Rob Bell Conversation

I’m currently having a very intense conversation with one of my old youth leaders about a controversial pastor Rob Bell, I though I would show you. Below are both my and his letters without edit:
Mike-Hey Andy, this is Mike, I have been researching Bells ministry and I have some serious issues with his ministry. I just finished reading his book Velvet Elvis (I dont know if you have read it?) He writes " I embrace the need to keep painting, to keep reforming, By this I do not mean cosmetic, superficial changes like better lights and music, Sharper graphics, and new methods with easy to follow steps. I mean theology, the beliefs about God , Jesus, the Bible, Salvation the future."
SCARY,
He also writes " Heaven is full of forgiven people, Hell is full of forgiven people Heaven is full of people Jesus died for Hell is ffull of people Jesus died for, the difference is how we choose to live"
If going to heaven or hell isnt based on forgiveness but on how we choose to live isnt that salvation by works? that does directly opposes Christ. Why he came and what he did on the cross and above all else lies to people about what salvation is, which is a free gift from God that we do nothing to gain or earn and do not deserve. And that belief can lead people to Christ on the last day and he says to them "depart from me I never knew you" because they spend there lives working to earn Gods favor.
He also uses bad historic info and tries to imply that the new Testament writers conformed there theology to fit in with pagan religions of there time to make "there God" more appealing to the people of that time and in that way justify himself rewriting theology.
He also qoutes Joshua "They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys". than he questions the Bible "God was with Joshua when he killed all those women and children? is God really like that? what does a thinking person do with a story like that?"
he qoutes Matthew "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heave, and whatever you loose on earh will be loosed in heaven".
and than translates this verse "WHat he is doing here is significant. he is giving his followers the authority to make new interpretations of the Bible. He is giving them permission to say "Hey we think we missed it before on that verse, and weve recently come to the conclusion that this is what it actually means".
is that rediculous or what? this also directlly opposes Jesus, changing Gods word because "we missed it before"? He said in an interview in Christianity Today "we are discovering the Bible as a human product rather than a divine fiat" and his wife in the same interview said " I used to know what the Bible meant now I have no idea what most of it means and yet life is so much bigger"
dude I could go on and on but I will stop.
see ya Mike

Me-Dear Mike,
i have to start this by saying two things very clearly; one, i am not a die-hard fan of rob bell and will not defend him to the grave, yet i think we are to fast to make small theological issues a base for bashing men who are trying to reach people for the faith. Many great theologians had bad theology in one area or another; Martin Luther thought the bread and wine of communion physically turned into the body and blood of Christ when a priest prayed over them; in fact, this belief caused him to have much conflict with other reformers. Origen thought that there were errors in the Bible that God wanted us to discover and correct ourselves. Pelagus believed it was possible for a human to be perfect, and Christ was an example of that. I don't know if these views tempered with these men's faith in Christ, only God knows that, but these men did some great things for God with what we would say is slightly faulted theology. Two, i'm not trying to be mean or disrespectful in anyway with these messages, i'm just stating my point. If i ever seem to cross the line, please let me know.
Now, on the point of changing theology, there is not doubt it has changed over the course of history. Early church fathers didn't address several key doctrines we have today, such as the trinity. In fact, many held what we would consider today heretical theology. Such as the ransom to satan theory, which states that satan owns all human souls, and Jesus' death was a payment to satan; that is obviously not in the bible. Again, God is the one who judges the heart; i do not know how much these beliefs affect rob bell's heart. But theology has definitely been effected by time. remember that, although the bible was done being written in the first century, the holy spirit always lives, and can give new illumination to any he wishes. By illumination i mean from the already written word of God, the Bible; i am no Joseph Smith. One of my theology professors observed that God normally tends to work in jagged, hard to see lines, rather than straight, foreword lines; why else would he use biblical writers to write the bible, instead of just making it fall from heaven. Jesus spoke in parables so that "those who had ears would hear"; he purposely made it confusing to weed out the unfaithful! All that to say that the theological views most evangelicals hold today are not necessarily what christians held throughout history. So be careful to critic bell when he says we may view God differently than we did before, i would add however, provided that this new view is upheld by scripture. This doesn't mean we throw out everything we believe; just that we must not be closed to learning something about God in the Bible that we didn't know before. That is my view, at least, and maybe that is what rob bell was trying to say.
Now, heaven and hell is a tricky thing, because we don't have a lot on either in the bible. Hell is obviously not a good place, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth; and heaven is obviously a good place, in the Glory of God. The debate over limited atonement, however, can be seen since John Calvin, even before. Did Jesus die for just believers's sins, since that is all that his atonement pays for; or did he die for all sins, and only some accept? I tend to explain my view like this; Christ's death is sufficient for all, efficient for some. meaning, Jesus's death was for all, but is only accepted by some. Now i think saying there is forgiven people in hell is going too far, and would disagree with bell there, but how we live is a HUGE indicator of which of these two extreme places we end up. Remember James, where it says faith without works is dead. What saves us is faith in Jesus Christ, too often faith is thought of as a one-time thing. a prayer, that is what saves us. Completely wrong! it is faith! i think many people that say the sinner's prayer will be in hell. Faith and Love for Christ are expressed through our lives. Of course we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and have faith, but these things, if sincere, will propel us to live differently. The bible talks repeatedly of worthless sacrifices of "religious people" (1 Samuel 15, Hosea 6:6, 8:13, all thru the gospels with the pharisees, etc.), God looks at the heart. We are not working to achieve God's forgiveness, we accept it, and out of love and faith we obey what God commands. Maybe Rob Bell meant something completely different than what i said, if so tell me, but that is at least something to think about.
Also, Paul definitely used the greek's religion to explain the gospel to the athenians at mars hill in acts 17:16-34. Now, he didn't change any salvation doctrine to do so, but he did say some things that seem a little odd. Yet God used it and it worked, because some said they would listen to more about this new message. Saying, though, that they did it to make God "more appealing", is completely wrong, God is the most appealing thing in existence, and doesn't need help from the apostles. Plus, God does the work to call Christians anyway, the human really does nothing but be used by God. That is wrong on bell's point.
Also, i think that Mrs. Bell's comment is, honestly, ridiculous. A healthy believer should always be learning more about God and the bible, wanting knowledge of there redeemer. God does not want to be mysterious, he wants us to love him, because he first loved us. It is out of his love, he wishes us to love. Why would he send Jesus if he wanted to be a mystery.
anyway, i hope this has helped you, please send me back your thoughts.

Wishing California weather is treating you better than Chicago weather is treating me,
Andy Smith
I’ll keep you posted on our conversation.