Well, after what seems like an
aion (ok...I had to put that pun in there, if you don’t know to what I am referring, read the book)...I’m finally getting to write a review of Rob Bell’s “Love Wins.” Ministry happens and is much more important than a few musings about a book. However, I wanted to write down some of my thoughts, so here we go.
(Please note that the book I read was the iBooks form of the book, so quotations from pages within the book may not be on the same page if you are reading the printed version.)
For the sake of brevity, I will largely condense my comments. If you’d like to have a more in-depth conversation, please comment on the blog or on the Facebook post where you clicked the link.
First of all, I am extremely disappointed in how so many Christians have personally attacked Rob Bell. I can’t believe the vitriol that has been spewed by those in the Body of Christ, ESPECIALLY those that have not even read the book! I do believe that when heresy is exposed, it must be decried as such, but whether or not the book that Bell produced is heresy or not, we lose the ability to be heard and reprove when we react in the way that many have. Rebuke assumes relationship, of which I do not have with Rob. I seek to simply respond to some of the points made in his book. Remaining true to the Word of God is ultimately at the forefront of all the responses, but we must also show the love of Christ. Rob is still my brother in Christ...even if we STRONGLY disagree!
I think the main point that Mr. Bell is attempting to get across is the fact that the Body of Christ is NOT fulfilling the call of Christ. We live our lives for ourselves as if we are living for a future kingdom...a kingdom that we cannot or will not see this side of heaven. I have to agree with this point. “Heaven, for Jesus, was deeply connected with what he called ‘this age’ and ‘the age to come.’” (p. 46) The prophets in the Old Testament continually spoke within the context of the “now and not yet.” Prophecy was understood to have a “right now” fulfillment and a “yet to come” fulfillment much of the time. Ultimately, God desires to change people’s lives today...he is all about HIS GLORY because he knows that is what’s best for us! We cannot simply explain away the problems of this world because it will “all be destroyed one day.” We are on this earth to continue to bring the Kingdom of God onto this earth by being Christ’s ambassadors! Yes, the Kingdom of God is coming, but it is also already HERE! The Spirit of God dwells within his people...live your salvation DAILY!
I appreciate Mr. Bell’s comments about the fact that we all desire that injustice be punished and even though most people say that they can’t believe in a God of judgement...the reality is, THEY CAN! “We crave judgement, we long for it, we thirst for it. Bring it, unleash it, as the prophet Amos says, ‘Let justice roll on like a river’ (chap 5).” (p. 56) Also, as is pointed out in the book, while the prophets speak of judgement, there is always a reminder that God would not judge forever. There is a lot of talk about God’s mercy and grace as well! The book of Isaiah is a GREAT example of this!
However, “Love Wins” is based on an extremely slippery slope. “This (the doctrine that only a few will spend forever in heaven) is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world so desperately needs to hear.” (p. 7) What is the goal of God in the world? Why does God desire that “none perish, but all come to repentance?” (2 Peter 3:9) For HIS GLORY! He is the ultimate good, the ultimate love, the ultimate judge!
Much of what Mr. Bell speaks of hinges on what he believes the word
aion to mean in translation (p 28). He desires to translate the word (which is translated into English as “eternity”) to mean something more of a period of time with a beginning and an end, rather than a time that has no end. However, in Matthew 25:46 the same word is used for BOTH eternal judgement AND eternal life! “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Matt 25:26, NLT. This is referring to those that did and did not reach out to others while on the face of the earth...they did that to Christ. You can’t translate it both ways! Either both are eternal...like...eternal, or both are temporary. To say that “eternity” wasn’t understood as eternity to the original readers of the Scripture is a LARGE stretch. “To be sure, the adjective aion may on a few occasions have reference to an age, that is, a very long period of time, rather than to eternity. Usually, however, in the absence of a contrary indication in the context, the most common meaning of the word is the one in view (eternity).” (Erickson, 1238)
Mr. Bell brings humanism into the picture and wraps it in the cross. It’s as if God is sitting in the background and hopping up and down like a school boy screaming “Pick me! Pick me!” Eternal punishment is referred to throughout the Scripture (Matt 18:8; 25:41, 46; Jude 6-7; 2 Thess 1:8-10; Rev 14:11; 20:10) and cannot be seen otherwise. God has offered us grace and mercy through the cross, which Bell readily believes and espouses. However, it seems as though he places man in the center of the equation and as long as we
eventually choose Christ, whether on this side of death or the other, we can be saved and enter into heaven’s glory. This is NOT something that is supported by the Scripture as seen in the above-referenced verses. Hell is a literal place that people choose to be in...and go to. It can be both on this earth and will be in eternity. To simply explain that when Jesus refers to ghenna (hell) as a garbage dump is to forget that Jesus was the master teacher! He was masterful at word-pictures and illustration! What an illustration!
As I stated earlier, I could go on...but will conclude here. Can there be heaven on earth? Through Christ, we can have a PICTURE of what heaven will be like, but nothing here can EVER compare to what God has in store for his people. Can there be hell on earth? Yes, through poor choices and the sin of mankind, we can live in a type of hell on earth. However, nothing can compare to what an eternity without the presence of God will be like! Is there a literal hell? The Scripture speaks of that implicitly. Do people get a second chance to accept Christ? YES!!! Second, third, fourth, 100 chances...this side of death. The grace of God is HUGE! It overcomes any and all sin! The cross of Christ redeems the most evil of men when they choose him. However, “ And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.” Heb 9:27-28, (NLT) Scripture simply does not support a second chance after the finality of death.
“The argument that
eternal punishment is unfair (because there is a disproportion between temporary sin and eternal punishment) wrongly assumes that we know the extent of the evil done when sinners rebel against God” (Grudem, 1151). This argument (which Bell seems to support) again places man’s intellect and sense of morality at the forefront, not God’s. “Man was designed to live eternally with God;
(it may well be that) if man perverts this his destiny, he will experience eternally the consequences of that act” (Erickson, 1240). This fact should move our hearts to sorrow AND action! “It is hard - and should be hard - for us to think of this doctrine (eternal punishment) today. If our hearts are never moved with deep sorrow when we contemplate this doctrine, then there is a serious deficiency in our spiritual and emotional sensibilities” (Grudem, 1151-2).
Ultimately, Rob Bell says a lot about what he believes, by really saying nothing. He gets close to saying where he stands, and stops short. He enjoys tension and asks many questions without answering them himself (even though the Scripture speaks to his questions). He loves to read between the lines, but reading between the lines within our cultural context is not a sound hermeneutic.
Finally, remember that it is not God that sends us to hell. God has offered salvation to anyone that will accept him (John 3:16). “God created man to have fellowship with him and provided the means by which man can have that fellowship. It is man’s choice to experience the agony of hell. His sin sends him there, and his rejection of the benefits of Christ’s death prevents his escaping” (Erickson, 1240). C.S. Lewis puts it well, “Sin is man’s saying to God throughout life, ‘Go away and leave me alone.’ Hell is God’s finally saying to man, ‘You may have your wish.’ It is God’s leaving man to himself, as man has chosen” (Lewis, 127-28). (We’ll leave the doctrine of predestination and the sovereignty of God for another time!)
So...does love win? YES, in both grace and judgement, for GOD IS LOVE...and he is holy.
Bibliography
Bell, Rob. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. New York, NY: HarperCollins e-books, 2011. iBooks e-book.
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1985.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press & Zondervan, 1994.
Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1962.
