I recently had the opportunity to view Rob Bell\u2019s \u201cNooma 019 Open\u201d video.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve taken several opportunities to write about Bell and his Emergent movement, it will come as no surprise that there is no love lost between myself and Bell\u2019s movement (or Zondervan Publishers, for that matter, in so eagerly supporting it.)\u00a0 Yet, I have determined to do my level-best at giving a fair and biblical review of this product which will reveal the very best and worst which this evolving \u201cconversation\u201d has to offer via Bell\u2019s contribution of Nooma 019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first and most obvious impression of Nooma 019, as with all of Bell\u2019s Nooma videos, is the exceptional production quality with which it was prepared.\u00a0 The use of music, mood and the seemingly extemporaneous narration delivery are truly artful and impressive.\u00a0 Of all possible issues which one may take with Bell\u2019s Nooma productions, quality of craftsmanship is certainly not one of them.\u00a0 In fact, the overall sensitivity of expression is so compelling that it is quite possible for one to be enraptured by the sentiments and completely miss the subtle theological nuances which underlie the premise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost as impressive is Bell\u2019s apparent understanding of the underlying human uncertainty which permeates our post-modern culture.\u00a0 As he frequently does so well, Bell addresses very real and valid issues which tear at the heart of human confidence in God\u2019s sovereignty.\u00a0 He opens the video by introducing a true story of a friend who had lost a baby in the neonatal unit of a local hospital, despite extensive and passionate appeals in prayer.\u00a0 In his buildup of the issue at hand, he very compassionately poses questions we all have asked at one time or another.\u00a0 Essentially, he appeals to know why God seems not to answer our prayers at times.\u00a0 Why does a bona-fide miracle follow prayer on one occasion while utter silence seems to be God\u2019s response at others?\u00a0 He asks,<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you do with that?\u00a0 I mean, does God answer prayers some, but not all?\u00a0 Sometimes but not all of the time?\u00a0 Or does God always answer prayers \u2013 it\u2019s just that sometimes God says \u2018no\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n These are great<\/em> questions that appeal to the heart and soul of everyone who has ever experienced personal loss in the midst of intensive prayer.\u00a0 Bell sincerely gets an \u201cA\u201d for asking solid questions which saturate the conscience.\u00a0 He obviously has his finger of the pulse of our culture.\u00a0 He clearly understands the dynamic of suffering and asks good questions about such in light of God\u2019s permissive will.\u00a0<\/p>\n At this point, Bell had the bases loaded with a high and outside slow pitch just waiting<\/em> for a competent swing.\u00a0 I personally envy Bell\u2019s ability to prepare a difficult subject for its suitable teachable moment.\u00a0 Invariably, however, his perfectly grand-slammable pitch produces a dinked foul over the left field line.\u00a0 (He runs the bases anyway.)<\/p>\n After an exceptional introduction, he manages to equally impressively misrepresent the nature of prayer and suffering respectively as he attaches a culturally-discernable relevance and man-centric intention to them both. Bell, it seems, has a knack for high quality production of poorly constructed theology.<\/p>\n He begins the discovery phase of his \u201canswer\u201d with a great scenario; the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.\u00a0 Who better to illuminate the nature of suffering than the Lord himself?\u00a0 Who better to explain how prayers are heard and answered than Christ, who prayed,<\/p>\n Matthew 26:39 (NIV) <\/strong> Before getting to Bell\u2019s weird expose\u2019 on this text, let it first be noted what Jesus prayed.\u00a0 First, he prayed that if it be possible, may this cup be taken from me.<\/em>\u00a0 This is the logical prayer of a subordinate to his master, for Jesus had subordinated himself to God (Phil 2) that he may be \u201cobedient unto death.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIf it be possible\u201d was the preparatory attitude of Jesus\u2019 request.\u00a0 He desired not to die, yet only if such \u201cbe possible\u201d under God\u2019s plan; thus, his second request, \u201cyet not as I will, but as you will.\u201d\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 prayer, he expressed his own desire while yielding<\/em> to God\u2019s wishes with no self-interest at all.\u00a0 While he desired not to endure the horrific experience of substitutionary atonement on a cross, he desired more<\/em> to be obedient unto death.\u00a0 In short, it was God\u2019s plan, God\u2019s will and God\u2019s glory that he sought in his prayer, all-the-while knowing that he would suffer and die on that cross.<\/p>\n Bell gets some of this right, noting that Jesus did not desire to endure the pain of the cross if it were not essential.\u00a0 Surely Jesus shared everyone else\u2019s aversion to nail punctures and a slow, painful death.\u00a0 He even got it right that Jesus put God\u2019s will ahead of his own.\u00a0 Yet, Bell fails utterly when he attempts to answer the \u201cwhy\u201d of Jesus\u2019 prayer.\u00a0 Bell notes,<\/p>\n \u201cNow to understand why Jesus prays like this we have to understand that Jesus took very seriously the creation poem of Genesis; that the Bible begins with.\u00a0 And in this creation poem God creates \u2013 God creates things that are capable of creating more.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Here we go.<\/p>\n First of all, how do you even say, \u201cJesus took very seriously the creation poem<\/em>\u201d with a straight face?