Love Wins
By Rob Bell (198 pages) Subject: Theological 2011
This
is the scariest theological book I have ever read.
Period. I will and wish
that no one ever reads it. It
is purely and simply dangerous false teaching.
The
sub-title of the book purports to be an answer-all on the subject of heaven
and hell (“A Book About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever
Lived.”) In point of fact,
Bell’s easy reading style consistently mis-intreprets Scripture in a
demeaning and flippant manner.
He rarely cites his sources (whether Biblical or historical) and often takes
Biblical references out of context.
Rob
Bell is the pastor of a mega church in Grand Rapids, MI, that is attended by
over 10,000 people. In
addition, he sends out over 50,000 downloads every week.
Bell has great influence.
In
this book, Bell is influencing people to stop believing in the holy wrath of
God and the existence of hell.
These, of course, are not subjects that we “like” to think about.
But we still must think about them because they are real.
In
Bell’s desire to paint God as loving by disposing of the “old fashioned
notion” of eternal hell, he loses the main point of the Bible, which is the
good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Kevin DeYoung says in his review of the book… If there is no eternal
hell (and separation from God), then
“Why does the Bible make such a big deal about repenting ‘today’ (Heb.
3:13), about being found blameless on the day of Christ (2
Pet. 3:14), about not neglecting such a great salvation (Heb.
2:3) if we have all sorts of time to figure things out in
the next life? Why warn about not inheriting the kingdom (1
Cor. 6:9–10), about what a fearful thing it is to fall
into the hands of the living God (Heb.
10:31), or about the vengeance of our coming King (2
Thess. 1:5–12) if hell is just what we
make of heaven? Bell does nothing to answer these questions, or even
ask them in the first place.”
In the book, Bell
posits a theology that includes post-mortem chances for salvation.
In this theological concept he borrows on the Catholic concept of
purgatory, but includes, not just those who die in a state of grace, but
includes all peoples. In this
post-mortem period, all people are given the opportunity to be pruned of
their hellish ways so that they can remain with God.
This book is clearly a
crossover book from post-modern, deconstructionist, emergent theology to a
much clearer form of universalism.
Rob Bell can no longer be considered in the same theological
tradition as Evangelical, Orthodox Christians.
Please do not read this book. If you do, please also read the outstanding review by Kevin DeYoung.