Rob Bell Quotes

This is from Carson T. Clark, and makes for some fun reading:

I know it can be hard to believe that such a perspective exists, but when it comes to Rob Bell I’m neither an ardent supporter nor an impassioned critic. I’m a hardlining moderate as per usual. All of that having been said, here are my Top 10 Favorite Rob Bell quotes:³3.I’ve tried to set this up in a “Bellian” manner. I hope his fans will appreciate the nod to both his content and style.

Taboo

“The problem… is that the phrase ‘personal relationship’ is found nowhere in the Bible.”

Identification

“‘Christian’ makes a poor adjective.”

Amiss

“The really warped thing is when the church is where secrets are kept and not unloaded.”

Enigmatic

“The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.”

Torture

“I’ve heard pastors answer, ‘[Heaven] will be unlike anything we can comprehend, like a church service that goes on forever,’ causing some to think, ‘That sounds more like hell.’”

Blinders

“Most of the Bible is a history told by people living in lands occupied by conquering superpowers. It is a book written from the underside of power. It’s an oppression narrative. The majority of the Bible was written by a minority people living under the rule and reign of massive, mighty empires, from the Egyptian Empire to the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire to the Assyrian Empire to the Roman Empire.

This can make the Bible a very difficult book to understand if you are reading it as a citizen of the the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Without careful study and reflection, and humility, it may even be possible to miss central themes of the Scriptures.”

Vitality

“But sometimes those individuals’ rejection of church and the Christian faith they were presented with as the only possible interpretation of what it means to follow Jesus may in fact be a sign of spiritual health. They may be resisting behaviors, interpretations, and attitudes that should be rejected. Perhaps they simply came to the point where they refused to accept the very sorts of things that Jesus would refuse to accept.”

Paradox

“Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while the people most concerned with the hells on earth right now seem the least concerned about hell after death.”

Reorientation

“Often times when I meet atheists and we talk about the god they don’t believe in, we quickly discover that I don’t believe in that god, either.”

Repugnant

“The thought of the word church and the word marketing in the same sentence makes me sick.”