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Love Wins - A Review of Rob Bell's New Book
- 03/09/11
- 219
Questions matter. They can help you to grow deeper in your knowledge of the truth and your love for God--especially when you're dealing with the harder doctrines of the Christian faith. But questions can also be used to obscure the truth. They can be used to lead away just as easily as they can be used to lead toward. Ask Eve.
Enter Rob Bell, a man who has spent much of the last seven years asking questions in his sometimes thought-provoking and often frustrating fashion. And when he's done asking, no matter what answers he puts forward, it seems we're only left with more questions. This trend continues in his new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, where Bell poses what might be his most controversial question yet:
Does a loving God really send people to hell for all eternity?
The questions you probably want answers to as you read this review are these: Is it true that Rob Bell teaches that hell doesn't exist? Is it true that Rob Bell believes no one goes to hell? You'll just need to keep reading because, frankly, the answers aren't that easy to come by.
How he asks the question is just as important as the question itself. "Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this 'good news'?" They say that the person who frames the debate is going to win the debate. That is especially true when the debate is framed in this way, through these particular questions. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. No offense, and no pun intended.
The Toxic Subversion Of Jesus' Message
Bell begins the book with surprising forthrightness: Jesus' story has been hijacked by a number of different stories that Jesus has no interest in telling. "The plot has been lost, and it's time to reclaim it." (Preface, vi)
A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.... This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear. (ibid)
You may want to read that again.
It really says that. And it really means what you think it means. Though it takes time for that to become clear.
Heaven Is A Place On Earth--and We Are Making It
Bell frames much of the book around time and place, around what the Bible means when it speaks of the when and where of heaven and hell. He points to Revelation 21, citing that the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, is coming down to the new earth. He also affirms that heaven is a real place where God's will alone is done and that at present, heaven and earth are not yet one (pp. 42-43). These are points that few Christians could seriously question.
His argument progresses to this: Because heaven will eventually come to earth, if we're to take heaven seriously, we must take the suffering that exists in the world seriously now. Therefore, we are called to participate "now in the life of the age to come. That's what happens when the future is dragged into the present" (p. 45). In light of this, humanity's role within creation is redefined so that we are not so much stewards as we are God's partners, "participating in the ongoing creation and joy of the world" (p. 180), and engaging in creating a new social order with Jesus (p. 77). This language of partnering and participating is frequently applied by Bell to causes of social justice.
But what about hell? Is hell a future reality or a present one? Is it an earthly reality or one that exists elsewhere?
Hell appears to be more about what we do to each other than what we've done to God. Bell reads Jesus' warnings of divine punishment as addressing only the temporal, rather than both the temporal and the eternal. These warnings were for the religious leaders of the day, and had very little to do with some other reality or some other time, he argues (pp. 82-83). Instead, hell is "a word that refers to the big, wide, terrible evil that comes from the secrets hidden deep without our hearts all the way to the massive, society-wide collapse and chaos that comes when we fail to live in God's world God's way" (p. 95). There's no fire and no wrath, at least, none that is extrinsic to us.
Does Rob Bell deny the existence of hell? He would say no. We would say yes. He affirms, but only after redefining. And that's just a clever form of denial.
Exegetical Gymnastics
Understanding what Bell truly believes and what he is truly seeking to teach can be a battle. The reader will find himself following many rabbit trails and arriving at several dead ends. It seems that where Bell's arguments begin to break down, he simply walks away instead of pursuing consistency and logic. This book could not stand the rigors of cross-examination. It has little cohesion, little internal strength.
The reader will also find broad statements offered as fact. "At the center of the Christian tradition since the first church has been the insistence that history is not tragic, hell is not forever, and love, in the end, wins." Is that true? It is easy to say, but can it be proven? Again and again Bell turns to the original languages but he quotes no commentaries, points to no sources. He says things like "'forever' is not really a category the biblical writers used." But he offers no proof. Again, it is easy to say, but can it be proven? Can it be proven from a legitimate source?
