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.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Qoutes from Famous Preachers
Quotes from famous preachers.
I am not mentioning any names for these preachers. I also ask if you are aware of who they are you refrain from naming them in any post you make. I want to discuss their views in this blog, and how to spot false teachers, not expose the teachers themselves. So please read and let me know if these are false doctrines, which means teachings by the way. Maybe you agree with these quotes your response is welcome as well.
Do you agree with this famous preacher?
Adam was a super being when God created him. I don't know whether people know this, but he was the first Superman that really ever lived. First of all, the Scriptures declare clearly that he had dominion over the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea - which means he used to fly. Of course, how can he have dominion over the birds and not be able to do what they do? The word "dominion" in the Hebrew clearly declares that if you have dominion over a subject, that you do everything that subject does. In other words, that subject, if it does something you cannot do, you don't have dominion over it. I'll prove it further. Adam not only flew, he flew to space. He was - with one thought he would be on the moon.
How about this famous preacher?
"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is...The biggest one in the whole Bible is God...I mean, He lost His top-ranking, most anointed angel; the first man He ever created; the first woman He ever created; the whole earth and all the fullness therein; a third of the angels, at least - that's a big loss, man....Now, the reason you don't think of God as a failure is He never said He's a failure. And you're not a failure till you say you're one."
Do you agree with this famous preacher?
“This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that ‘Scripture alone’ is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible from the church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God’s Word, in the same breath I have to affirm the when those people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true”
“The people who eventually wrote all of this down [the Bible] weren’t sitting there with their hand and the pen moving as if controlled by some outside force.
The writers of the Bible had agendas”
Do you agree that Adam did fly and went to the moon?
Do you agree with our second quote that God is the biggest failure?
Would you agree the only reason He is not a failure is because he did not call it failing?
How about our third and fourth quote.
Would you agree that scripture alone as our guide is not true?
Would you agree that we can’t really be sure the Bible is the Word of God because some church voted on which books to put in the Bible? (not how it really happened)
Do you believe, like this preacher, that the writer’s agenda, and not God’s agenda won out in writing the Bible?
Does it seem odd that of the over 40 writers over a two thousand year period all had the same personal agenda? Or would it make more sense to realize that there was one agenda that worked out the writing of these scriptures?
The preacher of the third and fourth quote finds it hard to believe that,” God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did.” I have heard some say he has a low view of scripture, I would say that he has a low view of God. His god is not sovereign or powerful enough to give us his word and deliver it purely to us in a way we can understand. His god is sorely lacking in ability, power, and wisdom.
One thing you can learn from these preachers is that
1) Not everyone that preaches is preaching the Word of God.
2) Not everyone who uses the Bible believes the Bible is the Word of God.
I am not mentioning any names for these preachers. I also ask if you are aware of who they are you refrain from naming them in any post you make. I want to discuss their views in this blog, and how to spot false teachers, not expose the teachers themselves. So please read and let me know if these are false doctrines, which means teachings by the way. Maybe you agree with these quotes your response is welcome as well.
Do you agree with this famous preacher?
Adam was a super being when God created him. I don't know whether people know this, but he was the first Superman that really ever lived. First of all, the Scriptures declare clearly that he had dominion over the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea - which means he used to fly. Of course, how can he have dominion over the birds and not be able to do what they do? The word "dominion" in the Hebrew clearly declares that if you have dominion over a subject, that you do everything that subject does. In other words, that subject, if it does something you cannot do, you don't have dominion over it. I'll prove it further. Adam not only flew, he flew to space. He was - with one thought he would be on the moon.
How about this famous preacher?
"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is...The biggest one in the whole Bible is God...I mean, He lost His top-ranking, most anointed angel; the first man He ever created; the first woman He ever created; the whole earth and all the fullness therein; a third of the angels, at least - that's a big loss, man....Now, the reason you don't think of God as a failure is He never said He's a failure. And you're not a failure till you say you're one."
Do you agree with this famous preacher?
“This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that ‘Scripture alone’ is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible from the church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God’s Word, in the same breath I have to affirm the when those people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true”
“The people who eventually wrote all of this down [the Bible] weren’t sitting there with their hand and the pen moving as if controlled by some outside force.
The writers of the Bible had agendas”
Do you agree that Adam did fly and went to the moon?
Do you agree with our second quote that God is the biggest failure?
Would you agree the only reason He is not a failure is because he did not call it failing?
How about our third and fourth quote.
Would you agree that scripture alone as our guide is not true?
Would you agree that we can’t really be sure the Bible is the Word of God because some church voted on which books to put in the Bible? (not how it really happened)
Do you believe, like this preacher, that the writer’s agenda, and not God’s agenda won out in writing the Bible?
Does it seem odd that of the over 40 writers over a two thousand year period all had the same personal agenda? Or would it make more sense to realize that there was one agenda that worked out the writing of these scriptures?
The preacher of the third and fourth quote finds it hard to believe that,” God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did.” I have heard some say he has a low view of scripture, I would say that he has a low view of God. His god is not sovereign or powerful enough to give us his word and deliver it purely to us in a way we can understand. His god is sorely lacking in ability, power, and wisdom.
One thing you can learn from these preachers is that
1) Not everyone that preaches is preaching the Word of God.
2) Not everyone who uses the Bible believes the Bible is the Word of God.
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