a. A strong Christian
b. An exceptionally well-read journalist
c. All of the above
Posted on 03/16/2011 12:35:07 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Martin Bashir is a reporter impatient with evasive answers. He even quotes from Kevin DeYoung’s review and asks Rob Bell to respond. Bashir gives his own take on Bell’s book: “You’re creating a Christian message that’s warm, kind, and popular for contemporary culture. . . . What you’ve done is you’re amending the gospel, the Christian message, so that it’s palatable to contemporary people who find, for example, the idea of hell and heaven very difficult to stomach. So here comes Rob Bell, he’s made a Christian gospel for you, and it’s perfectly palatable, it’s much easier to swallow. That’s what you’ve done, haven’t you?”
(Excerpt) Read more at thegospelcoalition.org ...
a. A strong Christian
b. An exceptionally well-read journalist
c. All of the above
Thanks for posting this clip. I happen to like Bashir, just wish he wasn’t on MSNBCLOL.
Bttt
Ping for later
I took Bashir's baiting of the guest completely the opposite from you I guess.
What you’ve done is you’re amending the gospel, the Christian message, so that it’s palatable to contemporary people who find, for example, the idea of hell and heaven very difficult to stomach. So here comes Rob Bell, he’s made a Christian gospel for you, and it’s perfectly palatable, it’s much easier to swallow. That’s what you’ve done, haven’t you?”
Uh. Pardon me, but it sounds like he's kept trying to make the point essentially that the Christian message is thus: NOT palatable, DIFFICULT to stomach and that this Rob Bell was trying to put a slick veneer on a detestable religion.
Maybe I just didn't like his delivery?!
Yes, sam, we see it the same way...the true Christian message is NOT “palatable” in that it DOES claim that Jesus is the only way...Martin Bashir sees that Mr. Bell has made that orthodox claim null and void, thus making Mr. Bell’s “brand” of “Christianity” more acceptable to those who would recoil at the claims of orthodoxy.
I hope that makes sense. :)
I don’t know all of what Rob Bell believes but I’ve seen several of his “NOOMA” segments related to various aspects of the Christian walk....I thought it was very good, very accurate, encouraging and informative.
I did not get a sense from this series that Rob Bell was anything other than a Christian.
Am I not seeing something? Comments?
Living for Christ isn't going to make your life easier. In fact it will make it tougher. What makes it different from non christians is that we now have a means to handle it. Bell, in his new book, feels that there is no eternal condemnation for those who choose not to believe in Christ. That living for Christ does not mean you follow a certain path or such. This in turn, means that it will be easier, as you would have no set path to follow.
The Christian Gospel is indeed not palatable to most humans.
Basically we are evil and can not earn our own salvation.
We are so reprobate that nothing we can do even helps.
Our wickedness is so off the charts that we can not balance it ourselves.
So bad that atoning for it either requires a finite being to suffer unspeakable pain for an infinite amount of time...or an infinite being must suffer unspeakable pain for a finite amount of time.
There is a real hell, and it is a place of unspeakable pain.
We can't earn our own redemption.
God offers redemption to us as a free gift - but only if we accept that God took on human form and paid our fully justified dues for us.
Yup, a lot of people find that unpalatable.
The Bible tells us that they will, so I am not surprised to see that they generally do.
I did not get a sense from this series that Rob Bell was anything other than a Christian.
Am I not seeing something? Comments?
His Nooma videos are very good, but he has really wandered into some dangerous territory as of recently. He seems to have fallen into the universalist type of mentality. That everyone goes to heaven and that a loving God wouldn't really condemn someone to Hell.
The most telling quote in his preview for his book was one were he mentioned that the Bible doesn't really specify how we are to reach this "heaven". That kind of blew my mind as I feel that it is pretty clear in that aspect. He also had stated earlier that how do we know Ghandi isn't in heaven. Now, yes, no one knows God's judgement and what a person did on his deathbed or whatever, but God makes it pretty clear on how to recieve eternal life with him. Ghandi did not fit the bill. Do I know for sure? No. Do I have an idea? Yes.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Through the Merciful Lamb.
I watched the interview and Rob Bell was kinda dancing around a bit.
He did deny being a univeralist. I kinda get what he is driving at, whether it is Biblically accurate....ummm
“I did not get a sense from this series that Rob Bell was anything other than a Christian.”
I had a friend rave about Bell. This friend is a rabid Obama supporter and has the extreme belief in the need for taxation of everyone to help the “downtrodden”. Didn’t think he needed to give to the poor. He just thought it was the government’s job. He said he learned this from listening to Bell.
Of course he denies it. He makes a logical argument, but it is not backed up in the Bible. That is what all teachings should be based on and his doesn't line up.
I would love to see a Rob Bell vs. Ravi Zacharias showdown
I think RZ would win.
Bell is a Westerner trying to have a foot in the Eastern and Western world at the same time.
I believe RZ grew up as an Easterner and embraced Westernism. Advantage and win: RZ.
God doesn’t ask or require the impossible. If He asks something of us, He makes sure we are up to the task by our gifts, or with His grace.
Now, there are those who will never know about Jesus, or ever be able to understand clearly the Gospel message for any number of reasons. While the Bible tells us that Jesus is “...the Way, Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.” (John 14), in that same discourse the apostles clearly have no clue Jesus is Lord. Further, Jesus tells the Apostles he will send another Paraclete (Holy Spirit), who will be them and they will understand.
Were the Apostles left to Perdition by their own ignorance? Of course not! The larger picture here is that God expects different things from each of us, according to the gifts he gives us, whether they are faith, charity, hope, or other lesser gifts.
IMHO, if a person lives a life truly devoted to goodness, following the natural law written on every man’s heart, even though he is without the gift of faith or the message of the Gospel, I don’t see how God would punish them for eternity.
On the other hand, if a person is presented the full message of the Gospel, and chooses out of pride or self-righteousness not to accept it, I think they are likely in for a very unpleasant eternity.
@SpirituTuo
I agree completely. It’s one of those areas, when I am asked, that I just say; “God will judge everyone Justly”.
Bell is correct that He is a loving God, but he misses the point that he is also a jealous God and clearly states there is one way to heaven (No one can come to the Father except by Me).
You could then even point to the verse in Romans that states (paraphrase) that God has revealed his invisible qualities so that no man is without excuse. I think the truth is that God reveals himself in some way to everyone. If they reject that then there is a problem.
If the disicples, after Jesus left and the Holy Spirit came, still decided not to believe that Jesus is Lord, then there would have been a problem. When God reveals himself to people and people reject that and turn towards another God, then there is a problem. Living a life of good does not cut it, as the Bible even points out that in the time of judgement there will be some people that say (para.); but didn’t we preach your name Lord Lord. To which Jesus replies, I did not even know you.
What Bell is preaching here is that no matter your religious affiliation you can still get to Heaven and you will in the long run (without making a change towards Christ). This is just not backed Biblically. A loving God, yes. But he is also a Jealous God and wants our full devotion. If that is not given, then you will be judged accordingly.
Good post btw.
I watched the video of the interview a couple of days ago. Rob Bell is shown to be a Christian Universalist. He denies it but that’s because his opinion of what Universalism means is obviously not what it means. Typical emergent nonsense. Just like Bill Clinton and his belief what IS means.
My pastor is no fan on Bell and called him out last week in our church service. Many of the popular mega church evangelical pastors have been speaking about this. I read all their twitter posts.
I pray for Bell. These emergent guys are fooled and fooling others with their liberal nonsense.
Rob doesn’t know how to answer straightforward questions. While the Bible does not have clear answers for us humans on every issue, it is clear about things such as how to get to heaven.
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