Throughout the book he engages in what can best be described as exegetical gymnastics, particularly in dealing with the Greek word aion, a small word that is crucial to his arguments.
While this word is commonly translated as "eternal" or "everlasting," Bell argues that it can also mean "age" or "period of time," or even "intensity of experience." Using this approach, he briefly argues from the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46) that eternal punishment isn't eternal, but rather an intense period of pruning.
Now here's the thing: aion and aionos definitely can mean "age" or "period of time," they also mean "eternal." The word's context helps us to determine its meaning. So if we assume that these words primarily mean "age" or "period of time," what happens when we apply that definition to John 3:16 where aionos is used?
For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have life for a period of time.
Not as encouraging, is it? While Bell might argue here that "life abundant" might be a better fit (playing on the "intensity of experience" angle and tying it to John 10:10), at the end of the day, we're left with an approach that gives more credence to living your best life now than it does to worshipping Jesus.
The Good News Is Better Than This
Throughout the book, there are a number of points where we would agree with Bell, particularly when he identifies some of the goofy things that people have concocted to make God's absolute sovereignty palpable. But his answers are equally unsatisfying. Even his good critiques are simply a bridge to bad conclusions.
As he makes his case, Bell seems to delight in being obtuse, creating caricatures of opposing views that lack logic and compassion. He paints himself as the victim of the hateful, toxic, venomous denizens of certain corners of the Internet that believe "the highest form of allegiance to their God is to attack, defame, and slander others who don't articulate matters of faith as they do" (p. 185).
Thus, Rob Bell appoints himself a martyr for his cause, and anyone who disagrees with him is preemptively silenced. It's a useful technique, that, but hardly a fair one. Meanwhile he acts as if those who hold to the belief that, in Bell's words, "we get this life and only this life to believe in Jesus," a view passionately held to by the vast majority of Christians throughout history, are blowing smoke rather than dealing honestly with the Scriptures. He subtly redefines the questions and answers, and in doing so, also shifts the battle lines.
As he moves those lines, he moves closer and closer to outright blasphemy. Turning on 1 Timothy 2 (where Paul states that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth) Bell reflects on a traditional (orthodox) view of hell and asks:
How great is God?
Great enough to achieve what God sets out to do,
or kind of great,
medium great,
great most of the time,
but in this,
the fate of billions of people,
not totally great.
sort of great.
a little great.
A God who would allow people to go to hell is not a great God, according to Bell, and the traditional belief that He would is "devastating … psychologically crushing … terrifying and traumatizing and unbearable" (pp. 136-7).
God is at best sort of great, a little great--great for saving some, but evil for allowing others to perish. Dangerous words, those. It is a fearful thing to ascribe evil to God.
So what of the gospel? Where is the gospel and what is the gospel? Ultimately, what Bell offers in this book is a gospel with no purpose. In his understanding of the Bible, people are essentially good, although we certainly do sin, and are completely free to choose or not choose to love God on our own terms. Even then he seems to believe that most people, given enough time and opportunity, will turn to God.
In This Is Love
If Love Wins accurately represents Bell's views on heaven and hell (at least if our understanding of the book accurately represents his views on heaven and hell), it reveals him as a proponent of a kind of Christian Universalism. He would deny the label as he tends to deny any label. But if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well, you know how it goes.
As soon as the door is opened to Muslims. Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland, many Christians become very uneasy, saying that then Jesus doesn't matter anymore, the cross is irrelevant, it doesn't matter what you believe, and so forth.
Not true.
Absolutely, unequivocally, unalterably not true.What Jesus does is declare that he,
and he alone,
is saving everybody.And then he leaves the door way, way open. Creating all sorts of possibilities. He is as narrow as himself and as wide as the universe.
...
People come to Jesus in all sorts of ways.
...
Sometimes people use his name;
other times they don't....
Some people have so much baggage with regard to the name "Jesus" that when they encounter the mystery present in all of creation--grace, peace, love, acceptance, healing, forgiveness--the last thing they are inclined to name it is "Jesus."
...
What we see Jesus doing again and again--in the midst of constant reminders about the seriousness of following him living like him, and trusting him--is widening the scope and expanse of his saving work.
