A lot has been written about Rob Bell's new book pointing out its errors and providing the truth that stands against it. There are a lot of problems with the book, but I think sitting down and going through all those problems would be a waste of time. The book is not a work of theology and I don't think it was written to make any kind of solid pronouncements about hell. I believe this book was written to make people think.
I found while reading the book that Bell's arguments for hell were accepting of a variety of different views on the subject. I thought some passages were somewhat pluralistic or possibly espoused some kind of purgatory or were vaguely traditional. It is because of Bell's lack of definitiveness that I am frustrated just thinking about this book. At the end of the day, I really don't care about Rob Bell's views on hell because they are either nonexistent or too imprecise. However, with this said, Bell's book is still provocative. What this book does well is ask questions.
Rob Bell is a pastor of a large church in Michigan and I think much of what he says resonates with the emergent movement and many within the church today. I think we can take this book as a statement that the church today doesn't really understand hell and that it is looking for answers. The energy that this book has created can be seen as a good thing. It is good that we are taking about what happens to ourselves when we die.
There are a lot of exegetical and logical fallacies throughout this book and I'm sure you could find nice tidy lists of them if you Google hard enough. I don't want to go into that much detail. However, I do think it is good exercise to read a book while arguing with it. I think one of the lasting impressions I have of the book is that we don't really know exactly what it takes for a person to be saved. I think this is a good question to take away from the book and carry with you as you read though the scriptures.
Love Wins. I find this an incredibly beautiful idea. At the end of all things God's great loves shines out and conquers everything with its might. Bell makes love the only attribute of God and forgets about such things as justice and righteousness which becomes a problem when we consider the simpleness of God. If God is love and God is righteous these attributes of God can not be smaller parts of the whole excluding one another. If God is love the same God must also be righteous. This is all to say that God's attributes are all interrelated so that a righteous act of God is a loving act. God's love, therefore, can not be divorced from God's righteousness or justice. The "love wins" idea in this book is one that seems to save everybody regardless of the atonement of Christ. This would deny the justice of God. Love wins is a beautiful idea but only in light of the God who is just and the justifier of our sins.
Personally, I don't think this book is worth reading because there are much better books on hell out there. Several years ago a book called Hell Under Fire was published containing a collection of essays on different aspects of hell by top theologians. Also, there are new books that have been written in response to Love Wins and Justin Taylor on his blog talks about some of them.
Kevin DeYoung's lengthy review of the book:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/
I think this is the best review of the book I've heard so far. You definitely identified the main reason why this topic resonated so much in the Christian world - the general lack of understanding about the concept and reality of Hell, but along with that, the lack of understanding the general conservative population has about God.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your clear overview of the subject, and I wholeheartedly agree. Well said.