Rob Bell

Bell at the Time 100 Gala in 2011

Robert Holmes " Rob " Bell Jr. (Born August 23, 1970 in Ingham County ) is an American author and pastor . He founded the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville in 1999 , where he served as a pastor until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill Bible Church was one of the fastest growing Christian churches in the United States. He is the author of the books "Love Wins" and "Velvet Elvis", both of which were featured on the New York Times bestseller list . Bell is the author and speaker of various sacred short films released under the NOOMA label. The Time Magazine named him in 2011 to the 100 most influential people in the world . He is currently working on a new series with the former producer of the American television series Lost .

Life

Education and community service

Bell is the son of Federal Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who was nominated by Ronald Reagan . He grew up in a traditional Christian environment.

Bell attended Wheaton College . While studying at Wheaton College, he shared a room with Ian Eskelin , lead singer of the Christian rock band All Star United . Together with his friends Dave Houk, Brian Erickson, Steve Huber and Chris Fall, he founded an independence rock band called "_ton bundle", which was reminiscent of groups like REM or the Talking Heads . During this time, the band wrote the song "Velvet Elvis", which also refers to a " Velvet Elvis " painting (a cheesy depiction of Elvis Presley on velvet), as well as Bell's first book Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith .

He graduated from Wheaton with a bachelor's degree in 1992 and then taught waterskiing at the college's Honey Rock summer camp, where he earned around $ 30 a week. During this time he offered to teach the camp leaders with a Christian message when a pastor could not be found. Bell lectured on recreation and was encouraged by various people to make teaching his profession. To answer his call to teaching, he moved to Pasadena and received a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary . According to his own statements, he never got good grades in preaching there because he was always looking for innovative ways to convey his ideas. While studying at Fuller Theological Seminary, he volunteered at Lake Avenue Church's youth ministry. Nevertheless, he occasionally attended the Christian Assembly in Eagle Rock , which prompted him and his wife to ask what a new form of church might look like.

Between 1995 and 1997 he founded the band Big Fil , which released a total of two albums; the first album was released under the name of the group, the second album under the name "Via De La Shekel". Bell refers to the style of music itself as "Northern Gospel", which is also the title of a song on the second album. After Big Fil no longer performed, Bell pursued two more projects under the name "Uno Dos Tres Communications volume 1 and 2", both of which were similar to the sound and style of Big Fil.

Mars Hill Bible Church

Bell and his wife moved to Grand Rapids from California to be close to their families, following an invitation to study with Pastor Ed Dobson . Dobson did much of the field service in the Saturday night services of Calvary Church . Bell announced that it would plant a new branch of the congregation and create a new congregation form. The congregation was to be named Mars Hill , based on the place on the Areopagus , where the apostle Paul addressed the citizens of Athens in a speech ( Acts 17.23  EU ).

In February 1999, Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church , which initially met in the gymnasium of a school in Wyoming . Within a year the church was given a shopping mall in Grandville, where the surrounding land was also purchased. In July 2000 the community opened with an initial 3,500 seats. In 2005, an estimated 11,000 people took part in the two Sunday meetings . In March 2011 the number of visitors was between 8,000 and 10,000. Bell's sermons at Mars Hill Church inspired the United States' famous "Love Wins" bumper sticker, which is distributed in the community after church services.

In order to continue to live a balanced life, Bell celebrates Fridays as a personal Sabbath; on these days he does not use electronic means of communication and does not take on any duties as a pastor in the congregation. The January issue of online magazine TheChurchReport.com ranked Bell 10th on its reader list of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America.

Detachment from Mars Hill Bible Church

On September 22, 2011 it was announced that Bell would be leaving the church he had founded in order to pursue other fields for a wider audience. After retiring from Mars Hill, Bell made his first major public appearance in July 2012 at the popular Viper Room nightclub in Los Angeles . He hosts commercial conferences for executives in Laguna Beach. Among other things, he discusses Spiral Dynamics as a development concept. Bell publishes instructional videos under the title NOOMA . He has published his first books since August 2005. He goes on lecture tours and book readings, among other things on the doctrine of justification .

