Wednesday, 25 May 2011
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Erasing Hell: New Book from Francis Chan
Francis Chan's new book Erasing Hell will be coming out July 5th.I can't say I'm a fanatical fan of Francis Chan, I'm excited with what he says and what an influence he has on other people. Ask any youth group who their favorite preacher is and it most likely will be either Rob Bell or Francis Chan. I much prefer the latter by a long shot, and indeed, Francis Chan has, since the release of "Crazy Love", exploded in popularity. I'm currently listening to Crazy Love through audio-book, and I'm about halfway through it and I can see why. There is a certain humility in his work, that is relevant and relatable to the audience to whom he is addressing. This is further amplified listening to him speak, he speaks with utmost conviction, which comes across, you'll see in the video below. Reading that he has given all royalties from Crazy Love to a ministry to children trapped in sex trafficking -- his ambition and convictions are ever clearer.
There is another side to Francis Chan that makes me uncomfortable though. I've read Forgotten God before--actually I've read it a couple of times because I was blessed by it a lot the first time. It undeniably has had a great influence on my Christian walk actually. Yet for all its importance and relevance, what is distressing to me so is how little was dedicated to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I'm not doubting he knows his material about the Holy Spirit, but he jumps quickly to the application of the Scripture without addressing the subject where he drew it from. Without creating that Scriptural foundation, his applications seem bare and according to his own agenda. Why yes, in case you were wondering, I do have complaints about every single author out there! Naw, I truly do like Francis Chan, he's a great guy. I truly hope you get to the time to watch the video and purchase his new book though -- you won't regret it.
Nevertheless, I always look forward with anticipation to any new project of his. This one seems in a direct reaction to he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned. There is a simple honesty and down-to earth attitude that pervades everything that he says, and I admire that in him above all else that he does. Apparently in the youtube comments, his honesty and fervor is taken as over-acting and false, but I would argue otherwise. I see his willingness to engage and provoke thought in people is wonderful.
There is a moment in the video where he muses the relationship between God and men described by Paul as the relationship between a clay and a potter. He laments how he is a piece of clay, and it is expected of him to teach other pieces of clay about the Potter, and what he is like. At about 1 minutes in, his genuine nature comes through especially in this scene. I wonder what depth that statement truly means in our own lives--perhaps with greater humility we do need to approach things.
There was an interview I read where Francis Chan was asked about the emergent church, a potential hot potato that no one wants to own up to or reject often. This is what he said: “As a pastor I hear a lot of emergent leaders talk about what is wrong with the church. It comes across as someone who doesn’t love the church. I’m a pastor first and foremost, and I’m trying to offer a solution or a model of what church should look like. I’m going back to scripture and seeing what the church was in its simplest form and trying to recreate that in my own church. I’m not coming up with anything new. I’m calling people to go back to the way it was. I’m not bashing the church. I’m loving it.”
What do you think about Francis Chan, which books of his have you read? Would you be purchasing Erasing Hell? Does he have a lesser emphasis on doctrine and understanding, and greater emphasis on the application of bible verses? Do you see this in his writing, and how does it compare to other authors who have written on similar topics like "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper or even, "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne?
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- From: llamalima@xanga
- About Me: Who am I? I am 19 year old university student, prone to stressing over about some assignment due the next day. I sometimes have time to blog mostly about Christian thoughts. In my spare time, I am also a musical connoisseur, ninja, movie junkie, and full-time hypochondriac. I may have lied about one of those, or a few.
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Comments (8)
I saw Chan speak at Catalyst 2010 in Atlanta, GA.
I liked what he had to say.
In regards to his upcoming book...I think Bell's "Love Wins" was essential to modern christianity. The questions and studying and validating of doctrines that book created is something that was needed. That said, Chan's is equally essential. While I personally am currently undecided/studying in regards to the topic of eternal condemnation, I really believe the dialogue these two guys are creating is refreshing and possibly a milestone for the church. I understand that in history core doctrines of the church have been challenged before...but today in this moment in time, I think the church is finally ready to actually talk this out.
@airforcejim@xanga - Word. Yeah, I think it will be an important book as we look back on history, not so much on the content of the book, but the increased awareness of heaven and hell. I think even before the book, we were focused a lot on what is right and wrong, ie abortion, gay issues. But this is totally something different. I'm undecided whether it is a good thing or not.
It's interesting, Chan is hardly the foremost of writers today, I would have thought that Piper or Driscoll or someone would have come with a book at the same time. Nevertheless, I am happy that there is a honest and frank discussion happening.
I haven't read any of his work yet, but I saw this video the other day on someone's Blogger and since then I've been really looking forward to this book release!
I've heard OF him, but never heard him or read his work.
Most of these new writers are frustrating because they tend to use provocative titles and statements merely for ears-catch sake; something that is quite a problem when considering that the Power of the Gospel is not in persuasive words, but in the Spirit.
Like I said, I've never heard him nor read his material, and with a title that appears on the surface to be "erasing Hell", I wont be reading his work any time soon IF that is indeed his intent (to discard hell, as if someone could do so).
@TravelingStranger@xanga - That's not what he's doing. He's preached on hell many times before. He's addressing the idea that people such as Bell are teaching, which is "erasing hell" from their theology. Chan might not be the deepest scholar in the Christian world (he's a pastor rather than an academic), but he's orthodox and does a tremendous job at challenging people to radically follow scripture.
@TravelingStranger@xanga - I'm fairly certain that his book is a well-thought-out rebuttal to Rob Bell's "Love Wins" in which Bell challenges the idea of eternal condemnation. I'm pretty certain that Chan will argue in favor of hell and eternal condemnation. That seems to be where he is going from the video.
Bell's stance, if it is the same as other universalist teachings, is "Why would a God who loves mankind send people to an eternal hell? Love = Eternal torture?"
Chan's stance seems like it will most likely be "Who are we to question God's ways? Scripture is full of examples where God does things that we don't understand. If God wants to eternally condemn people, who are we to say we have the higher sense of justice? And if we are going to argue one way or the other on the topic of hell, it needs to be with great care, using scripture as our guide and not our own personal feelings. God = Sovereign."
@airforcejim@xanga - granted, Bell's arguments for a more universalist teaching on hell were probably more detailed and thought-out than that. And I'm sure he has some scriptural basis as Chan does.