Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith | 
 enlarge | Author: Rob Bell
Publisher: Zondervan
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $7.36
You Save: $7.63 (51%)
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Rating:  123 reviews
Sales Rank: 2982
Media: Paperback
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 ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
God never changes, nor do the central truths of Christianity. But our understanding of those truths is in constant flux. Christians will always be exploring and discovering what it means to live in harmony with God and each other. Now in softcover, Velvet Elvis offers original and refreshingly personal perspectives on what Christianity is really about.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 118 more reviews...
 Emerging Views on Christianity January 6, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rob Bell does a fabulous job in wresting with tranditional Chritianity. He makes you think and I promise, you will not e able to put Velvet Elvis down.
The Seminal Book of the Emerging Church Movement! January 6, 2009
Pastor Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis" is one of those rare books that future historians, believers and theologians will be reading 50 or 100 years from now. It is, by all rights, the seminal text for the Emerging Church movement. Even though I didn't agree with everything in Bell's meditation on faith, I highly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and open heart.
"Velvet Elvis" consists of a short introduction and seven chapters, which Bell calls "movements," followed by a short epilogue. It's clearly written for "searchers" and "seekers" who have rejected the self-righteous poison of strict orthodoxy and fundamentalism (which I would call the modern-day Pharisee mentality).
The title of the book springs from a velvet painting of Elvis that he keeps in his basement. That painting represents the static, unchanging approach to faith. In contrast, Bell uses a trampoline as a metaphor for the dangerous but delightful experience of encountering God in a multitude of new ways: You might fall off from time to time. You could even bonk your head. But my, oh my, what an exhilarating ride!
WARNING: This isn't a "cookbook" approach to Christian faith. You won't find easy answers here, but rather a boatload of insightful questions to ponder on your spiritual journey toward God. In fact, that's Rob Bell's main point -- when we settle for easy answers, we all too often close our minds and hearts off from the dangerous, exhilarating love of God. Faith isn't about safety or conformity to a dogma, says Bell. And I'd have to agree with him.
My advice is this: Don't listen to the cranky Pharisees and fundamentalists who are condemning this wonderful little book -- read it for yourself and then form YOUR OWN opinions. Jesus asked a lot of questions during his ministry on Earth, and so should we. Enjoy!
 Anti-Christian babbling December 10, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you want your "itching ears" scratched, if you want all things to be true in some mystical way or another, if you want truth to be ultimately unknowable and always relative, please subscribe to the teaching of this new age "teacher."
Bell states there is no virgin birth? Ooops! We just departed from orthodoxy, as well as made it impossible for Jesus to be born out of the line of Adam (and, therefore, sinless)!
Bell does not believe that the 300 folks who cannonized the Bible could actually tell which books of the Bible were inspired? So, according to Bell, we can't REALLY know that the Bible is actually God's word...it's for each generation to interpret, according to the dictates of their own culture.
The Bible states that we are NOT to be conformed to this world (Ro 12). The Bible teaches that the Word of the lord stands forever. Jesus taught that HE is the truth. The Bible states that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. Bell gets it all backwards.
Bell so desperately wants to be seen as something new and different, he rejects the very heart of the Gospel. In the end, it's all just a best-guessing game, acording to Bell.
Here we go down the long slippery slope...
READ THIS BOOK!! November 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Before I decided to read this book my friends kept telling me, "If you're comfortable with your faith, don't read this book," to which I replied, "If you're comfortable with your faith then something is wrong." If we don't challenge our faith, then how will we ever develop spiritually?
That's exactly what this book is about: challenging and questioning our faith. Bell takes us into the world of questioning ALL THINGS in search of truth. Question yourself, question the church, question your beliefs, question religious principles and doctrines, question culture, and even question the Holy Bible and how we use it.
Along with Bell's profound insights and wisdom, he provides an abundant list of commentary, references, resources, and literature to explore certain points more in depth. This book will challenge you. It may even change you. Above all else, this book will help bring you more in-tune with God.
Rob Bell Shows Us More October 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Througout his book, Bell reiterates the theme that ""One of the central assertions of the Christian worldview is that there is `more.' " (19) Over and over he gives us deeper and deeper ways to think about the gospel, evangelism, denominational differences, and how we live our lives on a daily basis. No matter which side of the postmodern issue you are on, you will find much food for thought. He writes in a casual, yet profound style that keeps the interest of the reader and draws that reader into a more relevant understanding of being a Christian.
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