The Charge of Heresy

This article examines the teaching concerning the sons of the kingdom. Also, it examines those who preach the message of the kingdom and how both message and messenger are sometimes lightly esteemed and mistakenly dismissed as heresy or a departure from scripture.

Jesus was accused of speaking blasphemy. Unlike heresy, which involves a thought out, albeit erroneous, message blasphemy may occur when one blurts out without thinking or necessarily believing what they have blurted out. Preaching the kingdom of heaven and the will of the Father was what consumed Jesus. He was forever about the Father's business. When he was pressed at his mock trial to answer the questions he replied that he had spoken his message openly to the world for all to hear. There was no need for him to answer so as to defend himself.

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Book sparks charges of heresy

This is my comment on the CNN Belief Blog on Rob Bell's book.

The thing about firestorm limelight and cloister lighting is neither one is of much use for enlightening, only for igniting the masses to a frenzy. I have not read Bell's book, but I readily reject any teaching which dismisses hell as the place of eternal torment. About as useful as igniting the masses is the use of labels such as Universalism, Conservative, etc.
At best this could represent a mis-guided failed effort to understand the biblical expression which spans the entire history of man in the sight of God: The righteous shall live by faith. At worse, it is a rejection of hell altogether. The stated trend of Bell asking tough questions is as familiar a tactic as it is unconvincing and smacks of flakiness.

This popular tactic is what dazzles and impresses the uninformed that the questioner must surely have the knowledge and understanding on these matters when in fact that could be (and often is) the farthest thing from the truth. This is made evident in the sampling of Bell's own questions regarding Ghandi, billions and billions of people, and, the stark revelation of his own ignorance -a man who stands before the congregation of the Lord- : . . . how do you become one of the few?

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