That is what we know as universalism. And it is cause for mourning.
Christians do not need more confusion. They need clarity. They need teachers who are willing to deal honestly with what the Bible says, no matter how hard that truth is. And let's be honest--many truths are very, very hard to swallow.
Love does win, but not the kind of love that Bell talks about in this book. The love he describes is one that is founded solely on the idea that the primary object of God's love is man; indeed, the whole story, he writes, can be summed up in these words: "For God so loved the world." But this doesn't hold a candle to the altogether amazing love of God as actually shown in the Bible. The God who "shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8), who acts on our behalf not so much because His love for us is great, but because He is great (Isaiah 48:9, Ezekiel 20:9,14,22,44, 36:22; John 17:1-5).
That's the kind of love that wins. That's the kind of love that motivates us to love our neighbors enough to compel them to flee from the wrath to come. And our love for people means nothing if we do not first and foremost love God enough to be honest about Him.
This review was co-written with my friend Aaron Armstrong who writes at Blogging Theologically. All quotes are taken from an Advance Reading Copy of the manuscript that was provided specifically for review purposes; they will be verified against a final bound copy of Love Wins following the book’s release.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (219)
Next person who tries to equate Rob Bell’s “persecution” with the persecution with Jesus Christ…
…must buy everyone a coke.
It’s a rule.
Anon,
Responding in public to a public doctrinal teaching (Bell’s book) is not “gossiping.” Gossip is “idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others.” When Rob Bell publishes his thoughts, he invites public response. The suggestion that doing so without private confrontation may raise the question about the applicability of Matthew 18 to this circumstance, but it does not make a book review “gossip.”
FWIW, I would think Galatians 1, 1 Timothy 1, or the book of Jude would be more applicable to Rob Bell’s public comments than Matthew 18.
As for the way to heaven being wide, thus allowing practically anyone… despite whatever fancy talk is being offered at the moment, Jesus cleared the matter, Himself.
“Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”” John 14:6
It doesn’t matter how we define heaven or hell. No one denies that God is a part of heaven/ belongs there/etc… Clearly, the ONLY way to heaven is through JESUS. Period.
This is a fair review free of the name calling, etc. Much appreciated, Tim.
Christians ought to question and test every doctrine against Scripture. But once we see that a doctrine is Biblical, the questioning is over and conviction must begin.
Far from exalting a lifetime of continual questioning, Scripture warns that false teachers prey on those who are “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).
Or, as G. K. Chesterton reminds us, “The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
10For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Gal. 1:6-10
Hmmm, softening, even negating hell and its eternity seems to be very palatable to man, not to God.
“There is no new news, only old news happening to new people.”
Wonder what the next kicking of the anthill will be . . .
Great review! This will save me a lot of time in having to read this crap. By the way, why didn’t you capitalize the word Hell? It is a place isn’t it, like Cleveland?
Tim, Great thoughts and I’m in full agreement with you, good perceptions of how Rob goes about things. One question: you said this above in response to a quote from Bell:
“God is at best sort of great, a little great—great for saving some, but evil for allowing others to perish. Dangerous words, those. It is a fearful thing to ascribe evil to God.”
In the quote itself as above, I don’t see Rob actually stating the idea that God is evil, only leaving the room for it to be implied by the reader. Does he make the point rather clearly in other parts of the book that he believes God is evil for allowing some to perish?
Lewis states that the Great Divorce is a fictional work. It’s in the front of the book. “I beg readers to remember that this is a fantasy. It has of course — or I intended it to have — a moral. But the transmortal conditions are solely an imaginative supposal: they are not even a guess or a speculation at what may actually await us. The last thing I wish is to arouse factual curiosity about the details of the after-world.”
Are all the quotes toward the end (i.e “What Jesus does is declare that he, and he alone, is saving everybody.And then he leaves the door way, way open. Creating all sorts of possibilities. He is as narrow as himself and as wide as the universe.”) actual quotes from the book because they were not referenced with a page number?
