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Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

Author: Rob Bell
Publisher: Zondervan Publishing House
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

12 reviews
Sales Rank: 3704

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.7 x 0.6

ISBN: 0310273080
Dewey Decimal Number: 261
EAN: 9780310273080
ASIN: 0310273080

Publication Date: July 1, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

Take him very seriously... June 24, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

...when he says you should read this book critically. I have a hard time recommending this book. I found it frustrating, because Rob veers wildly from wonderfully insightful to deeply misguided and misleading. It worries me that he would so casually throw out some of the observations he makes in this book, because he's a figurehead to many Christians who aren't inclined to approach critically anything that fits their preconceptions, and I doubt there's much in here to challenge anyone of that particular mindset. There are parts of this book which manage to even come across as if Rob were not a Christian at all, and I dread to think of the impact it could have on the developing faith of one of the many teens he's popular with.

If you have set everything about your faith rigidly in place a good while ago, you could really have something to gain from reading this book, if you are able to approach it with an open mind. Try not to allow recognition of how flawed some of the ideas in the book are to get in the way of the genuine, timely insight shown elsewhere.

If, however, you've yet to have a long, hard look at what you believe, I would urge you to look elsewhere. The last thing you need is something easy to swallow and utterly worthless - and unfortunately, there is much in here that fits the description.

1 out of 5 stars

Why do people rave about this book? May 14, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful

Rob Bells book is very popular - but I simply cant see why. Its popularity massively outstrips its ability to edify. He labels inflexibility over fundamental doctrines as "brickianity". A lot of his arguments dont stand up to scrutiny. It just seems like another book motivated by an anti-church attitude or anti-conservative evangelical a attitude. For a good review of the book go to the web site of the "alliance of confessing evangelicals" and download the review their.
The book is worth reading so that you know what people in the church are being influenced by, but if you want to be edified I'd recommend you read something like "Future Grace" by Piper or "Salvation belongs to the LORD" by John Frame.

5 out of 5 stars

Velvet Elvis - Don't Panic! March 12, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have read through some of the previous reviews and been struck by the sense of alarm, and at times, panic induced by reading this book.
What concerns me most about that, is that it indicates that as a church (in the widest possible sense) we seem to have forgotten the art, nay the responsibility of studying, questionning and debating our beliefs.
It seems over the course of time we have been taught to simply accept whatever we are taught from the pulpit, without necessarily chewing it over a great deal. We simply swallow it wholesale. Literally. And without question.
I think a mark of maturity in a Christian is being able to reflect on new/very old ideas and perspectives, without feeling threatened or defensive.
Bell takes a look at some common and less common aspects of the Christian faith and puts them under the spotlight, asking some searching questions. I found the book to be exciting, challenging and thought-provoking.

Please, let's not turn off our God-given intellect when we walk into church and sit down.Let us instead ENGAGE with the issues facing the church and the society with which we are inextricably linked. Let us debate and discuss, and perhaps be brave enough to admit that sometimes our nice 'pat' answers aren't always enough.

If we can dare to be real and honest enough with our non-christian friends and workmates, so that they can see we are normal people, who have faith, rather than perfect, pious, 'untouchables', then perhaps Jesus might just become a little more accessible, and little less far away?

5 out of 5 stars

Good stuff but.... March 2, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Excellent read. very thought provoking.

The key is doing what Rob Bell suggests... talk about the book with friends and church leaders. Don't take things on board without checking them out.

Rob Bell made me realise that it is ok to question what you believe and why you believe it.

I realised that loads of what I believe is based on a western view of Jesus and also based on the beliefs of the churches that I have attended. I want my beliefs and faith based on the bible and the way Jesus went about doing things. Make sure you question and find answers with the help of Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, christian friends and church leaders.

1 out of 5 stars

What are you looking for? December 3, 2007
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

What are you looking for? This book is a
* Five-Star if you believe that evolution does not contradict your faith, that science is not subordinate to the Bible, and that the story of so-called "Creation" is merely a work for children's entertainment.
* Five-Star if you know that God speaks to you outside the Bible in your thoughts and prayers, as well as through unbelievers, leaders of other religions, and popular entertainers. Besides, religions are like flower petals - all leading to the central, common God.
* Five-Star if feel the Bible , as written, is not really God's Word but man's interpretation of it - coloured by his emotions and wrong-thinking and is affected by poor-translation skills.
* Five-Star if you feel that Christians should be doing more works instead of working toward obedience in holiness to God first and letting that be an overflow of it.
* Five-Star if you are tired of Christians being accused of being un-loving by non-Christians because they disagree with your lifestyle and think they have biblical warrant for disagreement (as in so-called "fornication", etc.).
* Five-Star if you know that a good God would not send people to a fiery hell after death just because they did not "believe in Jesus" and that "hell" is actually here on earth, and further, that we can stop "hell" by loving and compassionate approaches and working in the community.
* Five-Star if you know that man is not inherently sinful - that he is essentially good and that it is his poor self-image, terrible life experiences and irresponsible upbringing that ruin him.
* Five-Star if you just want to live like Jesus by being a nice person that raises no hairs on anyone's back - except those fanatical "fundamentalist Christians" (or, as Bell puts it "Brick world Dwellers") who take the Bible seriously and are not enlightened enough to know that today's people don't want to live like that.
* Five-Star if you have no pat-answer for why evil exists in the world, why bad things happen to good people or why someone should forgive a perpetrator of evil upon them if they want to be a "Christian".

If none of these describe you, you'll dislike this book, disagree with the unbiblical theology in it, and you'll hesitate to write even a one-star review. If you've read the Bible at length, you will see all sorts of errors and dangers in Mr. Bell's teachings. If you have read any church history books, you will also realise that Rob Bell's "new movement" is not new at all and folks like B.B. Warfield and others were fighting against this last century.
In general, the book is over-loaded with good-works platitudes and poor grammar, but that would be forgivable if the heart were right.
If you have trusted in Jesus Christ for the propitiation of your inherently-sinful self and that the Christ you were introduced to was the one in the true and living Bible and not of your emotions, then you will realise that this "emergent movement" is the kind of movement that comes from the bowels of discontent with the God of the Bible because of His non-acceptance by the world and its so-called science. This kind of movement is that which merits only being judiciously flushed down the toilet along with all the other carnal excrement (all things Emergent).
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:6 (see all of Psalm 19, for that matter - the Scripture is enough).