Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

acting within God’s story and doing the writing; the Bible is the opening and body of the play, and we are
living in and writing the final act (Wright 11). Instead of seeing the Bible as an unchanging guide to truth, it
can be seen as an open-ended document, open to interpretation. This is not to say that Emergents throw
away the idea of the truth of scripture. Rather, they assert that the Bible must be re-envisioned for every
generation. For example, the imagery of kingship may have worked for Christians up to the 18 th century,
but now it is an archaic historical term that is not practiced in the same way today as it was in the past (with
a few exceptions.) How can a person living today relate to such imagery if it does not command the same
level of awe as it did when the scriptures were written? This is where Emergents re-examine scripture and
try to reconcile its meaning to be relevant in this day and age.
If Wright and Bell can accuse modern Christians of interpreting scripture wrongly, what is keeping
Emergent Christians from doing the same? One may notice that Bell’s logic leaves him open for scrutiny.
In his own reasoning, Bell is also subject to the pitfall of twisting scripture to his own devices and there are
many who are critical of what he preaches, (one needs only to do a YouTube.com search to find a myriad of
anti-Bell web videos.) One thing that Bell is accused of over and over again is preaching universalism, a
concept that leaves some Christians questioning Bell’s use of scripture. On pages 145-146 of Velvet Elvis,
Bell writes:
“And when Jesus died on the cross, he died for everybody. Everybody. Everywhere.
Every tribe, every nation, every tongue, every people group. Jesus said that when he was
lifted up, he would draw all people to himself. All people. Everywhere. Everybody’s sins
on the cross with Jesus. So this reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for
everybody”
In Bell’s interpretation, Jesus came to die for the entire world. Now, many people would agree with this
statement; indeed one of the oft-quoted passages of the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…”
However, a key point in the conclusion of that verse for traditional Christians is “that whosoever believes in him
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