Thanks for the fair review.
Lewis’ The Great Divorce is never couched as anything but allegory, fiction, the recounting of a dream. And while Lewis, I think rightly so, questioned our arrogance of assumption that we could know all of God’s vehicles and motives… this is also explored in The Last Battle… I know of nowhere in Lewis’ fictional works or apologetics that even approaches what Tim has cited from Rob Bell’s book. Within The Great Divorce Lewis uses the metaphor of the heavenly reception area as the palette in which to paint what I believe are elaborate portraits or vignettes of readily recognizable lives… people that we all are or know, and uses this fictional landscape to throw into stark relief why, for example, a theologian with an unsurpassable Christian CV, can still end up going to hell. And Hell is a very real place however impending in the cosmos of The Great Divorce.
I find Tim’s commentary calls into stark relief our challenge as believers to avoid aiming at earth… “Aim for heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim for earth and you get neither.” CS Lewis. I have found that it is very easy for us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to find causes, even overtly Christian causes, and then to raise them up as the thrown of Christ… Clean water, orphans, social justice… and when we do this, we lose Jesus as our focus… we no longer “aim at heaven.”
Excellent and well-written review. Thanks.
Tim -
I think we must remember Rob Bell is more an artist-philosopher than theologian. I am not sure he is trying to be a theologian on this topic, but to bring his artistic-philosopher perspective into a theological topic. I will wait to read the book, but I suppose I won’t agree with everything. I do appreciate the much more gracious tone in this post than I have read in others. Hopefully we are learning healthy praxis is just as important as healthy doctrine.
But what I hope all this does is challenge us to rethink our ‘traditional’ view of ‘hell’ (which Bell is trying to do, though maybe not perfectly). By traditional, I don’t mean some outdated view from the middle ages, but that which most evangelical-reformed people hold to. I sense we have somewhat of an unbiblical view on ‘hell’, hades, gehenna, death, destruction, judgment, etc. I think we read some concepts into these words that Jesus and the other biblical writers did not intend in writing to their original audience.
I think you might be interested in author-blogger, Andrew Perriman’s, two recent posts on hell. The first is a response to Kevin DeYoung’s post on hell about a week and a half ago. The second is a response to an article by Tim Keller on hell. This is what I am referring to with challenging us to rethink our understanding of hell, hades, gehenna, death, destruction, etc.
Oh my. This was so very helpful and insightful. I have been seeing a lot of buzz around the web in regards to the release of this book.Your review was thorough and detailed and I really appreciate that. I am on the hunt to find a review in favor of this book so I can couple it with this one for others to read.
As for “calling him out”, as an above commenter mentioned. It is easier said then done. People start labeling you as “unloving” and suddenly you lose your witness for standing up for truth. Ironic how that works, isn’t it?
I think doing a review of the book is a great way to more casually draw out the false teaching (which is said to be prevalent and deceive even the most elect, according to the Bible). My desire is to keep my face in the Word so I am not one of them. Thank you for being bold and standing up for truth. I will be referring people to read your review. Debating whether I should do one in the future. It’s so bothersome to ignore — esp. when there is such a buzz going around about it.
I recently started re-reading The Great Divorce because of this controversy. C.S. Lewis has his imagined version of George MacDonald say that everything in the book (which is actually a dream) represents decisions that are made outside of time. Therefore, I don’t think C.S. Lewis meant to depict what happens in the afterlife so much as what happens in our present life here on earth.
ScottL,
Bell may be “more an artist-philosopher than theologian”, but he’s also a pastor, and for a pastor to be exploring issues such as this and not being completely clear and orthodox is indefensible.
If Rob Bell is indeed a Universalist, one wonders what he thinks of Hitler going to heaven, for if everyone goes to heaven, then so do the most evil people who ever lived.
Hey Adam,
I don’t think the intent was to make fun of you or to be arrogant. In the vast majority of cases, (not specifically yours, but on many other blogs), the tone was more of a rejection of the idea that we could not make informed decisions about a soon to be released book, with all the hype that came with it, and Rob Bell’s own video.
