Harold Camping and Rob Bell: Two Sides of the Same Coin, Part 3

Points 2 and 3 why Rob Bell and Harold Camping are really two sides of the same coin.

2. They both lack real accountability. Harold Camping is the head of a Christian radio organization that encourages people to leave their local church. Camping himself left his local church in the late 80's. This seems preposterous to many because Christians, of every stripe, have always believed that when individuals have come to understand the forgiveness of Christ join the local church and believe it to be the Body of Christ. They believe it to be the physical and spiritual representation of Christ on earth. They've believed that one cannot be close to Christ without being close to His gathered people, His table, and His baptism. They've believed that distance from the church is always representative of distance from Jesus.

To some, the comparison between Harold Camping and Rob Bell seems preposterous when it comes to their relationship to the local church. Camping calls people to leave the church but Rob Bell is encouraging people to come to his church. Camping believes that churches are under the control of Satan but Rob Bell still believes that the Body of Christ is within the church. But Rob Bell eschews accountability also. Rob Bell's congregation is not affiliated with any particular denomination. His ordination does not seem to be with any particular group of churches. No one, in his church, has called for him to be disciplined because of his blatant false teaching. Even though many respected church leaders have from around the country questioned his teaching he has refused to recant. Both Camping and Bell are emboldened by the masses that follow them rather than the clear teaching of the Bible.

When individuals get outside of the authority that the local church and denominations of churches provide, they are susceptible to every wind of false doctrine. There is authority and accountability in church structures that every Christian needs. This is God's plan.

3. They both have a twisted view of church history. There is a story that church history tells. Church history is not authoritative (as some would believe) but it is informative. Biblical conclusions that are not supported throughout the various stages of church history need to be questioned strongly. I'm fairly convinced that Harold Camping does not see church history as important at all and knows very about it but Rob Bell is aware of the history of the church but he does an interesting thing with it. Bell has substantiated his views on the testimony of individuals from church history rather than the testimony of the Churches of Church history. With this approach, one could make history say almost anything. All one would need to do is to string together a list of questionable characters or heretics from church history and say "there has been within the Christian tradition a number of people who have said give it enough time, God will win everybody over. (Rob Bell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-qgmJ7nzA)" Bell even goes so far as to misuse letters written by Martin Luther in order to say that Luther himself questioned whether or not people could turn to God after death. Luther never taught this.

Church history is not the final authority but it tells a story. Church history unanimously tells a story of a Triune Creator God, a sacrificed and resurrected Son, an indwelling Spirit, a set apart worshiping people, a table of remembrance, a baptism in water, a real heavenly state and a real hell. Christians of every group have believed these things, and more, because they are so clear in the Bible.