Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

uses this narrative style to retell the story of the scriptures and draw connections between the Old and New
Testaments. Bell views scripture as a story that continues to build upon itself as it progresses, and that
“ultimate truths about the universe are revealed through the stories of particular people living in particular
places” (Jesus Wants 8). Bell does not hide the fact that his is touting a new kind of way to read the bible,
which he calls the “New Exodus perspective,” in which he takes scripture (in narrative form) and relates the
Christian story back to that of the exodus in the Old Testament. The central idea of Bell’s book is that God
needs a “body" to live out his story in his creation (Jesus Wants 36; 43), be it a physical body (like Adam,
Moses or the prophets) or a metaphorical body (like Israel.) These embodiment ideas are expressed in the
new covenant as Jesus and the Church. In narrative theology, a greater emphasis is placed on the people
living the story, and this in turn places a greater emphasis on the people reading the story (Christians in the
here and now,) and how they are to interact and live out “God’s story.”
Bell makes a point in his book that humanity “screwed up” its first shot at a relationship with God,
in that it did not keep the covenant rules set out after the exodus from Egypt. In the context of a narrative
story, Bell asks “What if we had it all back? What if we could do it all again? What would we do
differently? What if a child was born and a son was given? What if David had another son?” (Jesus Wants
72). Jesus is essentially God’s new attempt to engage people in his story and lead his people out of another
Egypt and invite them into a story that cares about the poor and oppressed and creates a counter culture to
the world of the Romans (Rome can stand for any overarching culture which stands in contrast to Jesus’
teachings, including the United States.)
Rob Bell: The New Humanity
To Bell, the message of scripture becomes much more than Jesus dying for the sins of mankind.
“Jesus wants to save us from shrinking the gospel down to a transaction about the removal of sin and not
about every single particle of creation being reconciled to its maker” (Jesus Wants 179). Notice the
“bridge” that Bell is building between the modern and postmodern views of Christianity here, moving from
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