Draft talk show

Bell and Cuse have shifted to developing another project, which they themselves refer to as a "Faith-bent Talk Show," which is to be presented by Bell. Two episodes of the show were recorded in September 2012 in a warehouse in the bohemian district of Los Angeles and were intended to create a bond between network managers. Meanwhile, the venture has been referred to as That One Show Rob Bell and Carlton Cuse Have Been Working On , briefly also as The September Shows . A trailer of the show was produced during this. One of the moderation cards read The Rob Bell Show as the title of the show . The first guests were Cathleen Falsani and James "Jame-o" Primbaum, both known as eco-activists .

Theological viewpoints

In his writings, Bell says, “I maintain that truth is everywhere, in every religion, in every worldview. If that is true, then it belongs to God. ”Still, he affirmed that the Bible was the definitive source of truth in Mars Hill Church theology by which all other truths should be measured.

Bell: “It's not the old message with new methods. We are rediscovering Christianity as an Easter religion, a way of life. The law-like images for faith do not convey a way of life. We grew up in churches where people know all nine verses that explain why not to speak in tongues, but who have never had the overwhelming experience of God's presence themselves. "

His book Love Wins has created significant disagreement among evangelical churches. The dispute was the cover story in Time Magazine and a guest article in the New York Times . In the book, Bell criticizes that the idea of ​​hell as conscious, eternal torment is one of the central truths of faith in Christianity and that if you reject it, you ultimately mean rejecting Jesus himself. This notion is misleading, poisonous, and ultimately undermines Jesus' infectious message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that the world should hear so badly. In his book he describes various views on hell, including an approach of all-conciliation . Although Bell does not want to be determined, he declared this position suitable and appropriate to be longed for by Christians .

The book sparked controversy within evangelicals. From the Reformed Churches among others, John Piper , John F. MacArthur and David Platt criticized Bell's positions. Francis Chan's book “ Erasing hell ” ( hell light ) can also be seen as a conservative-biblical replica, Albert Mohler spoke of a “theological catastrophe”.

Other evangelicals, including Brian McLaren , Greg Boyd, and Eugene H. Peterson , defend Bell's views. Bell did not take the view of universal reconciliation and did not adopt any other specific view, but he argued that Christians should allow this question a room for uncertainty.

As Jon Meacham explained, Love Wins shows Bell's willingness to live with secrets rather than ask for certainty. Some evangelicals argued that this uncertainty was incompatible with the Bible, while others said the book simply encouraged long overdue conversations about various traditional interpretations of the Bible.

In his book Bell also poses the question of current theology, which is focused on bringing Christians to heaven instead of on the renewal and transformation of this world willed by God. Bell argues for a Christianity oriented towards this world.

Bell has spoken positively of the very controversial acceptance of homosexuals in the church in the USA , such as their marriage. With this and with other statements he moves away from the generally conservative evangelical mainstream. Bell is accordingly assigned to the Evangelical left , also called Red-Letter Christians in the USA .

Works

• Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Zondervan 2005. ISBN 0-310-26345-X
• Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality. Zondervan 2007. ISBN 0-310-26346-8
• Everything is Spiritual (DVD). Zondervan 2007. ISBN 0-310-28556-9
• The Gods Aren't Angry (DVD). Flannel 2008. ISBN 0-310-29074-0
• Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile. Zondervan 2008. ISBN 0-310-27502-4
• Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering. Zondervan 2009. ISBN 0-310-32704-0
• Love wins. Harper One 2011. ISBN 978-0-06-204964-3
• What We Talk About When We Talk About God. Harper Collins 2013. ISBN 978-0-00-744846-3
• NOOMA videos
• How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living . HaperOne 2016. ISBN 978-0062356291

Translations into German:

