maybe not. I wonder if Satan was not already working in his life to deceive and lead astray. After I tried to read his book, “Velvet Elvis” which made no sense to me at all, I lost interest in his messages because they seemed to be on the fringe of God’s Word instead of at the center. It makes me very sad to see someone with so much intelligence and potential to lead the lost to the Lord through the truths in His Word, lose his way and go astray. I pray that he will return to the Way of the Lord as defined in the Bible. Otherwise, he will be accountable to the Lord not only for his own life, but also for all those he led astray. I would not want to be him when he stands before almighty God if he continues down the wrong road.
Helen,
Rob has “progressively” (pun intended) grown further from the foundational truths found in the bible. When we see someone who forms their view of God from their own experiences and blends (adding to Gods word) of extra biblical ideas. Yoga, contemplative prayers, etc…
Many younger pastors are force fed the lies that we need to be “Relative” to our “Post-Modern” mind set. Prayer is the key to lead these souls back to the word of God, which is our only hope. Having said that Rob is articulate, smart and has struck a cord that resonates with other young people. Hopefully he will repent, for he is doing great harm to many in giving people a false view of God, Hell, & the Bible. This he will answer for. God bless you Helen.