Book Review: Velvet Elvis (Part I)

This should be my first of many book review posts. The purpose of this type of post is to analyze different literature, almost entirely in the realm of Christian work, in order to give the reader a good synopsis of the book’s content and usefulness in the life of the believer. The reviews will be scrutinized under the authority of Scripture, and the theological soundness of the book will be attacked or defended. I will also analyze other aspects of the books I read here such as whether or not the book was interesting, or whether the book was relevant to most readers. I hope these posts will keep you up to date on some popular books and encourage or discourage you to read some of them.

Rob Bell’s “Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith”

Overall - D+
Creativity – B
Ability to Hold Interest – B+
Theology – D-
Reliability – D
Useful – D

Final conclusion – If you only read a few books a year, don’t waste one on this book. If you are grounded in your theology and want to read from the perspective of a new age church movement, read it.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s a cliché expression. Problem is, this saying holds an exact opposite truth than generally intended by that saying. This book has a great looking cover that was obviously designed by a talent graphic designer. However, once you get past the cover, “Velvet Elvis” not only has shoddy theology, by many of its ideas are dangerous.

I will let you know what drew me to this book. My friend from school loves Rob Bell to death, probably because my friend loves graphic design and all that cool stuff. For months I ripped on him about Rob Bell because of what I had heard about him from others. Finally, after a few months, I decided that instead of being a hypocrite, I would read the book. At times, the book is inspiriting and encouraging to the believer. However, if someone is not firmly grounded in Biblical theology, it can also lead to some dangerous ideas. I decided to post on this book because it has sold over 100,000 copies. Rob Bell’s NOOMA videos and other books, such as “Sex God”, have gathered him a national audience, and I think it is crucial for people in the church to use the lenses of Scripture to analyze all things, especially trendy or popular movements, such as the emergent movement Bell is tied to. I will try and make this review as brief as I can, but the books popularity makes me tend to what to analyze it in depth. For today, I will go over chapter 1, which is titled “Jump”.

CHAPTER 1 - JUMP:

Anyone who has written anything knows that you should try and begin and end well. This is crucial. Bell’s first and last chapters are nightmarish compared to the rest of his book. The overarching analogy in chapter one is that of a trampoline. He encourages everyone to follow with the fluid movement of Christianity, which he claims is constantly changing, adjusting, and growing. Bell states that God has not left us alone in human history, and that “As a part of this tradition, I embrace the need to keep painting, to keep reforming (12).” He goes on to say that by this he does not mean “better lights, sharper graphics, and new methods…I mean theology (12).”

Bell goes on to make the analogy of a trampoline. The springs of the trampoline represent doctrine. Like springs, theology has room to move (22). Bell claims doctrine has an importance to it, that it helps us put to words reality (25). He says that many of us wrongly make theology like bricks, where if one is removed, it damages the sturdiness of our faith (26). Then, he goes on to his famous statements on the virgin birth.

He says that if tomorrow, the virgin birth was disproved, one could keep “jumping”, could keep on with the faith and believing in God. “But if the whole faith fall apart when we reexamine and rethink one spring, then it wasn’t that strong in the first place, was it (27)?” He says that in brick world (those who believe doctrine is essential) are stuck to defend themselves, and that he would much rather enjoy the trampoline and invite others to enjoy jumping with him.

The problem with Rob Bell’s argument is that it is completely unbiblical. There is a problem called sin (which is tip toed around a lot in this book), and if Christ was born of a man, he would have imputed a sin nature. If Christ had imputed a sin nature, his sacrifice would have been worthless. And then me, Rob Bell, Jerry Falwell, Bill Graham and every other believer in history would have to account for their own sins, and would ultimately fall short and go to hell. It seems to me that the spring of the virgin birth is very important. I don’t think I can go “jumping” on the trampoline without it. You see this in the Bible with other doctrines.

Speaking about the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” Without the resurrection, we not only are not saved, but our entire lives on earth are to be pitied more than all men! We are the most pitiful creatures on earth if this doctrine is not true! Bell is correct that some beliefs about the Bible are not vital. That if certain springs broke (for example, if our views on the end times are wrong, the different views on miraculous gifts), we could continue jumping. He seems to forget that a doctrine about God changing over time means that God changes, that the Bible's claims of the immutability of God (theological term meaning He doesn't change) are untrue. He also seems to undermine the authority Scripture holds, aluding to theology changing even though the Word of God is the ultimate authority to the believer. Bell's ignorant, sweeping statements are completely heretical. There is no way around that fact.

Bell then goes on in this chapter and tells us to embrace doubt. Jesus never sponsored this type of thinking. He was always questioning his disciple’s faith, telling them they doubted too much. Yes, there is a time and a place for investigation, study, and research. However, I think there is healthy “doubt” and unhealthy doubt. One should not just accept everything they hear in the church or in a book blindly. They should always question and turn to the Word. And everyone goes through times where they do doubt, and those are times we need to have faith and trust in God and His character when things seems to make no sense. However, encouraging doubt seems to be pointing people to question God by our own standards. This is rebellion, and it is sin. There is a fine line. We should never hold ourselves above God like we can question Him.

I agree with him as he later says that seeking out truth will always lead to more questions, and we will never come to conclusions on everything. However, it is strangely absent that here Bell does not emphasis that we should turn to and lean on and desperately cling to the Bible for truth. I do like what he says on page 35, that many times we just try and convince people to believe the same things we do. With this, may people end up intellectually affirming these truths but never bowing their hearts to Christ or loving Him. This is not salvation, and this strategy of telling people that if they just agree with us in the truth that they are saved. Salvation always will result in a love for Christ, not just an ability to explain who He is.

In the end, the first chapter leaves the reader who embraces Bell’s teaching doubting doctrine, questioning God, and mostly focused on the experiential “jumping” of the Christian faith, which Bell encourages us to change and “repaint” as it continually changes. Not the best start to a book I have read. I will review the next few chapters in my next post.

Posted by John Carlson at 7:02 PM 0 comments


Friday, February 16, 2007

Academic Works
Academic Works

http://savefile.com/projects/1080352

This is a link (also on the right of my home page here) to some of my papers I have written during my undergrad/grad school work. They all fall under the categories of either Biblical Studies, Theology, or Church History. They do not all represent my best work, and some of them have many errors. They should be used to supplement learning, not for copying for academic dishonesty. Make sure when you click on the link to scroll down to see where they are to download. They will not be put as their own posts as most of them are at least 10 pages in length. Enjoy!

John