The Gods Aren't Angry Tour: Rob Bell 1/2/07 Cleveland OH

So yes, I finally got to hear Rob Bell in person, and I talked to him (only for a second), but non-the-less... I talked to him... sorry, I'm excited... really excited...

I took notes and said I would put them up here... hope they make sense and all that.
Enjoy!

ps, they are kind of long..


12/1/07 Rob Bell
Allen Theatre
Cleveland OH
“The Gods Aren’t Angry” Tour

Cave Women- realizes there is a greater force providing the plants she eats
Cave Husband- recognizes the spirit of the hunt
-they also see a ball of light at night that changes on a 30 day cycle
-realizes the rhythm of the body
-they realize feeling between each other, feel the new life grow inside of her

‘Fundamental life essence’- breath, deep primal invisible life force inside them
-dependence of forces beyond her control, manipulation, but need it for survival

Original people of the world named the forces to understand them
Systems of naming:
Mesopotamians- gods of El, Mat, etc…
Sumerians- gods (god of beer)
Babylonians- gods
Greeks- gods- Artemis goddess of hunting and also protection of small animals

Trend developed- must keep the forces on our side, favor of the gods
-idea off gesture to forces set aside crops, something important etc..
-“offer up” something on an altar or high place
-emergence of priests to help with sacrifices
-forces act like humans (get angry, want more, etc.)

Altar- had a fundamental flaw
-if gods give abundantly people could easily offend so they have to offer more to continue he abundance
-if they don’t give abundantly, then maybe the people didn’t offer enough
[vortex] The people don’t know where they stand with the Gods
Primal anxiety

Some people would cut themselves, offer their own blood to the gods or their favor
Kibula – mother goddess of Sardis Turkey
-she is eternally procreating for the benefit of followers
-males had to castrate themselves and place it on the altar
Aztecs- recently found 42 children’s remains to earn favor
Incas- a practice to wrap a child up and place it on altar while suffocating

Slippery slope- have to keep offering that which is of value
Molec (god)- have to throw 1st born into the fire

The Bible- is not detached. It comes from within these stories of history, within the culture
-told in Sumerian culture, story of Abraham is seen different
Abraham is told to heave his fathers house because the divine wants to be with him
-According to Sumerian culture, the gods were somewhere else and detached but in story of Abraham, the divine was involved in human time and space
No one ever proposed the idea of a God like this with God and humans connecting

Abraham was told to ‘leave his father’s household’ meaning to leave his father’s worldview, his father’s view of the gods and altars, etc..

Aside; people tell stories to understand this new concept one of them is that Abraham destroys all of his fathers idol statues and leaves the axe in the remaining god’s hands. When asked why this happened Abraham dais that the one wanted to be dominant. His father asks why, because they are lifeless statues that he made himself, and Abraham asks ‘why worship them?’

God tells Abraham that he will bless him with descendants as numerous as the stars
-the Sumerians worshipped th stars
*This new God uses the other gods as props to make a point

Genesis 22- Abraham has a son, and God tells him to take his son who he loves (1st time word ‘love’ is used in the Bible) and offer him up as a sacrifice.
-he has his son on the altar and the knife is raised when a messenger from God comes and tells him to stop and use the ram stuck in the bush
This God is a God who provides

Abraham doesn’t say ‘no,’ ‘why,’ or ‘how’ because he is not surprised with the idea o sacrifices and offering
-perhaps because it is not a new idea?
-the story is ended with the emphasis on God providing, and not the greatness of
Abraham
**A whole new kind of God**

This God doesn’t demand, he provides so you don’t have to offer something

*Abraham has nothing to do but trust that God will provide
-this God says ‘you have my favor, can you trust
*the divine and human relationship built on TRUST

Leviticus; “B-grade slasher film with no plot”
-instructions on how to kill things
-arose with in actual points of history
Instructions of 5 sacrifices:
(Spelling?)
1. Olah- blood
2. Minhah- grain
3. Shelamin- peace, give some but keep most for yourself, make a meal, “shalom”, peace meal to celebrate peace with God
You can know where you stand with this God
4. Hattah-sin
5. Hasham- guilt
-you can offer something and walk away knowing that the case was closed, there was no anxiety, you know where you stand
These ideas are dragging the culture foreword: there is a worldview that came out of these 5 sacrifices
Temple of King Herod- 2.3 million stones with a drainage system for all the blood because of hundreds of thousands of people who sacrifice

Sadducees- priests who kept a portion of the money offered, became very wealthy
-they made a profit off of the fear and guilt of the masses
-the system was built on violence
-had a relationship with the Roman soldiers who protected the system with violence
-a threat to this system was a threat to the way of life of the priests

Jesus; says that something greater then the temple is Him
-that there is a new way to God through Him
*so the old system is irrelevant
Profits are performers-Jesus drove out the money changers in a dramatic gesture

Jesus says that the system is corrupt
-the Sadducees begin to plot to kill him

In John- Jesus says that he will destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days- referring to himself

So they killed him- Romans tortured him to say to the masses ‘this is hw it goes for those who rebel’

Jesus experiences tons of injustices
-he doesn’t defend, he just takes it
*because here is something greater happening through him
If he resorted to violence, would he be offering anything new?

Paul says- the stories circulating about the resurrection raises questions about the old system of sacrifices

So does your God need you to kill something for your relationship?

Is your God incapable of love unless you hurt something?

What is your God like?

So we have the same primal deities, the same old gods?
-people carry guilt with them
Have we really come a long way?

Profits of Baal cut themselves 3000 years ago, and a high school girl does the same thing…

For the first Christians- Jesus’ death was not just an act or martyrdom for a small group of people at a certain time
-for them, this even stretched to all people

They began searching or deeper language to describe this;
Hebrews- Jesus appeared at the ‘culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself’
-it was a turning point, everyone is invited to a new era of human progress
*the writer turns the cross into an altar,
-death into sacrifice
= the ultimate offering on a metaphorical altar, the last sacrifice

Something greater is now here

Paul says- Jesus’ blood on a cross is God making peace with all things in heaven and Earth through this act
-reconciling to Himself

This God has made peace with you instead of, what do I have to do for his favor?

Primal anxiety- what do I have to do to make peace with the divine?
Now with Jesus- you never have to ask that again
Which is GROUNDBREAKING!!
So there were questions raised about religion in general…

Psalms- God says that is he was hungry, he wouldn’t tell us, he doesn’t need the blood of animals, all the bulls are his.
Micah-says that blood doesn’t please God
Hebrews-sprinkling of blood was for humans conscience
-help humans deal with sin, not feeling good enough, etc.. and how there feeling own us.

Repentance- according to the 1st Christians is what you do naturally when you understand that God already made peace through the death of Jesus
-it is a celebration/response/trust to what God has already done

Nature of the ritual- only point of a Christ centered ritual is to remind you of the peace that has already been made


New testament image of altar- sacrifice is to do good for others
-offer yourselves as living sacrifices

The world needs to see the sacrifice so is it our job to put the flesh to it

This God isn’t angry because this God is love.