Rob Bell's "other" heresy: "The fruit in Garden of Eden was a watermelon" (:

Rob Bell clearly and publicly proclaimed, of the Eden fruit of Genesis 3:6 that..


"It was a watermelon"  -Rob Bell, p, 186, "Sex.God."








There it is, flat out, unapologetically and without bothering with a defense or explanation.
No citing of scholars who have made that case.

Isn't it  unbelievable that the heresy hunters haven't picked up on this, and crucified him for it?

Isn't it amazing that the phase "It was a watermelon"  by Rob Bell only produces two Google returns, and both are simply from PDF versions of the book!?

Apparently, the interwebs have never talked about this until now.  Once again, this humble blog (that I'm proud of)  changes that as soon as I hit 'publish.'

Yes, granted it's a footnote.  But doesn't anyone read footnotes?
Does no one besides Rob and meself know it's even there?


Photo evidence, footnote 62:

What do you think is up with this?
Is he kidding; does he believe it;  is it a sly subversive bone thrown for the bloggers?

And no one blogging about it?
(OK Later note: I found two reviews (Heathersy  and Ordinary Visionary  which  briefly mention it.  Surprisingly, neither spend much time on it.  One wonders if it's a joke where they "missed the punchline" and the other...amazingly...assumes he meant it literally, and doesn't engage him)

Though the watermelon reference  predates the "Love Wins" controversy, Rob has long had to deal with the heresy hunters. Did he bury this as a throwaway/ Easter Egg?

Clues:

Remember how David Crowder subverted the copyright page in his own book?

Note that Bell often saves some of his best material..and quips...for the footnotes.
Click one of the links above to read these footnote numbers:

81, 117, 156

And of course, #77..see below.  It's about his claim that the original Hebrew for the female lover's quote in  Song of Solomon was "I have a headache."

Also note a good book to help you "get" Rob Bell;
and this on "the agony of explanation."

Don't hear what he's not saying.


"Sex.God" is a good book.
( Qualifier: As Ben Witherington has noted, Bell..and Ray VanDerLaan, whom Bell draws from.. may sometimes jump too quickly on  Jewish  traditions sources that may or may not make his case)
 No joke.
 Sell some watermelons and buy it.


 Or dare to read it via illegal PDFs above while they last...

PS Maybe it's a watermelon in Easter Hay (: