Rob Bell Series -- Part 2: Who is Origen and why does Martin Bashir care?

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Topic

Rob Bell, the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church recently released a new book entitled Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Alex has been asked a number of questions about his thoughts on the book and has decided to use Rob Bell's interview with Martin Bashir on MSNBC as starting point for six separate discussions on the book.

Part 2

During Rob Bell's interview with Martin Bashir, Bashir mentions an early theologian named Origen. Having studied Origen quite extensively at seminary, I found this reference to be rather odd coming from a news interviewer who has no theological training.

Origen is a controversial figure because many of his teachings were deemed heretical 400 years after his death. It seems as though the implication being made by Bashir is that, because Rob Bell references Origen in Love Wins, his book is heretical.

I spend this installment of my blog taking this implication to its logical conclusion to determine whether Bashir is correct to give Love Wins the same heretical stamp as Origen's work.

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[gracetalks04]

@mwilson70201amen brother: ) 

[mwilson70201]

If I'm not blocked let me thank you for your time. It's been most enlightening. It's not my wish to force an argument I just want to understand how you came to your view. Goodbye.

[askalexanythingblog]

@mwilson70201 This conversation is going nowhere. I generally don't respond to comments because they are a waste of time and I thought perhaps we could have an interesting conversation. Your responses have simply reinforced the point that I should have kept my mouth shut. You keep preaching your version of Christianity and I'll keep preaching mine. I wish you the best and I will pray that many people might find the love and forgiveness of Christ in the things you say. It's been fun.

[mwilson70201]

@askalexanythingblog Satan quoted scripture but I wouldn't go to him for the gospel. It is the god of this world who hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Since Satan appears as an angel of light only to mislead and his ministers as ministers of righteousness who do you think gave Origen the "meanigful grains of truth" you allude to? In fact the "all things" of Acts 3:21 are the promises of God to Israel, read the whole passage! It has nothing to do with universal redemption.

[mwilson70201]

@askalexanythingblog The Holy Ghost bears witness to what is and isn't scripture. He is the great teacher of the saved.(I Jn 2:27) The intelligentsia have always chosen logic and scholarship over faith and God's word. Origen wasn't merely a heretic he was a blasphemer. He that denieth the Son, hath not the Father. He drank from the poisoned well of Heraclitus, Plato and Aristotle and only one who is likeminded could ascribe any weight to his uninspired ramblings. If the blind follow the blind..

[askalexanythingblog]

@mwilson70201 belief. Yes, it’s a core doctrine, but that doesn’t mean God can’t speak grains of truth through him. I found many of his works to be very interesting. I disagree with much of what he says, but that doesn’t mean I can’t glean something meaningful from his work.

[askalexanythingblog]

@mwilson70201 way you and I do today. Those books and letters were authoritative in terms of presenting a certain viewpoint of Christianity, but they were not scripture as the Old Testament was scripture. Furthermore, I don't disagree that he's a heretic. His beliefs don't add up in terms of Orthodox Christianity. Bodily resurrection is the number one requirement to fall in line with Orthodoxy. We are on the same page. However, you dismiss everything he says because he lacks that

[askalexanythingblog]

@mwilson70201 I think you are not hearing my main point. I’m not debating whether or not you've studied Origen. I’ve studied him and obviously you have too. I’m debating whether your version of Christianity, as you know it today, is something that was shared by Christians during his day, particularly your view of scripture. I did my dissertation on canonization history and I can tell you that until Augustine, most Christians did not view the New Testament as scripture in the same

[mwilson70201]

@askalexanythingblog Origen wasn't your average guy. He was in Alexandria which had the most extensive library of the day and was in a cathetical school which would have access to things not readily available to others. His problem wasn't a lack of knowledge, it was an unconverted heart. If a man denies the physical resurrection of Christ he isn't confused, he is lost. Since the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God it is madness to think he is a source of sound doctrine.

[mwilson70201]

@askalexanythingblog Origen 185-254 would have certainly had access to the Italic bible 120AD and the Old Latin 157AD. He wrote commentaries on Matt, Romans, Ephesians and Revelation, translations are available on line. Rome canonized it's bible in 325. Origen said sin is a lack of pure knowledge, Jesus' life was mainly an example, his soul no different from any other man's and made no definitive statement on Christ redemptive work. And of course he was familiar with Acts 3:19-21.Rush judgment?