Rob Bell has made waves in the Christian community for his unorthodox ideas. Some say he is an apostate while others claim he is a paradigm shifter.<\/p>\n
Rob Bell was formerly the pastor and founder of the megachurch Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan. His 2011 book, however, led to a deep conflict between him and his congregation. Bell\u2019s book, \u201cLove Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived,\u201d questions traditional teachings about heaven and hell. One of the book\u2019s largest breaks from traditional Christian teachings was Bell\u2019s assertion that anyone can enter into heaven. Later, Bell would shock Christians again with his statement that the \u201cBible has caused so much damage, and in many ways it has often been an agent of dragging everything backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell\u2019s controversial remarks caused more than 3,000 people to leave the Mars Hill Bible Church. \u201cThe book put pressure on the people around Bell,\u201d the New Yorker wrote. \u201c[They] found themselves having to defend statements they might never have heard, let alone approved\u2026congregants reported that friends and family members were asking why they were allowing themselves to be led by a false teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, Bell left the Mars Hill Bible Church to \u201csearch for a more forgiving faith.\u201d Several years later, he was approached by filmmaker Andrew Morgan who wanted to make a documentary about Bell\u2019s life and the controversy surrounding his beliefs. \u201cWe have great respect for Andrew, so we said yes and he began filming tours and RobCasts and events and interviews,\u201d Bell said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine just how much footage he captured. The result is a new film that he is preparing to release. It\u2019s called \u2018The Heretic.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The film has not yet been released, but the trailer is already causing controversy. The trailer features snippets of Bell announcing that \u201cthe religion that has arisen in Jesus\u2019 name, it is anti-what Jesus was talking about\u201d and that \u201creligions have failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Heretic\u201d has also reopened the controversy surrounding Bell\u2019s books and the man himself. Dr. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that \u201cBell wants to rescue God from any teaching that his wrath is poured out upon sin and sinners\u2026but Bell also wants God to vindicate the victims of murder, rape, child abuse and similar evil. He seems not to recognize that he has undercut his own story, leaving God unable or unwilling to bring true justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proponents of Bell\u2019s teachings, however, claim that the man is a \u201cparadigm shifter\u201d who speaks to the original teachings of Jesus. \u201cWe are going through a revolution,\u201d Bell claimed, \u201cbecause these great [religious] traditions have to be expanded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Heretic\u201d will be available on Amazon and iTunes on March 1, 2018, and it promises to be every bit as controversial as the man it focuses on.<\/p>\n