The Slippery Emergent Slope

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http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/...ments#comments

John Piper once wisely wrote, “Bad theology dishonors God and hurts people. Churches that sever the root of truth may flourish for a season, but they will wither eventually or turn into something besides a Christian church.”

It is unspeakably sad when those called to be ministers of the Word distort the gospel and deceive the people of God with false doctrine.

But it is better for those teaching false doctrine to put their cards on the table (a la Brian McLaren) rather than remaining studiously ambiguous in terminology.

So on that level, I’m glad that Rob Bell has the integrity to be unambiguous about his universalism. Not just optimism about the fate of those who haven’t heard the Good News, but (as it seems from below) full-blown hell-is-empty-everyone-gets-saved universalism.

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Various comments:

‎”One cannot forever whistle ‘There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy’ in the darkness of Hiroshima, of Auschwitz, of the murder of children and the careless greed that enslaves millions with debts not their own.”

— Wright, Surprised by Hope, 180

While I’m no longer sympathetic to outright universalism, it is important to distinguish what kind of universalist Bell may be: (1) A pluralist (all roads lead to heaven); or (2) “Trinitarian universalist” (universalism maintaining the exclusivity of Christ)?

The former is pagan; the latter, while misguided, has typically slipped through the cracks throughout the church’s history. Nevertheless, I agree, Bell sounds like a kid who’s just starting to think for himself—only worse, he’s thinking out loud on a big platform and has no accountability (hey, kind of like the majority of our cultic personalities . . .).

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There is so much wrapped up in the video, it is like a tornado of presuppositions. But I found the part about the basics of the gospel the most interesting. Bell says, “The real question is what is God like? Because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message, the center, of the gospel of Jesus is that God is going to send you to hell unless you believe in Jesus. So what gets subtly sort of caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that that we would need to be rescued from this God?”

Of course, a proper trinitarian theology transforms the statement, “Jesus rescues you from God” into something closer to “God rescues you from God” and this leads you from a dualist sort of evil-God vs. good-Jesus into an all-loving God balancing perfectly mercy and justice. I wonder if Bell is going to talk about that in his book or if he is just going to retreat to the shallow pop-theology of “Loving God can’t hate so nobody goes to hell” that he seems to be leading towards.

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Another

I’m not a Rob Bell supporter by any means, and everything this article fears may very well be true about Rob Bell. However, I wish this had be withheld until after the book is released so that its statements can be fully confirmed, and not mostly speculative. Seems to me the more responsible and decent way to approach it. I know that Rob Bell has become known for asking controversial questions just like those in this video, and while I certainly don’t agree with all of his answers, I’d rather know for certain what his answers (as stated in this yet to be released book) are before calling him out for them in such a public venue.

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BELL SAYS —

1. JESUS RESCUES US FROM GOD???? SERIOUSLY?

Jesus doesn’t rescue us FROM God He RESTORES us to God!

God’s holiness, wrath, and justice are made known clearly in hell as well as on the cross.

2. Bell say’s What do you have to do to get into heaven??? Again, Seriously.

Jesus, who is God in the flesh, warns us unless we repent we will perish in hell.

I guess Ghandi trumps Jesus.

[Socialite]

This will be pretty big news in the Christian world... and the book isn't even out yet.

Crakjak may have found a modern big name to promote his false teaching

But really... we have no idea, since the book isn't out yet.

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http://vimeo.com/20272585

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Piper weighs in on his Twitter/FB feed with a simple "Farewell, Rob Bell."

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** Crickets **

Hahahahaha

[noeticknight]

Everybody must be on the Artificial Intelligence Forum tonight.