\u00a0 In Bell\u2019s non-literal view of Genesis, the creation is always relegated to the status of \u201cpoetry,\u201d which of course, expresses an idea rather than a historical account.\u00a0 What an incongruity to note Jesus<\/em> as one who takes seriously<\/em> the creation account when you deny it\u2019s literality yourself.\u00a0 Yes, Jesus did<\/em> take the creation account<\/em> seriously.\u00a0 Jesus stated in Mark 10:6 (NIV), <\/strong>6 <\/sup>“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ \u00a0(God made man at the beginning of creation, not a billion years afterward as Bell professes)\u00a0 Jesus also took literally the account of Noah, stating, Luke 17:26 (NIV), <\/strong>26 <\/sup>“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.\u00a0 (Bell claims the flood is another part of a strange \u201cpoetic discussion\u201d on \u201cthe humanity project\u201d \u2013 but not a literal event)\u00a0 And, most eerily, Jesus claimed judgment on those who did not take seriously<\/em> such accounts, stating, John 5:46-47 (NIV), <\/strong>46 <\/sup>If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 <\/sup>But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”<\/p>\n But, I digress.\u00a0 Bell was, after all, correct (on this part):\u00a0 Jesus did take very seriously the creation poem<\/span> narrative.\u00a0 And, it is in this creation poem<\/span> narrative that Bell presumes to find the reason why Jesus prayed the way he did.<\/em><\/p>\n Prepare yourselves.\u00a0 Weirdness approaching…<\/p>\n Bell claims that the creation account was about a continuing process<\/em> of creation (in spite of Genesis 2:2 noting that \u201cGod had finished\u201d his work).\u00a0 Going off of his quote (above) that \u201cGod creates things that are capable of creating more,\u201d God, in Bell\u2019s words, \u201cleaves the world unfinished and invites people to take part in the ongoing creation of the world.\u201d\u00a0 He notes that this creative process is endless, \u201cbringing design, order and beauty\u201d to God\u2019s unfinished creation.\u00a0<\/p>\n As difficult as this train of thought is to follow, Bell immediately explains his \u201ccreation poem\u201d rabbit chase with these words:\u00a0 \u201cAnd so, when Jesus prayed, he\u2019s tapping into this divine creative energy that made everything.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cTapping into?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe divine creative energy?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Bell\u2019s Emergent mind must be what it would be like for Shirley McClain to cross with Benny Hinn!\u00a0 It\u2019s clear that Bell at least considers this \u201ccreative energy\u201d to be one and the same as God himself.\u00a0 He notes that, \u201cJesus\u2019 assumption is that there is some role for him to play in this creative, ongoing work of God in the world.\u201d\u00a0 So, the question must be raised, \u201cwhat is Bell teaching about who God is?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Is God a \u201ccreative energy\u201d that formed the world (and left it unfinished), or is he an infinitely powerful being with personality, purpose and sovereignty?<\/em>\u00a0 Does God not have intellect, emotion and will?\u00a0 Bell seems to attempt to marry the two ideas of \u201cpersonhood\u201d and \u201cenergy\u201d in his language.\u00a0 On one hand, God is the worker of this unfinished creation; an \u201cenergy\u201d by which creation was made and on the other, he obviously has a will, as he notes the \u201congoing work of God\u201d in the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A second, and equally alarming question is, \u201cwhat is Bell\u2019s understanding of the nature of Jesus?\u201d\u00a0 He claims that Jesus\u2019 prayer in Gethsemane was about Jesus\u2019 finding his role in God\u2019s ongoing creative process?\u00a0 This is utter nonsense.\u00a0 Jesus knew his role well in advance.\u00a0 He knew the prophecies of Isaiah 53.\u00a0 He stated on numerous occasions to his disciples,<\/p>\n Luke 9:22 (NIV) <\/strong> \u00a0Jesus already knew what his role was in God\u2019s plan.\u00a0 He was not confused by it.\u00a0 His prayer in no wise illustrated some existential search for his place in the world [Michael W. Smith playing quietly in the background<\/em>].\u00a0 Rather, his prayer was an intentional assent for God\u2019s will to be done,<\/em> all the while acknowledging his own desire that another way were to be possible.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 expression was one of intimacy and trust in God, who had called him to the darkest and most difficult hour of his life.\u00a0 It was not a quest for his own enlightenment of the future,<\/em> but a submission to God\u2019s will concerning the certain future he already knew.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n So, while Bell introduces his video with exceptionally good leading questions, in the quest for answers he creates additional uncertainty; primarily, \u201cwhat on earth does this guy believe, anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n Such is the nature of the Emergent movement which Bell represents.\u00a0 In this movement, questions without answers are common.\u00a0 In fact, they are embraced. \u00a0It is preferable<\/em> to have an unanswered question rather than an answered one for fear of sounding too \u201cmodern\u201d in one\u2019s certainty.\u00a0 Knowledge is the root of all evil in this system where all claim to be engaging in a cosmic conversation, yet none will commit to a discernable postulate.\u00a0 Instead, Bell adds a new dimension to prayer altogether, complete with a new purpose<\/em> for praying which has nothing at all to do with either calling on God\u2019s response nor receiving his instructions.