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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Life-changing.
This was a reread. I forgot how much I loved it and I also really enjoyed the audiobook version.
I feel like I need to re-read this book every month or so for the rest of my life! It's all about how loving and powerful God is. It opened my mind with its positive interpretations of many Bible passages. I'll never look at the parable of the Prodigal Son the same way again. <3
emotional
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
I liked this book more than I thought I would. I listened to it on audio and it was read by the author, so I think that makes a difference when you can hear tone of voice and inflection and really get what the author's point is. Controversial topic, but I do like the questions the author asks and appreciated hearing his views on those questions. It can make one think in a new way or at least explore possibilities that were never considered either because these ideas had never occurred to them or because it was frowned upon to do so by one's particular family, church, or denomination.
I hadn’t heard of Rob Bell before Ryan Holiday wrote about this book in one of his newsletters. I’m not a Christian nor religious and probably never would have picked this book up otherwise, so I’m glad he did.
Some parts of the book (and his writing) I struggled with but I did like Bell’s interpretation of heaven and hell and how he used the historical context of the times to explain it. That we create our own version of hell (suffering) and heaven (peace and creativity) on earth NOW and that we always have a choice feels pretty stoic and rings true for me. I also loved how he broke down the story of the prodigal son and talked about how you tell a story (even to yourself) matters, that there can be several perspectives at once and that we get to choose which one we want to believe.
Definitely not for everyone, but I wouldn’t write it off just because you’re not religious.
Some parts of the book (and his writing) I struggled with but I did like Bell’s interpretation of heaven and hell and how he used the historical context of the times to explain it. That we create our own version of hell (suffering) and heaven (peace and creativity) on earth NOW and that we always have a choice feels pretty stoic and rings true for me. I also loved how he broke down the story of the prodigal son and talked about how you tell a story (even to yourself) matters, that there can be several perspectives at once and that we get to choose which one we want to believe.
Definitely not for everyone, but I wouldn’t write it off just because you’re not religious.
I didn’t read this book for so long because it was deemed so controversial, but it by far is one of my favorite books on the character and love of God. For me, it made tons and tons of sense. Would recommend!!
I read most of this book years ago (mostly just to piss John Piper off). I remember when this book first came out it became the crux of Rob Bell's downfall from the poster boy of the evangelical world. Interestingly enough reading it now (which was much more delightful) I found very little that anyone could gripe about as being "unorthodox" or "heresy"----- which really are ridiculous ways of describing belief systems anyway. We all have wrong IDEAS and BELIEFS. That is a part of humanity. So as I read it this time, I was looking for the parts the Piper Piety Pact would take issue with and it is simply this: Thinking. Bell is a thinker. He isn't just a thinker, he is an internal cosmological explorer- much like great philosophers and writers (Dante, etc). This book forced me to love Rob even more because Rob doesn't just sit there spewing WHAT TO THINK.... rather this book is a dialogue and DAMN if I didn't wish more Christian books would take seriously the importance of thought, doubts, and humanity.
The whole HELL thing that is supposedly controversial in this book simply isn't controversial rather it is an avenue of THOUGHT. We all must think through ideas of death, hell, heaven, and whatnot.
The whole HELL thing that is supposedly controversial in this book simply isn't controversial rather it is an avenue of THOUGHT. We all must think through ideas of death, hell, heaven, and whatnot.