Velvet Elvis

I finally found a copy of Velvet Elvis at a local store and bought a copy for my dad for father's day. He turned around and found another copy and bought it for me.
I'm really enjoying it.
Here are some of my favorite thoughts/quotes so far...

"For many people the word Christian conjures up all sorts of images that have nothing to do with who Jesus is and how he taught us to live. This must change."

"The idea that some people have faith and others don't is a popular one. But it is not a true one. Everybody has faith. Everybody is following somebody."

"As a Christian, I am simply trying to orient myself around living a particular kind of way, the kind of way that Jesus taught is possible. And I think the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live."

"I'm convinced being generous is a better way to live. I'm convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live. I'm convinced having compassion is a better way to live. I'm convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live. I'm convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live. I'm convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live. I'm convinced being honest with people is a better way to live."

"Jesus exposes us to reality at its rawest. So the way of Jesus is not about religion; it's about reality."

"Obviously we think our interpretations are the most correct; otherwise we'd change them. Or as one of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott, put it, "Everybody things their opinion is the right one. If they didn't they'd get a new one."

I also enjoyed the interpretation of God telling Moses, "I am." There's no way we can wrap our minds around God. "God has no thingness because there's no end to God."
Bell also gave a great interpretation of Moses asking to see God's glory on Mt. Sinai. According to Bell, rabbis said that rather than seeing God's back (as I've always understood it) the story should be understood as, Moses saw "where God just was."
"It is if God is saying, 'The best you're going to do, the most you are capable of, is seeing where I... just... was.' That's the closest you're going to get."
Bell also says if you can't question your faith, its not real faith.

I like that. I like that we can question our faith and our beliefs.

According to Bell, the ancient rabbis understood the Bible is open-ended and has to be interpreted. Rabbis are like interpreters, helping people understand what God is saying to them through the text and what it means to live out the text.

Different rabbis had different sets of rules, which basically said what they allowed or forbade, depending on their interpretation of the scriptures. Those rules and interpretations of scripture was called that rabbi's yoke.

"When you followed a certain rabbi, you were following him because you believed that rabbi's set of interpretations were the closest to what God intended through the Scriptures. And when you followed that rabbi, you were taking up that rabbi's yoke.

"One rabbi even said his you was easy."