Velvet Elvis cover art

Velvet Elvis

Repainting the Christian Faith

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Velvet Elvis

By: Rob Bell
Narrated by: Rob Bell
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About this listen

Perhaps more relevant than ever before, Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis is his original and bestselling classic. In Velvet Elvis, Bell invites listeners to wrestle with their faith, and offers a radical new perspective on Jesus, the church, and Christianity today.

We know there's something more. We sense it, we feel it, and we want it. But how do we find it – a spirituality that stands up to the questions of an honest, searching mind? 'This book is for those who need a fresh take on Jesus and what it means for us to live the kind of life he teaches us to live,' writes Rob Bell.

This new edition of Velvet Elvis, along with the relaunch of Rob Bell’s three other classic works, offers what Rob does best: original and refreshingly personal perspectives on what Christianity is really about. 'We have to test everything,' writes Bell. 'Do that to this book. Don't swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it. Just because I'm a Christian and I'm trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn't mean I've got it nailed. I'm contributing to the discussion. God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?'

©2012 Rob Bell (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Christian Living Christianity

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Critic reviews

‘Bell fights every impulse in our culture to domesticate Jesus [and] challenges the reader to be open to surprise, mystery and all of the unanswerables… Bell has given theologically suspicious Christians new courage to bet their life on Jesus Christ.’ (Christian Century)

‘Claiming that some versions of Jesus should be rejected, particularly those used to intimidate and inspire fear or hatred, Bell persuasively interprets the Bible as a message of love and redemption. . . . His style is characteristically concise and oral, his tone passionate and unabashedly positive.’ (Publishers Weekly)

‘One of the nation’s rock-star-popular young pastors, Rob Bell, has stuck a pitchfork in how Christians talk about damnation.’ (USA Today)

‘It isn’t easy to develop a biblical imagination that takes in the comprehensive and eternal work of Christ . . . Rob Bell goes a long way in helping us acquire just such an imagination–without a trace of soft sentimentality and without compromising an inch of evangelical conviction.’ (Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, and author of The Message and The Pastor
All stars
Most relevant
For too long the so called "Evangelical" perspective has narrowed the scope of discussion on how and why we read the bible. To deviate from the familiar and the accepted is to be brandished a heretic or, even worse, a liberal. But Rob Bell shows that there is a way for those who want to read the bible, meet the God revealed in Jesus and ask questions about context and universal truth. The account of his breakdown and his inner-turmoil will strike a chord with many ministers. Bell is often attacked and even ridiculed... but he's popular because he asks good questions... Quick, fun and easy to read...

Well said that man

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Rob is so refreshingly honest. I bought his selection of best sellers on kindle because you need to actually go back an reread them, if you're a visual person.

Well worth a relisten

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Wow, there is so much in this book. Rob Bell has taken the Christian faith and shook it up, not allowing it to settle. This challenges the most liberal of us and encourages us to think about our faith rather than just accept it. What is the core message (s) of the Christian Faith? Who says they are? Do they change? Its the kind of Audible that demands many listens, each time I pick up something else or am challenged in another way. I've listened to parts in depth again and again and I've also listened to it in the background, letting it seep into my subconscious. Deeply recommended.

A quality book with so much to 'unpack'

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I'm listening to a few of Rob Bell's audio books, this is my second. I'm finding them highly aspirational in an intriguing way.

I live in the UK, so religion - Christianity - is almost a thing of the past. It would be highly aspirational to take up the enlightening, encouraging aspect of Christianity, here!

Listen to this book. If you are already a Christian, or are now moved to become one, and intend to start a movement in the UK, by God's grace, I would join you! Enjoy! Go With God.

Aspirational

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This book is amazing, Rob bell is simply inspiring. He makes you want to get up and spread the word. The books main theme is "repainting The Christian Faith." Which is Robs opinion on how we need to change the way we look at and approach the bible with day to day living in The Lord. He uses bible quotes and facts to back his theory's. he also encourages people to challenge his theory's if they don't agree as he knows he is not a prophet. To sum it up I think he's good but ill let you decide

Great

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