To usher in the release of his new book What We Talk About When We Talk About God, Rob Bell spoke at a live streaming event at Brooklyn's Powerhouse Arena in New York City Tuesday evening.
His talk revolved around the theme of his book and his belief that the current culture is resisting conversation about God and seeking to reconnect with a God who is "for us, with us, and ahead of us." Bell stated that the purpose of the book is to introduce new ways to talk about God.
Bell, who formerly led Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, told those in attendance at Tuesday's talk that he believes Christians are seeking to move forward with their faith and shedding a doctrine-centered God in search of a God who can connect with humans at their most flawed existence.
As Bell told those attending his Tuesday evening talk, while he was pastor of his former congregation, he realized one day, when driving to Mars Hill to deliver the Easter Sunday sermon, that he was questioning the existence of God.
"I realized the conceptions that I have of God weren't working for me," Bell recalled. "I had this strong sense of reverence, of something else going on. Some of the dogmatic conceptions I had simply didn't work anymore."
Bell has received criticism for his previous books, predominately Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, which was described by some as "heresy" because it questioned the existence of a literal and eternal hell and the evangelical teaching that only those who believe in Jesus Christ go to heaven.
