In response to some Rob Bell critics....

So I posted my review of Bell's work Love Wins the yesterday. Today I feel like it is time to discuss some of the criticism. I am not going to personally attack anyone for two reasons. The first reason is because it would be an unloving thing to do. The second reason is that it is not what the author of the book would want (as he has stated in sermons and in his book as well). Therefore, I will leave the names of some individuals off my blog.


Anyway, today there was an article just posted today on yahoo.com, Who's in hell? Pastor's book sparks eternal debate. First, I am not surprised that the pastor lost his job. Let's face it, this is a polarizing book, and I believe that most people who have continually been taught that Hell is a place with fire and pitchforks where sinners will eternally burn forever will not change their mind due to one book written by Rob Bell. I mean look at Galileo, he had a hard time convincing people that the earth moved around the sun and not vice versa. Now I am not saying what Bell said it complete truth like Galileo's claim. All I am saying is that humans have a hard time giving up what they have been previously taught, whether the new teaching is truth or fiction.


That being said, what disturbs me the most are some of the comments being made by influential Christians. The president of a popular seminary had this to say about Bell's book, "I just felt like on every page he's trying to say 'It's OK. . . And there's a sense in which we desperately want to say that. But the question becomes, on what basis can we say that?" Why does this disturb me? Because here we have a PRESIDENT of an influential seminary who is making a claim that is far from being true about Love Wins. Nowhere does Bell state that it is OK to be a sinner. Nowhere does Bell downplay the affects of sin on a person's life. In fact, Bell goes farther than many traditionalists go when it comes to how sin affects a person. Whereas the traditionalist will often say, "stop sinning and repent, because if you fail to, you will burn in Hell." Bell states something more along these lines, "If you sin and fail to repent, you will live in Hell, both in this life and in the next." Bell's view of sin has immediate and future consequences, whereas the traditional view focuses mainly on the future.


A professor who teaches at another seminary had this to say, "It's love, but it's a just love. . . God is love, but you have to understand you're a sinner and the only way to get around that is through Christ's sacrifice on the cross." Once again the person who made this comment has failed to grasp Bell's thinking. Bell totally believes that it is only through Christ (as the Word of God) who allows us to have access to God. But Bell does actually discuss, the "just love of God" in his work. Bell feels that God's just love will result in him allowing people to either be in Heaven, or be in Hell. In fact, that is the whole point of the book, God's just love wins in the end by allowing us to be where we choose to be, or better yet, where we desire to be.The difference between Bell's just love and the person who made the comment, is that Bell believes God will give a person eternity to choose to accept the just love of God. This does not mean that all people will come to God like the early thinker Origen states, but rather Bell takes on a view similar to C.S. Lewis, when he states that some people will never turn to God, and as a result will never enter into Heaven, but instead they will choose to spend eternity in Hell, aka separated from God. For further information of Lewis' view read The Great Divorce.


Quite frankly I find comments like these all over the place, whether they be in Amazon reviews, or in articles, or in interviews. And the one thing that remains is that those who make such comments, are making uninformed statements about what is in Bell's book. Now, to be fair, some negative critiques of Bell's book are fair, and I have nothing against people making fair negative reviews (see review by Bell's fellow Fuller alum for a fair negative review). And also to be fair, I am sure there are some positive reviews which are uninformed as well.


Anyway, my point is this, if you have yet to read the book, please do not make critiques of Bell's work, because to do so is wrong. And my plea is this, if you want to know about Bell's thinking in Love Wins, please read the book. Or at the very least, ask someone who has read the book in whom you personally trust. Please don't base your opinions off of some internet posting blow hard, whom you have never met. (myself included!)