If you are familiar at all with Bell, you would have known, unless he did a 180 from what he has taught before, where he was going with “Love Wins.”
Those of us who were coming down hard on Bell, were not basing our opinion of him solely on one 2 minute video.
Imagine, instead of Bell’s book, this were about a guy who wanted to date your daughter. Don’t you think that your past experiences with him would influence your current view of him? Do you think that you could make a pretty good prediction of his character based on all of that put together? I do.
But when it comes to false teachers like Bell, large sections of the Christian community given him a pass. Why? Why are we more concerned with who dates our daughters than who teaches us about Jesus?
My telling people to stay as far away from the teachings of Rob Bell did not begin with his 2 minute video on “Love Wins” - it started long before.
So, there was no “jumping to conclusions”, no “arrogance”, no “making fun.” Rather, it seems that the people who were jumping to conclusions were all of the ones who said “you can’t say anything about this book until you’ve read it.”
They were ignoring years and years of Bell’s teachings.
It also seems that they were the arrogant ones, assuming that anybody with anything negative to say was saying it in ignorance and hatred.
So, don’t see this as an “I told you so.” See this as a warning to be on the lookout for people like Bell. If I heard that Deepak Chopra was coming out with a new book about the true God, I would not recommend it. In fact, I think I’d have a pretty good idea of where he’d go with it. And, I’d probably be right.
That’s not arrogance. That’s common sense.
Chris Blackstone -
Well, I might argue Bell is not a ‘pastor’ in what that word (shepherd) means from a more biblical sense. But we’ve made it into a position, rather than a ministry-serving gift. So Bell is in a position with Mars Hill, but I would argue his ministry-serving giftings could be in other areas. But I don’t know him personally. And I suppose there is a shepherding role in some sense.
Anyways… :)
Bell’s purpose was to stir, especially beyond the typical evangelical reformed position. Now Bell might be/could be off (I need to read the book myself). But I believe the typical evangelical reformed is also missing some of what the biblical text actually teaches in its historical-narrative context. I believe we might be reading certain passages (i.e. Matt 25 for starts) from a very post-reformational perspective rather than a 1st century, Jewish, second-temple perspective. That is why I linked to the two Perriman articles.
So, if indeed, “the kind of love that motivates us to love our neighbors enough to compel them to flee from the wrath to come” is the point of it all, did Jesus really come to save us from God and His wrath? That’s a most peculiar understanding of love.
Being evil has nothing to do with whether one goes to heaven or not.
We all have a certain amount of evil in us, and are capable of evil even if it’s not on a grand scale.
Trust in Christ. He forgives all manner of evil!
I hope Bell didn’t spell the adjective of “aion” as “aionos” as your review has consistently done.
It should be “aionios”.
It really should be well enough understood by now that the adjective is a “quality” word giving us information about “What kind?” In other words, “eternal punishment” and “eternal destruction” are the punishment and destruction “of the age to come”. No information on length of duration is being given us by the word “aionios”.
If we insist that it’s a “quantity” word giving us information about “how long?” — then we get into deeper trouble. That’s because the word “aionios” is the adjective of “aion” which means “an age” — a limited span of time, the opposite of everlasting.
And if we insist that “eternal redemption” (like eternal punishment) is a never ending process of redemption, then we find ourselves with “Evangelical Universalism” — that God never gives up on anyone!While that’s precisely what I believe, I would still insist that “eternal redemption” really means “the redemption of the age to come” — not “everlasting redemption”.
The phrase “eternal life” appears seventeen times in John’s Gospel. In its last entry, a definition is given ( John 17:3).It is very much a “what kind” definition, giving us information about the quality of the life.
I’ve skipped the bulk of the comments so if someone has already mentioned this, then sorry. Your review sounds like you are reviewing a dumbed-down version of some of Karl Barth’s thought. Barth’s theology, in particular his views on predestination, sound similar to what you articulate Bell’s views to be. Barth is often accused of being a universalist, something he himself denied. Yet Barth could not reconcile the Triune God’s grace and his willful exacting of justice via hell. I would suggest that Bell, for all his attempts at being “postmodern” is really continuing a very “modern” tradition that dates back to the 19th century, a tradition that has a difficult time reconciling humanist secular ethics with an all powerful God.
