Rob Bell in Atlanta tomorrow

[IceMan84]

I have not read Love Wins and must admit that I really do not know much about Rob Bell, but I noticed that he is going to be at North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta tomorrow night...this is right down the street from my apartment, so I think I might go check it out. I just thought I would let you guys know in case there are some other people in the area that might want to check it out.

[legoman]

Did you end up going?

[Miriam]

He's coming to the UK later this month. We have tickets.  :bigGrin:

[Nathan]

Let us know how it goes for you, would you??

[Miriam]

Of course. You can expect a full report.  :winkgrin:

[MikeRBurch]

I am an editor and publisher of Holocaust poetry. I live in Nashville and was able to attend when Rob Bell spoke here recently. I think he has a good message, but perhaps doesn't delve far enough into the obvious reasons why there cannot be an "eternal hell" if the Hebrew prophets were inspired by God. Obviously "hell" did not exist at the time of the prophets, according to the prophets themselves, and the entire Old Testament. But there is no verse in the entire Bible in which "hell" was ever announced as created. So the proof that "hell" is unbiblical is wonderfully simple, because according to the ENTIRE Bible, "hell" did not preexist and was never created.

I have written an article based on my 53-year trek through the wilderness of hell-based religion. If anyone has any DOUBTS about the existence of hell, I hope they will read my article because I believe it offers a number of compelling reasons not to believe in hell, based on the evidence of the Bible itself, and basic logic:

http://www.thehypertexts.com/no%20hell%20in%20the%20bible.htm

[Miriam]

We saw Rob Bell.  :bigGrin:

It was in his own very personal style - lots of questions. He spoke for about 35 minutes and then opened up the floor to questions and that was the best bit, we felt, as his talk assumed a certain knowledge of the book. The majority of people there probably did have some knowledge of it, though not necessarily about the controversy it's caused in some quarters.

He focussed on the love of God and how this is for everyone, and how God wants everyone to be saved and that we should long for that too. He said he does not know whether this will happen (who does?) and as the nature of love is such that you can say no to it, there will be some who do. But who's to say that means they are separated from God for ever? The gates of the city in Revelation are always open, Jesus' invitation to "Come to me" is constant.

He talked a bit about the way there was no "for ever" in first century Hebrew thinking; that ages have a limit, there is "this age" and "the age to come". He spoke about the word "olam." He said that for Jesus, the issue is how heaven and earth come together now, in this life, and we can have both heaven and hell on earth.

He discovered, while writing this book, that the good news is even better than he thought. And that we struggle with evangelism because we are not actually convinced the story is that great; we doubt that God can be trusted and are not really sure about what he's truly like. He said the concept of the rain on the just and the unjust was radical in Jesus' time - that God is for us, and for our enemies.

He will not class himself as a "universalist" because that implies that nothing matters - what we do and what we believe emphatically do matter.

When asked about the criticism he's received, he said that everyone in Mars Hill (his church) has been immensely supportive and so has pretty much everyone he's spoken to. He does not google himself and view all the online discussions. If people don't find his argument helpful, they don't have to engage with it, or buy the book. He is a pastor and this issue of heaven and hell and the fear of the latter is a pastoral one. We need to re-examine the "all things" and "all people" and "all flesh" passages of the Bible and throw up the notion that there are different ways to think about these questions and those of heaven and hell and examine how other people have thought about them.

:bigGrin:

[micah7:9]

I do hope he doesn't deviate from Jesus being the only Redemptor, but whatever else he does or doesn't believe, I am very much in agreement with what you've just posted.  Thanks.

Yes Jabcat I agree.  :bigGrin:

[jabcat]

I can personally witness to most of that.  Thanks for the update.

[jabcat]

Sorry micah, I was re-thinking a thing or two he said, but for the most part,  :thumbsup:

I do personally believe God will, in the end, have His will.   :bigGrin:

[micah7:9]

Sorry micah, I was re-thinking a thing or two he said, but for the most part,  :thumbsup:

I do personally believe God will, in the end, have His will.   :bigGrin:

NO WORRIES ABOUT THAT MY FRIEND :HeartThrob:

[Miriam]

I do hope he doesn't deviate from Jesus being the only Redemptor, but whatever else he does or doesn't believe, I am very much in agreement with what you've just posted.  Thanks.

Yes Jabcat I agree.  :bigGrin:

Am I going mad, Jabcat? I can't see your original post, only what micah has quoted.  :mshock:

I don't understand why it's even being questioned that Rob says Jesus is the only Redemptor. Nothing I've read or heard suggests otherwise. The very reason he won't be classed as a universalist is because he feels the term implies that what we believe doesn't matter.

From his book (I think I've quoted this before somewhere) - "As soon as the door is opened to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland, many Christians become very uneasy, saying that then Jesus doesn't matter any more, the cross is irrelevant, it doesn't matter what you believe, and so forth.

Not true.
Absolutely, unequivocally, unalterably not true.

What Jesus does is declare that he,
and he alone,
is saving everybody...

He is as narrow as himself and as wide as the universe.

He is as exclusive as himself and as inclusive as containing every single particle of creation... the very life source of the universe who has walked among us and continues to sustain everything with his love and power and grace and energy... This world is being redeemed, the tomb is empty, and a new creation is bursting forth right here in the midst of this one."