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Christian Nonfiction. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML: Rob Bell, the beloved author of Love Wins and What We Talk About When We Talk About God, goes deep into the Bible to show how it is more revelatory, revolutionary, and relevant than we ever imagined�??and offers a cogent argument for why we need to look at it in a fresh, new way. In Love Wins, Rob Bell confronted the troubling questions that many people of faith were afraid to ask about heaven, hell, fate, and faith. Using the same inspired, inquisitive approach, he now turns to our most sacred book, the Bible. What Is the Bible? provides insights and answers that make clear why the Bible is so revered and what makes it truly inspiring and essential to our lives. Rob takes us deep into actual passages to reveal the humanity behind the Scriptures. You cannot get to the holy without going through the human, Rob tells us. When considering a passage, we shouldn't ask "Why did God say . . .?" To get to the heart of the Bible's meaning, we should be asking: "What's the story that's unfolding here and why did people find it important to tell it? What was it that moved them to record these words? What was happening in the world at that time? What does this passage/story/poem/verse/book tell us about how people understood who they were and who God was at that time?" In asking these questions, Rob goes beyond the one-dimensional question of "is it true?" to reveal the Bible's authentic transformative power. Rob addresses the concerns of all those who see the Bible as God's Word but are troubled by the ethical dilemmas, errors, and inconsistencies in Scripture. With What Is the Bible?, he recaptures the Good Book's magic and reaffirms its power and inspiration to shape and inspire our lives today.… (more)
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Bell views things just
Reading his 2017 book “What Is the Bible?” makes him no easier to pin down, but it may cause one to realize that pinning him, or anyone else (including God), down may be the wrong objective. One of the last statements he makes in the book is this: “Do your best to read it (the Bible) without any ideas about God entering the picture.” Read it with an open and clear mind. Pay attention to every detail. Discover the real story behind the story and why it is important. Embrace the truth wherever it is found. Bell doesn’t say so, but perhaps we should read people in the same way.
Bell sees the Bible as a library of literature in many forms, written over a period of many centuries, that somebody thought important enough to preserve and combine. Before we can know its importance to us today, the object of most Bible study, we should know why it was so important to those who wrote it down in the first place, he argues.
He views the Bible as a record of the development of a new way of perceiving God. At one time the favor of gods was won through animal sacrifice, even child sacrifice. That’s why Abraham seems so calm when he is about to sacrifice Isaac. Gradually these attitudes change through the Old Testament. Then in the New Testament comes the sacrifice of Jesus. The cross may make little sense to people of today, but it did to the people of that time. Thus Bell suggests trying to get into the minds of those who wrote it all down and were the first to read it.
This is exciting stuff, probably not a phrase often used for a book about the Bible.
And here's what I
Ultimately, Bell is entertaining and brings up a few salient points, but this is not spiritually meaty.
Why bother with such a strange, old book? Because it’s a book about them, then, that somehow speaks to you and me, here and now, and it can change the way you think and feel about everything.
To those who are unfamiliar with Rob’s work, some back story is helpful. He was an evangelical pastor and author. He is a personality who at his very core is a pot stirrer. Like most interesting people who are doing worthwhile work, you will have an opinion about him. He became considered an outsider, and even a heretic, as a result of some of his writings. That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to explore what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century.
His work over the last several years has focused on speaking to those who are outside of the “Church.” It could be those who have never been in it or those who have left it. If you are a content Christian, Rob will seem dangerous to you. I do not think I can convince you otherwise. This book is for those that look at the Church and despair. For those that feel like the Church and the Bible has nothing to offer. For those who are a part of it, but struggle to make the pieces fit and find reason to stay.
In it he gives voice to many thoughts and emotions that I have experienced for years. Giving a clear voice to those emotions disarms them and lays the foundation to build on top of. The end result? After you get used to his quirky style of writing, his statements that seem a little over-the-top, and his weird sense of humor, you’re left with hope and excitement to continue onward.