“He’s not pointing to legitimate ambiguity, rather, he is engaging in sophistry in order to promote his own (unambiguous) theology that stands in opposition to Biblical Christianity.”
Wow, what an apt statement! Thanks for pointing out the difference between “legitimate ambiguity” and sophistry. I’ve never been able to express that before.
Tim, thanks for this review! Very helpful!
like a friend of mine said, finally a review from someone who has actually read the book… I’m still trying to hold off judgement until I read it but it sounds pretty clear what the agenda behind Bell’s book is going to be. Thanks for a well thoughtout review
Discerning and wise. Thank you Tim and Aaron.
This may be one of those reviews that needs to be expanded to booklet form ala the review done on the Shack.
Steve,
Thanks for the reply. Being evil has everything to do with it. Since we are by nature corrupt and do evil deeds, we will not go to heaven. But if we repent and trust in Christ, we will. (I agree with the Orthodox Christian position.) If Bell is a Universalist, then it doesn’t matter what evil one does; he still goes to heaven. His view, if he truly believes it, nullifies God’s wrath at evil (at best) and makes him complicit with it (at worst).
Let’s take the example I brought up: Hitler. If there is no hell, and only heaven, then Hitler is not punished for the evil he committed after death. But he wasn’t punished in this life, either. Where does that leave God?
Thanks for the review Tim.
As to Rob Bell - Isn’t a pastor, teacher, shepherd or whatever term he (or his followers) may be comfortable with, supposed to give clarity to scripture? How is a constant barrage of questions without answers built on “What ifs” supposed to help those that are seeking for better understanding and clarity. I would think that God not being the author of confusion would want clarity given by His followers instead of ambiguity.
Thanks for the correction on “aionios”. That was my bad.
I was thinking I would read through your post and then all the comments but, uh, you caught people’s attention. =D
What I was going to say is - thanks for taking the time to read the book, think it through and offer us some solid food for thought. I have a general dislike of Bell and his teaching (having left a church as a result of their finding him to be quite the inspirational speaker!) and so I’m very wary of what comes forth from his pen. Glad to see this review.
Thanks.
The Greek word used in Matt.25:46 for eternal is “aionios” found in Strongs concordance #166 and means “Without beginning and end, that which Has always been and that which will always be”.
Hi Alan,
The answer is very simple and is given to both children and Kings. For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children and it is the glory of Kings to search out a matter.
When one goes on to perfection, by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ the are ” swallowed up” with His life . This is a process , as each day we yield to Him and His cross, we die daily and in so doing more of His life is given and manifested. As we arejoined with Christ we become ONE SPIRIT. (1Cor.6:17).We are also ONE BODY. (Rom.12:5; 1Cor.10:15;1Cor.12:12,13).
Who in scripture is without beginning and end?Yes, Jesus Christ AND all those who are ONE in Him!
The Greek word “aion” is not the word used in this scripture, it is “aionios” and it brings to light the glorious understanding of what it will mean when we are swallowed up with His Fullness. This is why Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us in Fathers House. The place is His FULLNESS.
It is so important for one to be a workman of the Word and show themselves approved. Not listening to others, not automatically thinking that a certain translation of the Bible is correct. No! We are to be taught by the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit. We are to be like the Bereans and search out and see if they be true. Unfortunately, many have followed the traditions of man for centuries, have believed everything that *orthodoxy* has said and have suffered loss for it. They have never entered INTO the Kingdom…the TRUTH….the spiritual REALITY.
The reality is this…..”For of Him, and through Him and TO Him are all things.” (Rom.11:36). The Greek word “eis” is Strongs G1519 and means “INTO, TO TOWARDS” So, literally it reads “and back into Him are all things”.
Why back into Him? The answer is found in 1 Cor. 15:28 …. “that God may be ALL IN ALL.”
