from the archive…

Rob Bell

False prophets don’t speak heresy. Not at first anyway. They build trust before leading unsuspecting people into error.

Rob Bell has used his Nooma videos to become a household name and to get access to evangelical churches that would normally shield the flock from liberal humanistic theology.

Last night Peter, Jonathen and I listened to God Wants to Save Christians Part III which you can listen to from his website (Week 400). That is, Peter and I listed to it. Jonathan left in disgust after about 15 minutes.

In his sermon Rob Bell describes how hell doesn’t exist as a place of eternal torment. He makes his case by cunningly playing with Greek words in ways I will specifically address in a later post.

Rob Bell insinuates that:

  • Hell is here on earth and for those who suffer social injustice and loneliness.
  • Hell doesn’t exist as a place of eternal torment.
  • Jesus went into a drunken rant about the Pharisees.
  • We are not to warn the lost about eternity.

Both Jonathan and Peter after hearing the sermon separately asked if Bell’s conclusions meant that there was no heaven either. I don’t think Bell believes this but does it matter? If you don’t tell people to repent from their sins how can they hope to enter heaven? Oh wait, Bell doesn’t believe you should use words like “repent.”

Throughout his sermon Rob Bell condemns hypocrisy and implies that we are not to judge. But, does this not make him an intellectual hypocrite because saying that it is wrong to judge is itself a judgment!

If he said, “You should only judge bible believing evangelical Christians” at least he would be intellectually honest.

I played a Nooma video in Lifegroup last semester. I liked Bell back then. I am not saying everything Bell says is false or that we can’t learn from him. After all, I am trying to copy his cool hair. That said,

I advise extreme caution regarding his teachings !

Overall, there is nothing new about Rob Bell. He has just repackaged mainline liberal humanism into a post modern bite sized format. Don’t become overly concerned but don’t think he is an evangelical either.