for cory

Cory you asked me to check out some of the reviews concerning Bell's new book so I went on Amazon and copied parts of the one that seemed to have the most issues with his work. Here are some of my thoughts as a reaction. (I see no reason to react to reviews that say, "I loved it! Best book ever.) Also I should give this reviewer credit but I could not find his name again so sorry...

He says:
The Good 1. Importance of Context - Rob is excellent on the importance of context in interpretation. He has read widely and deeply on the culture at the time of Christ, and it shows. Excellent. 2. Community - Points out the weakness of radical individualism and how it has infected the church. Calls us to community! Great! 3. A place for doubt - One of the great strengths of the book. As Frederick Buechner said, "Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it alive. They keep it moving. 4. Humility - As Millard Erickson said, we need to hold our beliefs with some humility, because we might be wrong. Rob agrees and points out the dangers of arrogance in belief. He is correct.

I argree with all this. Especially the point about asking the reader to challenge all that he writes. I love it when people present their ideas not as truth but as stabs at truth and are open to being questioned. I find myself disarmed by this approach and am more willing to listen and learn.

The Bad 1. Foundationally wrong on Adam and Eve. Rob asks, "Is the importance of Adam and Eve because it 'happened' or because it 'happens?'" He says because it 'happens,' i.e. because Adam's experience [of sin] is our experience. This is directly at odds with Paul's understanding of Adam (and of the rest of the NT's understanding for that matter) - see Romans 5 - 8, especially Romans 5. This is a foundational and crucial error. It is very important because it colors all of Rob's theology.

I think this just means that Bell would be from the Arminian camp and believes that people are not born sinful but at some point choose sin and become sinful. If my understanding is correct, then I may disagree with his statements but I do not think his stance is dangerous. I know several amazing Christians who are Arminian and truly love God.

2. Interpretation/Opinion. Rob seems to imply that one's "interpretation" of Scripture cannot be separated from one's "opinions." Of course the book is full of his own "interpretations" of Scripture, though he does not explain why his "interpretations" are any more valid than anyone else's. A non-Christian reading this book would say, "see, this is what I have been saying all along, why is your interpretation any more valid than mine?" If Rob has an answer for this, he does not give it.

This seems to be a good critism to me. Bell does seem to go out of his way to say that we bring ourselves to the text and that our worldview and culture deeply colors our interpretation of the Bible. While I personally agree with this, it also seems to me that as a statement of faith I believe the text does have a foundational truth and it is that truth we are seeking. It may be hard and we may never get there but that should be our journey. We should be careful to fully embrace our culturally influenced vision but instead see it as a reality that should be recognized as often getting in the way of seeing Truth.

3. Rob's trampoline/brick analogy is weak - and so sets a weak foundation for the book as a whole. For instance, can one deny the virgin birth and be a true, believing Christian? Sure. See Romans 10.9,10. Of course if one does not believe in the virgin birth, that is one spring on the trampoline that is broken. I assume Rob believes that there is a limited number of springs that can be broken and/or stretched beyond recognition before the trampoline fails and one injures oneself. How many springs would this be exactly? Rob doesn't say.

It is a good question about how far is too far before you lose the faith but does anyone know the answer to this? Not that I know. Also and Bell says this, it is an analogy so don't take it too far. People do the same thing all the time with Jesus' parables.

The Ugly 1. Truth. Rob claims that one reason why teens leave the church when they go out into the world, is because they are met with "truth" that is not found in Scripture and this destroys their whole belief system, because they have been told that the Bible "contains all truth." Is he serious? You have got to be kidding me. I suspect that not one teen has ever left the faith for this reason. Ever. They leave the faith because they get into the world and find that they have been living off their parent's faith, have not made it their own, and this is insufficient to deal with the problems the world throws at them. Because their faith is not genuine! And by the way, if Rob feels that unbelievers also distort the truth due to their own intepretation/sin/opinions, he does not say so.

A little harsh but good point I think. If anyone knows why so many teens leave the church after high school they really should share with the rest of us. I think that question is very complicated and to say there is one simple answer does a diservice to teens and youth pastors everywhere. And I bet at least one teen has left the faith for that reason.

So that seems to me to be the best critique I could find. And I know this is really not that interesting to most people but it was too long for a simple response to Cory.