Mark Sohmer has produced a well written review of Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis. I highly recommend reading it. In the introduction you will see that Mark is simply examining Rob's claims in light of the scripture in which Rob himself on the back cover of the book encourage his readers to do. If the bereans were commended for not accepting what Paul said with out consulting the sciptures then we should also do the same. The below is from Mark explaining how the review of Velvet Elvis began. (Even if you have not read the book, but have seen the NOOMA viedoes, it is the same material)
I had a number of people recommend Velvet Elvis to me, and interestingly, they all said basically the same thing. “You might not agree with everything Bell has to say, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there.” Each separate individual who recommended this book all gave a similar disclaimer, that there would be some things I wouldn’t agree with.
Because of this, I figured that when I read the book, I would likely agree with maybe 80% of what was written, and find 20% objectionable. But when I started to actually read the book, I found that my guess was grossly inaccurate.
To the contrary, I found myself underlining objectionable content on almost every page! I was shocked by the many errors of Velvet Elvis. This book was hardly 80% truth and 20% questionable. Page after page I found major heresies, aberrant theology, and in some cases bizarre conclusions based on very flimsy Biblical interpretation.
I have categorized the errors of Velvet Elvis as follows:
Heretical Errors:
• Wrong View of the Trinity
• Wrong View of the Exclusivity of Christianity
• Wrong View of the State of Mankind
• Wrong Gospel
Aberrant Theology:
• Wrong View of Jesus’ Purpose
• Wrong View of Heaven and Hell
• Wrong View of Rabbinic Judaism
• Wrong Hermeneutics
• Wrong Influences
Bad Conclusions:
• You Don’t Have to Defend Doctrine
• You Should Not Preach the Gospel with Words
These errors are hardly minor, and they should concern us greatly. Considering the profound influence Rob has been enjoying lately, especially among younger Christians, the fact that he misrepresents the Trinity, the gospel, and our Christian mission is no small matter.
It’s one thing for me to claim that Rob has made these errors, and it an entirely different thing for me to prove it. That is the purpose of this review - to show in Rob’s own words that he consistently misrepresents the authentic Christian faith in his book, Velvet Elvis.
To read the full review click here.
