Click here for Part 3 of Joel Willitts' review on Rob Bell's Love Wins.
Click here for Part 4 of Joel Willitts' review on Rob Bell's Love Wins.
Click here for Part 5 of Joel Willitts' review on Rob Bell's Love Wins.
I did not follow up on the other reviews done by Joel Willitts in his blog. But fortunately he recently (22nd June 2011) provided a document with all the blog reviews he posted . Click here for the blog post that has this document.
Click here for other reviews/discussions.
Showing posts with label Rob Bell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rob Bell. Show all posts
Monday, June 27, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Nijay Gupta's review on Love Wins
Nijay K Gupta has written a review on Rob Bell's Love Wins.
Here is part of his introduction:
Gupta discusses the book under the headings of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Click here for the post in his blog.
Click here for the full script.
Here is part of his introduction:
"Before we get started, I wanted to quickly comment on how Christians, and evangelicals in particular, should approach a controversial book. Because so many things were said to condemn Bell and his book even before it was released, we can see a dangerous trend among conservatives of a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later technique. This raises the question: are we (Christians, and I am talking to my fellow evangelicals in particular) a teachable people? Sure, we have convinctions [sic]. We can draw a line and say: this is what I believe and what is outside of that I don’t believe. However, I think we (evangelicals) often cross over into the dangerous realm of only accepting inside scholars and, when we do happen to engage in dialogue with outsiders (be they Catholics, agnostics, Orthodox, etc.), we only do so trying to gain more converts to our perspective. The danger in this framework is that we lose a sense of humility and shared recognition that while we have convictions, we still have much to learn, and especially from each other.
That does not mean that you accept any and every teaching that comes your way, but you say to yourself: maybe I have something (even if something very small) to learn from a fellow human being who has worked hard (presumably) to comment in a fruitful way on an important subject..."
Gupta discusses the book under the headings of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Click here for the post in his blog.
Click here for the full script.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Scot McKnight: Exploring Rob Bell's Love Wins
I will try to include what Scot McKnight has to say about Rob Bell's new book Love Wins here in the coming days. That is, I will include the links to the posts from McKnight's blog when he discusses Rob Bell's book. (Sorry if I miss some of McKnight's posts. I am a busy man.)
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 1" on 1st April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 2" on 4th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 3" on 6th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 4" on 8th April 2011.
Click here for "Rob Bell's Confession" on 8th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 5" on 11th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 6" on 13th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 7" on 15th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 8" on 18th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 9" on 21st April 2011.
(See here for other reviews on Rob Bell's Love Wins.)
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 1" on 1st April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 2" on 4th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 3" on 6th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 4" on 8th April 2011.
Click here for "Rob Bell's Confession" on 8th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 5" on 11th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 6" on 13th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 7" on 15th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 8" on 18th April 2011.
Click here for "Exploring Love Wins 9" on 21st April 2011.
(See here for other reviews on Rob Bell's Love Wins.)
Joel Willitts' review on Rob Bell's Love Wins - part 2
Joel Willitts has written the second part of his review on Rob Bell's Love Wins. (Click here for the link.)
He outlines three claims that Rob Bell has made, and then critique accordingly. Here are excerpts of what he says about Bell's claims. (You will need to read the entire post by Willitts to get what he means.)
"The first claim represents an issue of colossal importance because if Rob Bell is in fact correct then we indeed need to repent immediately of our misguided and toxic understanding of the Gospel and push restart. We need to reboot our theological hard drives. If we have the Gospel wrong we won’t have much else right."
"The second claim about the importance of question asking is interesting. And there is indeed some truth in what he’s said in my opinion."
"The third claim is perhaps the least able to stand up under the weight of the evidence not in its favor."
(Click here for Willitts' full review.)
He outlines three claims that Rob Bell has made, and then critique accordingly. Here are excerpts of what he says about Bell's claims. (You will need to read the entire post by Willitts to get what he means.)
