Rob Bell: an Emergent Wolf

There is no doubt that Rob Bell has almost a cult-following thanks to his Nooma videos and is one of the "ringleaders" of the "Emergent Church." However, the question is, does Rob Bell preach true Christianity?

In an interview with Christianity Today, he rejected the inspiration of Holy Scripture, completely flying in the face on 2nd Timothy 3:16, he's stated his belief that we must bring heaven to earth. He believes that hell, along with heaven, "is full of forgiven people." Bell has also implied that Christianity borrowed many of it's beliefs from the pagan religions of Ancient Rome. He also stresses the mystery of Christianity and that we put God in a box if we believe difine the Christian faith.

He also, rather recently, stated that we are the gospel, not the forgivness of sins being offered through Jesus Christ through His atonement on the cross at Calvary. In fact, I would strongly encourage you to listen to Chris's refutation of Bell's "gospel:"

Interestingly enough, the Apostle Paul writes to the church of Galatia: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-9)

Now, this isn't addressed in this episode of "Fighting for the Faith," hosted by Chris Rosebrough.

However, in the first part of the program, Chris reviews a sermon done by Rob Bell on Philippians 3:1-11 on the "Judaizers." In the second part of the program, Chris speaks with Ken Silva of "Apprising Ministries" on the mysticsm endorsed by Bell, that actually has its roots in medival Catholic mysticism. Now, it's long, but it's worth listening to.

Roger Oakland's Lecture on the Emergent Church

In this 6 part series, Roger Oakland discusees a theologial fad in American Evangelicalism, mostly amongst the younger generation: the Emergent Church. Many of the ringleaders, such as Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt have denied cardinal doctrines of the faith. But, in this piece, Oakland namely discusses 2 dangerous facets of the Emergent Church: how many of the spritual practices of the Emergent Church are leading people back into the waiting arms of the apostate Roman Catholic Church, and the road to ecumenism with other religions. In fact, there does seem to be an emphasis on mystical experiences amongst Emergents, particularly via "contemplative prayer."