\u00a0 Instead, his deduction is,<\/p>\n \u201cSo prayer is being still, it\u2019s meditating, it\u2019s reflecting, it\u2019s listening, it\u2019s waking up and it\u2019s when you never stop asking the question, \u2018what is God up to right here, right now, and how can I be a part of it.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ironically, what begins as one of the greatest preludes to an unanswered question ends with no answer at all.\u00a0 Instead of answering his introductory questions, he concludes that prayer itself is an unending quest of one to \u201cnever stop asking the question, \u2018what is God up right here, right now, and how can I be a part of it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Admittedly, it is a good question to ask \u201cwhat is God up to\u201d and \u201chow can I be a part of it.\u201d\u00a0 But, is this the end of the matter?\u00a0 What happened to the thesis question of why God answers \u201cyes,\u201d or \u201cno\u201d or if he even hears us at all?\u00a0 Was this not the rhetorical introductory thesis of his work?\u00a0 Is there no answer in scripture as to why God says \u201cno\u201d at times?\u00a0 Is there no revelation in scripture as to why God at times does not answer?<\/em>\u00a0 Of course there is<\/a>.\u00a0 But, you will not find the answers to Rob Bell\u2019s questions about prayer<\/em> in Rob Bell\u2019s video on prayer<\/em>.\u00a0 Instead, you find a completely different frame of reference from the thesis \u2013 according to Bell \u2013 as to what prayer is all about.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGod\u2019s desire is that the divine energy that made the world would flow between us, and in the process draw us closer together.\u00a0 Prayer is tapping into the same energy that formed the universe.\u00a0 That\u2019s why people say that they can feel prayer; it\u2019s because we can.\u00a0 Praying connects us to the people and things we are praying for.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n God\u2019s desire is that the divine energy that made the world would flow between us?\u00a0 Can we have a chapter and verse on that, Rob?\u00a0 And the purpose of prayer is found in that while this \u201cdivine energy\u201d does its thing it will \u201cin the process draw us closer together?\u201d\u00a0 Does prayer draw us closer to each other or closer to God?\u00a0 What book of the Bible teaches this nonsense?\u00a0 And, once again we\u2019re \u201ctapping into the energy that formed the universe?\u201d\u00a0 The universe was formed at God\u2019s command.<\/em>\u00a0 It was not some random \u201cenergy\u201d but the power of the Word of almighty God.\u00a0 One does not \u201ctap into\u201d God\u2019s power as he might chug back a Red Bull for that extra burst of energy when needed.\u00a0 Prayer is calling on the personal GOD who owns Bell\u2019s cosmic \u201cenergy\u201d- that HE may make HIS WILL known to HIS SUBJECTS!<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Bell, who so eloquently asks good <\/em>questions concerning God\u2019s answers to prayer, ends his diatribe of inconsistency and uncertainty exactly the way you would expect \u2013 if you knew Rob Bell at all – with a big fat, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo when people ask all sorts of questions: \u2018why didn\u2019t God do this,\u2019 \u2018why did God do this,\u2019 \u2018why did God show up then,\u2019 \u2018why\u2019d God make a miracle happen there,\u2019 \u2018why\u2019s God say \u201cyes\u201d to this prayer and \u201cno\u201d to that prayer,\u2019\u00a0 I\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DON\u2019T\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KNOW.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Now THAT is an answer I trust.\u00a0 Ironically, THAT is also the answer to the very question Bell indicated in his thesis that he would be pursuing in this video.\u00a0 Once again, one of the chief leaders of this leader-less movement had deduced that \u201cnot knowing\u201d is better than knowing.\u00a0 The mysteries of God are somehow more comforting than His clearly declared truths.<\/p>\n In conclusion, the apple does not far fall from the tree.\u00a0 Rob Bell produced another Nooma video which accurately represents the touchy-feely, perplexed and incapable-of-a-straight-answer perspective of the Emergent movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not only do I fail to see any merit of this video for any forum,<\/em> I seriously doubt the salvation of its creator.\u00a0 Overall (beyond this single work), I have yet to hear Bell present an articulate (and scripturally accurate<\/a>) sentence dealing with the purpose Christ played in history as it relates to his own salvation.\u00a0 Instead, Bell continually teaches contrary to the substitutionary atonement of Christ.\u00a0 I have heard him decry that \u201cGod is not angry<\/a>\u201d for man\u2019s sin.\u00a0 I have read his works which come exceptionally close to preaching universalism<\/a> and clearly denying the existence of a literal Hell<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n I should have expected no less confusion in his poetic exegesis<\/em> concerning man\u2019s relationship to God through prayer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently had the opportunity to view Rob Bell\u2019s \u201cNooma 019 Open\u201d video.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve taken several opportunities to write about Bell and his Emergent movement, it will come as no surprise that there is no love lost between myself and Bell\u2019s movement (or Zondervan Publishers, for that matter, in so eagerly supporting it.)\u00a0 Yet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[64,145,156,159],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=679"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n39 <\/sup>\u2026 “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” <\/em><\/p>\n
\n22 <\/sup>And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n