Rob Bell scares me. His Nooma videos are very popular in most youth group settings. Time Magazine calls him the “Hipper-Than-Thou-Pastor.” He pastors a large church in Grand Rapids, Michigan called Mars Hill Bible Church (not to be confused with Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA). His claim to fame is his book “Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith.” He’s cool–he’s popular–and that’s why he scares me.
Many of the bloggers in the sphere trash on Rob Bell, deem him as a heretic, and when you further question them, you find out they haven’t even read the book. They simply pull quotes they’ve found on other blogs, take them out of context, and decide to call him a heretic. Rob Bell’s name is surrounded by much controversy, and I received numerous hits from search engines of people trying to figure out the “heresy” that surrounds Bell’s name from my last post that simply mentioned his name. With that said, my goal is to be open and honest about what I’ve learned about Bell, and not go to either extreme (i.e. star struck, Rob Bell fan boy or the fundamentalist pastor who’s anti-all emerging church trends). But after reading Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, hearing Bell out completely and attempting to give Bell a fair trial–I have decided that he’s truly a major threat to the church of the next generation.
Before cracking into the book, I’d like to begin to address a Nooma video that came out about the time that I began my analysis of Rob Bell. I believe it was titled, “open,” and here’s a transcription that scared me a little,
“God’s desire is that the divine energy that made the world would flow between us and in the process draw us closer together. Prayer is tapping into the same energy that formed the universe. That’s why people say they can feel prayer, it’s because we can. Praying connects us to the people and things we are praying for. Prayer enlarges our perspective. Praying gives us a bigger heart. Praying makes us feel things. Praying changes thing, but prayer changes us. Praying makes us better people.”
This made me nervous because it seemed to have new age connotations. Almost reminded me of Star Wars. But like much of what he says, it sounds iffy, but he never says anything strong enough to deem him as a heretic.
Perhaps what gives the previous quote more support is that the footnotes of Bell’s Velvet Elvis say, “For a mind-blowing introduction to emergence theory and divine creativity, set aside three months and read Ken Wilber’s A Brief History of Everything.” (Velvet Elvis, page 192, footnote 143) Who is Ken Wilber? Pop his name in Google and you’ll find all sorts of crazy things. Here’s the introduction that Wikipedia gave,
Kenneth Earl “Ken” Wilber Jr. (b. January 31, 1949, Oklahoma City, U.S.), is an American author who writes on psychology, philosophy, mysticism, ecology, and spiritual evolution. He has been described as New Age, although his writings are critical of much of the New Age movement. His work formulates what he calls an “integral theory of consciousness.” He is a leading proponent of the integral movement and founded the Integral Institute in 1998.
While Wilber has practiced Buddhist meditation methods and the teachings of Madhyamika Buddhism and of Nagarjuna in particular underpin his work, Wilber does not self-identify as a Buddhist.
Apparently the guy can even stop his brainwaves, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFFMtq5g8N4. He says, “If you want to know God, you’ve got to get your brain out of the way first. It’s just one big stupid filter….” It would be hard to encourage anyone to learn from the teachings of Rob Bell if he’s getting his insights from people like Ken Wilber.
One of his main movements argues that doctrines cannot be held on the same level as scripture (this is true). Further, we cannot question scripture, but we can and should question doctrines (also true). However, he uses the example of a wall as one’s basis of belief in doctrines. He says that if you take out some of the foundational bricks in your wall of doctrines, then the whole wall will fall. He goes farther to say,
What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples to 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. As 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, 26)
He later goes on to say that he actually believes in the virgin birth but he asks, “what if?” His point is that we should not hold to doctrines strongly because if one of the bricks (like the virgin birth) crumbles then the whole wall will fall. This is part of the problem with Rob Bell. He doesn’t hold to doctrines. You can’t discern what he actually believes. I am not ready to call him a heretic merely because I can’t figure out what he actually believes. Because he does not hold to doctrines, and you can’t figure out his stance on biblical issues. Try going to Mars Hill Bible Church’s web site, www.marshill.org, and try finding out what they believe. I would not be quick to take his teachings to heart. I have a problem with him saying that the virgin birth isn’t essential to the Christian faith… yet I also understand he was trying to use it as an example. I think he choose a poor choice in an example, but in what he said, I can’t actually deem him as a heretic for what he says in it’s entirety.
I believe the title “heretic” is very a strong charge, and should only be used with complete certainty. Some people, such as Benny Hinn, require only a few minutes of research to pass judgement. But Rob Bell is a different story simply because he does not hold to doctrines, and does not state anything definitively. I can say that Bell believes in scripture, but I can’t define what that means… and I’m not sure Bell could either. In order for me to call Bell a heretic, I would need to do further research, and I may not even come up with an answer then. However, I strongly trust the theology of Mark Driscoll (founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA). My friends Doug and Rebecca directed me to a lecture Mark did about the emerging church where he addressed the Rob Bell issue. You can find it here. Mark deems Bell as a heretic–Mark is clear about his theology–I trust Mark–and I’m likely to take the research that Mark has done rather than continuing more of my own time and energy on this subject.
Would I recommend the reading? My answer is yes and no. No in that Velvet Elvis is so close to heresy that it isn’t the type of material a Christian should allow to shape their theology. Yes, in that if you are a pastor, and you minister to people below 30, you should know of “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and be able to express why the church needs to stay away from Rob Bell’s material. If you fit the pastoral description, then I would not only suggest that you read the book, but say it is a must–and give you an even stronger charge if you are in the practice of using the Nooma videos. Or if you have somehow read this entire entry and are still planning on using Nooma videos… please at least read his book “Velvet Elvis” and judge his theology for yourself in light of the context. You owe it to those who look to you for theological direction.
It’s scary to think of the people who watch Nooma videos, turn around and read his book(s), and ultimately open themselves for liberal theology that is inspired by the new age movement, and perhaps ultimately find nothing wrong with the teachings of Ken Wilber.
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