• Jesus unplugged. Authentically lived Christianity for today's generation in the 21st century. Brunnen Verlag , Giessen 2006. ISBN 978-3-7655-1974-1
• Sex. God: What is it actually about. Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2008. ISBN 978-3-7655-1976-5
• Velvet Elvis: Painting a New Picture of Faith. Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2012. ISBN 978-3-7655-4171-1
• Love has the last word. Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2013. ISBN 978-3-7655-4186-5
• With you. To you. Before you: what God is. And what not. Gerth Medien , Asslar 2015. ISBN 978-3-9573-4066-5

Web links

• Rob Bell's website
• Rob Bell discusses "Love Wins" with Adrian Warnock on Premier.tv

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The whole list: The 2011 TIME 100 .
2. ↑ http://www.vulture.com/2011/09/lost_showrunner_carlton_cuse_g.html
3. ^ The judicial branch of federal government: people, process, and politics By Charles L. Zelden ABC-CLIO (July 12, 2007) ISBN 978-1-85109-702-9
4. ^ Profiles: US District Court Judge Robert Holmes Bell
5. ^ The Charleston Post and Courier Michigan pastor takes message to new places
6. ^ Rob Bell, Christian rock star, meets Sammy Hagar, real rock star, on Good Morning America set
7. ↑ ^{a b} The Emergent Mystique , accessed May 30, 2009
8. ^ Grand Rapids Press Profile: Mars Hill Bible Church pastor Rob Bell
9. ↑ Jan 07: The 50 Most Influential Christians in America ( Memento of January 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ Mars Hill Bible Church ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ^ The Tennessean: Rob Bell, author of controversial 'Love Wins,' resigns church September 22, 2011
12. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/rob-bell-love-wins_n_1704604.html
13. ↑ 2DAYS WITH ROB BELL OCTOBER EVENTS . Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 25, 2013. 
14. ↑ Kelefa Sanneh: The Hell-Raiser: A megachurch pastor's search for a more forgiving faith . In: The New Yorker . November 26, 2012, p. 65.
15. ↑ Kelefa Sanneh: The Hell-Raiser: A megachurch pastor's search for a more forgiving faith . In: The New Yorker . November 26, 2012, p. 65.
16. ↑ [1] , [2] , [3]
17. ↑ Beliefnet 'Velvet Elvis' Author Encourages Exploration of Doubts
18. ↑ church statement of narrative theology church statement of narrative theology ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. retrieved: 04/04/2010 
19. ↑ https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2065289,00.html
20. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05bell.html
21. ↑ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/marchweb-only/rob-bell-universalism.html
22. ↑ Jon Meacham: Pastor Rob Bell: What if Hell Doesn't Exist? . In: Time , April 14, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
23. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-jonathan-weyer/rob-bell-vs-john-piper-do_b_829956.html
24. ↑ http://www.gty.org/blog/B110418
25. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
26. ↑ http://www.erf.de/online/themen/buecher/hoelle-light/6325-542-3912
27. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
28. ↑ http://reknew.org/2011/03/rob-bell-is-not-a-universalist-and-i-actually-read-love-wins/
29. ↑ http://www.readingtheology.com/eugene-peterson-and-love-wins
30. ^ Pastor Rob Bell: What if Hell Doesn't Exist? - Rogue pastor Rob Bell's argument about salvation and judgment has Evangelicals in a fury - and a young generation rethinking Jesus Read more: TIME Cover: No Hell? Pastor Rob Bell Angers Evangelicals - TIME
31. ↑ Jon Meacham: Pastor Rob Bell: What if Hell Doesn't Exist? . In: Time , April 14, 2011. 
32. ↑ http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/release_date_of_rob_bells_new.html
33. ↑ John Wilson: What Happened to Heaven and Is Gandhi There? . In: The Wall Street Journal , March 18, 2011. 
34. ↑ A heck of a theological debate . In: The Boston Globe . 
35. ↑ http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/19/rob-bell-punches-back-against-claims-of-heresy/
36. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zBXuRIQ3gg
37. ↑ Anna Almendrala: Rob Bell's 'Love Wins' Out In Paperback, As Pastor Celebrates At The Viper Room . In: The Huffington Post , July 26, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012. 
38. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/03/hear_rob_bell_support_same-sex.html