"The first claim represents an issue of colossal importance because if Rob Bell is in fact correct then we indeed need to repent immediately of our misguided and toxic understanding of the Gospel and push restart. We need to reboot our theological hard drives. If we have the Gospel wrong we won’t have much else right."
"The second claim about the importance of question asking is interesting. And there is indeed some truth in what he’s said in my opinion."
"The third claim is perhaps the least able to stand up under the weight of the evidence not in its favor."
(Click here for Willitts' full review.)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Joel Willitts' review on Rob Bell's Love Wins
Here is Joel Willitts' review on Rob Bell's new book Love Wins.
I haven't read the book myself and so I have no comments about the book itself. But I think it helps to see what Willitts thinks. Click here for his review.
Click here for my previous post, which has a number of other reviews from Scot McKnight's blog.
I haven't read the book myself and so I have no comments about the book itself. But I think it helps to see what Willitts thinks. Click here for his review.
Click here for my previous post, which has a number of other reviews from Scot McKnight's blog.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The word "hell" (ie. Greek: geennan) in the New Testament
It seems that Rob Bell's new book Love Wins will be a subject of debate/conversation for awhile, because he talks about the meaning of "hell". For those who are interested, here are the verses in the New Testament (NRSV) that have the Greek geennan, which is often translated as "hell" in the English Bible translations. It is interesting (and important) to look at the context of each of these 12 verses in the New Testament.
Matt. 5:22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matt. 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matt. 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matt. 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt. 18:9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Matt. 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matt. 23:33 You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?
Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
Mark 9:45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.
Mark 9:47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
Luke 12:5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.
I think every good student of the Bible should start with the Bible itself before entering into the debate about the subject. There are other places in the Bible that are important when it comes to the questions about love, "hell", judgment, etc. Let's start from the Scripture.
-------------------
Today (14th April 2011) I want to add to this post the following from Scot McKnight's blog (viewed on 14th April 2011).
"Finally, and we’ve perhaps all made this mistake. Gehenna was not a dump outside Jerusalem. No matter how many times people say this — and it has become street truth — there is no evidence that there was a town dump outside Jerusalem in the first century. As Dale Allison puts it, “without ancient support.” That place, the Valley of Hinnom where there was an idolatrous high place called Topheth, was the notorious place of death and idolatry and fire and judgment, but it was not the town dump of Jerusalem. To use Gehenna for Jesus was to use a metaphor for divine judgment and destruction. See the OT uses in Jer 7:31-32; 19:2-9; 32:35; Isa 30:33. It is not only flippant but inaccurate to say Gehenna is the town dump — it is a metaphor for divine judgment." (Click here for McKnight's full post.)
Obviously Professor Scot McKnight is more qualified than I am to comment on this matter. I will do more work on this matter when I have time.
Matt. 5:22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matt. 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matt. 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matt. 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt. 18:9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Matt. 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matt. 23:33 You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?
Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
Mark 9:45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.
Mark 9:47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
Luke 12:5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.
I think every good student of the Bible should start with the Bible itself before entering into the debate about the subject. There are other places in the Bible that are important when it comes to the questions about love, "hell", judgment, etc. Let's start from the Scripture.
-------------------
Today (14th April 2011) I want to add to this post the following from Scot McKnight's blog (viewed on 14th April 2011).
"Finally, and we’ve perhaps all made this mistake. Gehenna was not a dump outside Jerusalem. No matter how many times people say this — and it has become street truth — there is no evidence that there was a town dump outside Jerusalem in the first century. As Dale Allison puts it, “without ancient support.” That place, the Valley of Hinnom where there was an idolatrous high place called Topheth, was the notorious place of death and idolatry and fire and judgment, but it was not the town dump of Jerusalem. To use Gehenna for Jesus was to use a metaphor for divine judgment and destruction. See the OT uses in Jer 7:31-32; 19:2-9; 32:35; Isa 30:33. It is not only flippant but inaccurate to say Gehenna is the town dump — it is a metaphor for divine judgment." (Click here for McKnight's full post.)
