Rob Bell Is (Not) a Universalist – Part One

I’ve now read the book, thanks to Tripp Fuller, who gave me his copy (Tripp listened to the Audiobook version at 3X speed).  Next week, I’ll have a series of posts on the book, with both my affirmations and my lingering questions.

And that’s in advance of my turn at guest hosting Doug Pagitt Radio on Sunday, April 10, 12-2pm CDT.  I’m committing the entire two hours to a discussion of Rob’s book and of Christian Universalism.

I’ve already booked two guests — in the first hour, Keith DeRose, a philosopher at Yale University; and in the second hour, Michael Horton, a theologian at Westminster Seminary-California.  Keith is an outspoken Christian Universalist.  Mike is, well, not. 🙂

I’ve also got a request in for Rob Bell to call into the show.  Rob speaks the next day in the Twin Cities.

I like the book — that will surprise no one.  I’ll get into the substantive issues of the book next week.  Here are my thoughts about the trivial ones:

In the past, I’ve been mildly critical of Rob’s writing style, but in this book it grew on me as I read.  The one-sentence paragraphs and many rhetorical questions still irk me at times.  But what many other writers could not get away with, Rob can, and it’s obviously an outgrowth of his speaking style.  It actually became endearing as the book went on.

Why a san-serif font?!?  I’m always baffled by this.

I noticed right off the bat that the possessive of our Lord was rendered, Jesus’s.  This surprised me, since I’d always been taught that ancient names ending in s do not take another s, although modern names do. E.g., Jones’s.  But it was confirmed to me yesterday on Twitter by @HarperOne and by IVP’s Dave Zimmerman that Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition has changed that longstanding convention.  Jesus and Moses now take an additional s.

7.17 Possessive of words and names ending in unpronounced “s”
In a return to Chicago’s earlier practice, words and names ending in an unpronounced s form the possessive in the usual way (with the addition of an apostrophe and an s). This practice not only recognizes that the additional s is often pronounced but adds to the appearance of consistency with the possessive forms of other types of proper nouns.

7.18 Possessive of names like “Euripides”
In a departure from earlier practice, Chicago no longer recommends the traditional exception for proper classical names of two or more syllables that end in an eez sound. Such names form the possessive in the usual way (though when these forms are spoken, the additional s is generally not pronounced).

Thus, if you follow Chicago, it’s now spelled Jesus’s.  Please note, however, that it’s still pronounced, jee-zus, even in the possessive.

Grammar Geeks Unite!