Books and more books.....

Well I finished reading "When Jesus Became God" by Richard E. Rubenstein, it is a good book and very well worth reading for every Christian.  Far too few know anything about the rough and tumble involved in creating the creeds and the current canon of the Bible.  I came away with some unexpected insights into why Islam was so successful in making inroads into certain geographic areas.  Sadly it was (is) due to the suppression of certain theological doctrines by what was (is) to be considered the orthodox theology.  So much diversity of Christian thought has been lost during the many centuries since the arrival of our Savior that it is truly heart rendering to consider.


Now I need to go and find another book I have somewhere in my collection, (I purchased it a while back but haven't read it yet) called "Constantine's Bible, Politics and the Making of the New Testament" by David Dungan and see how that compares to Rubenstein's writings.  


After completing Richard Rubenstein's book I picked up a few other books from my library and started reading or re-reading some of them.  Then last Thursday I received in the mail a book I had ordered "What Does The Bible Really Say About Hell?, wrestling with the traditional view" by Rev. Randy Klassen. I have now finished it as well, and it is another book very well worth the money and the time invested in reading it.  Klassen is however either unaware or wishes to avoid several points (I suspect the latter) that would likely make his book even more controversial but in my opinion would solidify his position even further.  He does do a very good job of pointing out translation issues that greatly weaken the theology of eternal damnation, but again he is missing some points which have been presented in other texts that I have read.  Thus far he has not presented anything new and startling to me but to far too many Christians this book would truly 'rock their world'.  I do disagree with him on some elements (for one he attributes the Pastoral's to Paul's hand and I see absolutely no way that these epistles are authentic Pauline letters) however all in all at the end of the book we are in nearly complete agreement on his conclusions.


I think a good exercise for all believers would be to first read Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" and to follow it up with Randy Klassen's book "What Does The Bible Really Say About Hell?, wrestling with the traditional view".  From there I would be happy to give advice on further study but these two should greatly help one to mould their understanding of our Lord and the depth and breadth of God's Grace and Love.


May you all be blessed richly and may you all bless richly!
Roy


Links to Amazon:


Rob Bell, "Love Wins"
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Wins-About-Heaven-Person/dp/0062049658/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342027409&sr=1-1&keywords=rob+bell+love+wins


Randy Klassen, "What Does The Bible Really Say About Hell?"
http://www.amazon.com/What-Does-Bible-Really-About/dp/1931038023


Richard E. Rubenstein, "When Jesus Became God"
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0156013150/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=3052732971&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17753831641692077934&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_56ixuwgspj_b


David Dungan, "Constantine's Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament"

http://www.amazon.com/Constantines-Bible-Politics-Making-Testament/dp/0800637909/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342027833&sr=8-1&keywords=constantines+bible