Bridge of Reason

  By What Authority? Ask a cult member about their faith and they will come up with a rote answer, often couched in the language of testimony. This is meant to redirect your attention away from the question, to the claims of the cult thrown in a positive light. Usually someone 'went back to the Bible,' 'had a vision,' 'felt led by God to do something,' and 'when I did the same thing I came to the same conclusions.' Charles Russell and his Bible study group studied the Bible for themselves and found 'The Truth'. I did the same thing and discovered 'The Truth' too. Joseph Smith went into the woods and prayed and got an answer, I prayed and got my own answer. This becomes the authority for every subsequent claim and robust apologetic study is bypassed by personal knowledge/revelation. Challenge them and they will quote their own leaders as the final authority on – everything. This leads to unquestioning loyalty and blind belief in a worl...

by Jon Taylor Background A decade ago, Zondervan published Rob Bell’s first book ‘Velvet Elvis’ i which caused quite a stir amongst evangelicals although that was just a ripple compared with the tidal wave caused by his 2011 publication ‘Love Wins.’ ii In particular, John Piper was deeply concerned about Bell’s thoughts on penal substitution and the atonement. iii Rob Bell usually writes in a mysterious and provocative style, appealing to a postmodern audience, often leaving questions unanswered before raising another issue. There is typically a lack of clarity leaving the intended meaning open to discussion. Although not expressly stated in the respective texts, both books have come under criticism for either bordering Universalism or presenting Universalist ideas. At the time of authoring ‘Velvet Elvis’, Rob Bell was the Pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan which is not to be confused with Mark Driscoll’s former church, Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. In fact D...