A Discussion with Rob Bell

  • Jessica Henthorne
  • May 3, 2011

Rob Bell - Discussion with Rob Bell
Dr. Scott Wenig and Pastor Rob Bell

Years ago, former Denver Seminary president Dr. Vernon Grounds described Denver Seminary as a place of vibrant evangelicalism. He wrote, “Here is no unanchored liberalism, freedom to think without commitment. Here is no encrusted dogmatism, commitment without freedom to think. Here is vibrant evangelicalism, commitment with freedom to think within the limits laid down in Scripture.” It is in the spirit of that “vibrant evangelicalism” that we hosted this conversation with Rob Bell on April 8, 2011.

Bell, who was scheduled to be in Denver for another event, agreed to come to Denver Seminary for what was described as an “open discussion.” It included a thirty-minute presentation by Bell on the themes and goal of the book, thirty minutes of questions from our faculty member, Dr. Scott Wenig, and thirty minutes of questions from the student body. We believe this type of event expresses our core commitments of vigorous scholarship and charitable orthodoxy. (You can view our core commitments HERE and our doctrinal statement HERE)  Through this kind of presentation and discussion we want our students to learn how to critically engage controversial ideas by asking probing questions based on solid exegesis and theological reasoning. Just as importantly we want them to learn how to engage in this kind of conversation in a charitable and civil way.

We trust that you will find this recording helpful in thinking through the issues that have been raised by Bell in his book. We would encourage you to read through the seminary’s doctrinal statement as a point of reference while listening to the discussion.

Audio of Rob Bell discussion*

Faculty Roundtable Response to Love Wins: Three Perspectives, One Confession - On Tuesday, May 3rd, Dr. Don Payne hosted a follow-up debriefing session for the Rob Bell dialogue along with Dr. Douglas Groothuis and Dr. Bill Klein. These three professors represented three different disciplines: Systematic Theology (Payne), Philosophy (Groothuis), and Biblical Studies (Klein). Each professor offered their perspectives on how to interpret the issues raised in Love Wins.

Audio of Faculty Roundtable Response to Rob Bell*

 

 
*Reproduction or distribution of this presentation is prohibited without express written consent from Denver Seminary.

Comments(1)

Comments:

Emet Stone

Thanks for a really well done interview Dr. Wenig. Despite criticism that Bell is trying to retell the gospel in a manner more palatable to contemporary culture, a main irony of “Love Wins” is that, on close review the ideas Pastor Bell is proposing are not good news for most people, including this world’s victims about whom he writes with such compassion. For a different take on “Love Wins” please see http://emetstone.blogspot.com/2011/04/wheres-love-is-rob-bells-portrayal-of.html Thanks for reading.