I would like to share a link to one of the best articles that I have read that answers alot of tough questions with honest answers about the subject of hell. It is with all my heart that I desire for the Body of Christ to grow up INTO the perfect man, but that will only happen as we repent of the error and go onward to follow the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Truth will lead us into all truth. Bless the Holy name of Jesus Christ!His love, grace & peace to you.http://tentmaker.org/articles/ifhellisreal. htm
Now with the eyes of our understaning opened we can see that we too as ONE SPIRIT being joined to the Lord are without beginning and end.
Gossiping? Wow. That’s quite an accusation. I bet some of these rockstar pastors in these megachurches are unreachable. How would suggest going about it? File a “complaint” with “customer service?”
Nathan, I’d like to think that this website is trying to exercise discernment. Part of that is pointing out false teachers and false teaching, such as Jesus told us to beware of in Matt. 7. If you think the theology of this website might be sweet, then you should feel that comments which try to excercise discernment in accordance with Matt. 7 might be sweet too. If you don’t, then you clearly don’t think the theology of this website might be sweet at all—your comment is patronizing. Not that every comment is perfect on this thread, but I’ll take a “Well we were right; he is a heretic” as a much better, more biblically based comment then yours.
Why can’t we live in the tension of being part of a larger story that a magnificant God has written? Why do we have to limit our wonderful God to our own understandings. If there is nothing left to learn about our God then there is no reason to search him out everyday. If the book of Understanding God is written, then put it on the shelf and leave it there because there is nothing new in it.
But if God is revealing himself to us, fresh and new each day than ask questions. Ask big, bold new questions. Be confused for awhile. Seek Him in new places.If your God is so small that you can define him, then don’t read books that ask you to think of him in new ways and to ask new questions.Truth is a person. Not a list written in paper. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” Do you know all there is to know about this man incarnate by God? If you do, then you can tell me to stop asking questions.
Just my thoughts.
Thanks for bringing up your view, at least you seem to have read the book, that isn’t released yet.
Nicolas T (comment 124) -
Thanks for the comment.
It’s interesting, in a clinical if slightly chilling fashion, to see a book reviewed and commented upon by the type of people whom the book is implicitly critiquing.
As is to be expected with human nature, none of those so critiqued seem interested in examining their own premises; merely dismissing the critique as crackpottery.
Of course, it’s religion we’re dealing with, so why would anyone feel the need to take a second glance at their assumptions? The omnipotent ruler of creation has already told them exactly what to think.
I have been to Rob Bell’s church, Mars Hill, a few times, years ago, and I always felt something was off with Bell’s theology. It was too lovey dovey and didn’t spell out the Gospel like a preacher should. It seemed like “feel good” theology. Love wins? Not exactly. Jesus death, and especially His resurrection, wins. That needs to be emphasized, not simply love. Is he just trying to attract as many people to his church as possible? That is fine, but don’t water down the Gospel in order to do that. I think it is better to stear clear of his theology.
“Exegetical gymnastics” is an appropriate description. I have a section on how Rob Bell uses and interprets Scripture in my recent post: http://www.nestheology.org/2011/03/06/ready-for-rob-bells-new-book-love-… Thanks guys for the early review, Ray
Ever notice that the only one in Scripture who ducks and hides behind ambiguity is Satan?
Thanks for providing this review. Having heard so much about this book already it is nice to see a review by people who have indeed read the material. Do not think that your comment regarding “best life now” went unnoticed by this reader as I believe Bell’s thoughts are but a branch from that much deeper rooted problem. Your statement “It seems that where Bell’s arguments begin to break down, he simply walks away instead of pursuing consistency and logic,” seems to sum up most of the work from those in the Emergent camp I read. It’s as if they stamp their beliefs with disappearing ink but address the envelope with the return address of love. Meanwhile, Bell will be laughing all the way to the bank while those who love the Lord and His scripture will be anguishing as we watch brothers and sisters ignore sound teaching and follow after this teaching.
I’m not Tim, but may I comment? We spend too much time reading about what others write about the Bible, instead of studying it for ourselves.