Obviously Professor Scot McKnight is more qualified than I am to comment on this matter. I will do more work on this matter when I have time.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Scot McKnight on some reviews of Rob Bell's new book Love Wins
In Scot McKnight's blog there are a few reviews on Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. Click here for the link.
A few days ago McKnight said this:
"As you may know, I consider the issues surrounding universalism, the love of God and the justice of God, the relationship of our life now and our life then … I consider these issues to be the most significant challenge to the Christian faith today. Pounding the hell pulpit or knee-jerk defenses of what Rob says aren’t going to satisfy the aching questions so many have about this topic today." (Click here for the full post.)
I think the last sentence here is wise.
A few days ago McKnight said this:
"As you may know, I consider the issues surrounding universalism, the love of God and the justice of God, the relationship of our life now and our life then … I consider these issues to be the most significant challenge to the Christian faith today. Pounding the hell pulpit or knee-jerk defenses of what Rob says aren’t going to satisfy the aching questions so many have about this topic today." (Click here for the full post.)
I think the last sentence here is wise.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Scot McKnight's comments on the discussion about Rob Bell's new book
Just read Scot McKnight's blog post about the recent discussion on Rob Bell's new book.
Here are some excerpts from McKnight's post.
"My horror, then, was three-fold: first, the image of God that is depicted when hell becomes the final, or emphatic, word and, second, the absence of any context for how to talk about judgment in the Bible and, third, the kinds of emotion expressed: we saw too much gloating and pride and triumphalism on both sides. I felt like those who watched the sinking of the Titanic and who didn’t cringe at the thought of thousands sinking into the Atlantic to a suffocating death. They were instead singing and dancing to a jig that they were right or had been predicting the sinking all along."
"If there is an eternity, and I believe there is, and if there is a judgment, and I believe there is, then let us keep the immensity and gravity of it all in mind and refrain from flippancy, gloating, triumphalism — and let it reduce us to sobriety and humility and prayer. When Abraham faced the prospects of the destruction of Sodom in Genesis 18, he didn’t gloat that he was on the safe side but supplicated YHWH for mercy for those who weren’t. We need more Abrahams."
"To talk about wrath apart from this depiction of the grace-consuming God is to put forward a view of God that is not only unbiblical but potentially monstrous. And, to put forward a view of God that is absent of final judgment, yes of wrath, yes of eternal judgment, is to offer a caricature of the Bible’s God."
I think McKnight has a lot for us to consider. I was going to post something myself on God's judgment and mercy, but I think McKnight has already said much for us to think about.
Click here for his full blog post.
Here are some excerpts from McKnight's post.
"My horror, then, was three-fold: first, the image of God that is depicted when hell becomes the final, or emphatic, word and, second, the absence of any context for how to talk about judgment in the Bible and, third, the kinds of emotion expressed: we saw too much gloating and pride and triumphalism on both sides. I felt like those who watched the sinking of the Titanic and who didn’t cringe at the thought of thousands sinking into the Atlantic to a suffocating death. They were instead singing and dancing to a jig that they were right or had been predicting the sinking all along."
"If there is an eternity, and I believe there is, and if there is a judgment, and I believe there is, then let us keep the immensity and gravity of it all in mind and refrain from flippancy, gloating, triumphalism — and let it reduce us to sobriety and humility and prayer. When Abraham faced the prospects of the destruction of Sodom in Genesis 18, he didn’t gloat that he was on the safe side but supplicated YHWH for mercy for those who weren’t. We need more Abrahams."
"To talk about wrath apart from this depiction of the grace-consuming God is to put forward a view of God that is not only unbiblical but potentially monstrous. And, to put forward a view of God that is absent of final judgment, yes of wrath, yes of eternal judgment, is to offer a caricature of the Bible’s God."
I think McKnight has a lot for us to consider. I was going to post something myself on God's judgment and mercy, but I think McKnight has already said much for us to think about.
Click here for his full blog post.
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