Camels and Bells

Having sort of (or not really) had a go at Rob Bell in a previous post, I now think some other stuff I wrote comes out quite in favour of what he’s up to.

Bell understands that Jesus was a Jew, and his social position was what of a rabbi – a ‘great one’ (‘rab’ in Hebrew is from the root rbh, ‘to be great/many’). They were, and still are, wise people, highly respected and knowledgeable about the Scriptures.

I was fortunate to spend an hour doing Hebrew with a Rabbi a couple of months ago. He was less than thirty (or certainly less than thirty-three), and knew so much. His wisdom and insight used the great Rabbis of Jewish tradition and applied their insight to how the text might function in faithful communities today. I had the most profound respect for him.

Back in the first century, people were rather more mobile and less tied-down than today. They could up and leave, following a wise teacher and committing themselves to learning from them if they so chose. Bell talks of those who followed Rabbis as ‘talmidims’, which comes from the Hebrew root lmd, which means ‘to learn/teach’. The followers of Jesus were committed to learning his ways and coming to know his interpretation of the Law, Jewish tradition and contemporary society.

Perhaps the best example of Jesus’ rabbinic teaching is Matthew 23 (it’s in Luke too), with the seven woes to the Pharisees. Jesus interprets the Law in his way, and denounces the interpretations of some others. My favourite is:

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!’

Rob Bell preached a series before Christmas about the seven woes, and had lots of Rabbinic stuff in them. I like that he is a Pastor of a megachurch, but one who actually engages with some real Theology and recognizes the Jewishness of Jesus and his message.

--

In summary, Rob Bell is far from the greatest theologian ever – but then, he’s not trying to be anything other than, well, himself. But he does take the Jewishness of Jesus seriously, and engage with some rabbinic commentary on the OT, in order to understand something of what Jesus was trying to do.

Dan’s tips for the day:

1. Have a go at reading the OT with some Rabbis to help. Rashi (ie, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi) is a pretty good place to start.

2. Get in touch with a Rabbi and see if you can chat with them. All the ones I’ve met are extremely wise and really happy to share their knowledge, tradition and faith with pretty much anyone who wants to know. They’re great.