When you study Scripture, your discernment will grow, and you will know error and heresy when you see it. There will be a “pause” in your spirit, or a red flag will go up.
“For the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, able to pierce even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Get yourself a good translation and concordance. Read the word, meditate on it, do a study on certain words and where/when they appear (sanctification, baptism, whatever) and trust the Holy Spirit if you have him, because you will never understand the truth without him. God bless your efforts.
Thanks Tim for your helpful review.
Rob Bell is not spouting heresy. God is sovereign, God acts through Christ to save the world. Most of the ideas of heaven and hell so beloved by evangelicals and defended with such ferocity are nothing more than Medieval myths transposed onto biblical metaphors.
Love indeed wins, and that victory does not require the grotesque image of a God roasting billions of people for eternity in a lake of fire.
Christians are a peculiar people.
John the Baptist warned of Jesus, “Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
Have you noticed that Bell backers seldom use Scripture to back up their claims? ‘Nuff said.
The logical consequences of some doctrines is that God must be evil. Or certainly not good in the same sense of good the He apparently expects us to espouse.
Original Sin was/is such a doctrine. But realizing very early on that an infant burning in hell forever and ever was as evil as anything conjured up by Satanists, we came up with the unscriptural notions of “infant baptism” and “the age of accountability.”
That is, instead of tossing the doctrine of Original Sin, we instead came up with some new ones to support it!
The same goes for an eternal—no annihilation—burning in hell.
Show me one good person in the scriptures that goes to hell. Instead, we read of adulterers, liars, fornicators, and the such going to hell. But never a good man.
We also know from Romans 2 that the heathen, never having heard of the law, can yet follow the law that is in their hearts, apparently bringing about an “excusing” of some sort.
And just who—chapter and verse, please!—said that when you die, if you never heard of Jesus, you never will get the chance? Yes, after death the judgment, but that doesn’t mean that God can’t step in before judgment, reveal the truth to good men, and let it go from there.
We would not think of executing someone for stealing a candy bar. Yet if our doctrine of eternal hell is to be believed, God does a TRILLION TIMES worse to this thief!
How can some receive “greater damnation” if all that’s going to happen for the next billion centuries is to burn in eternal torment? Does Hitler have a hotter flame than the dear teenage girl who, never having heard of Jesus, must burn along side him forever?
No, these all force us to conclude that either God is not so good as we thought Him…or else we really have no clue about what is right and wrong, good and evil. And if we have no idea of good and evil, then why do we call God good?
We can all understand someone serving a “sentence” for their crimes. Even if Hitler must burn for a million years in utter torment, we all understand that at some point, an accounting has been made, and this evil man can sink into oblivion. (After all, his victims will have been resurrected themselves, so his evil crime will not feel nearly so powerful then. Imagine if someone killed your child, but your child was restored alive to you. Punishment may be demanded, but certainly there is now a difference.)
I don’t know if God annihilates some people at some point…or whether He might, in an act of grace beyond belief, save them. But I do feel confident that God is not going to do what makes not real sense to the moral mind.
Lastly, for those who like to use the h-word (heresy) to shut up those who would dare disagree, let me ask you a question: “Do you really think God is upset with someone who, in all sincerity and diligent Bible study, thinks that God is more wonderful and beautiful and gracious than we’ve ever imagined?” I can’t imagine God being grieved with someone seeing Him in an even more exalted light than we already do. Even if that person might be wrong.
But I have a feeling that we will never be able to think more highly of our God than He really is. He’s that glorious, that majestic, that Wonderful!
Excellent review Tim!
Too bad the one quote of Bell I like, is one out of context, “we get this life, and only this life, to believe in Jesus” (of course,Bell doesn’t like this…)
You said: “It seems that where Bell’s arguments begin to break down, he simply walks away instead of pursuing consistency and logic.” This is perfectly stated - to the postmodernistic evangelical mind they would take this as a complement - but to a biblicist this is heresy. I’m starting to agree more & more with Piper’s tweet.
Great comment Amy2!