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Written by Mike Gantt

Published: 11 April 2011

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Written by Erwin

Published: 11 April 2011

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 11 April 2011

Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (2011), argues hell doesn’t exist—as it’s been understood for centuries—that God is a god of love who couldn’t possibly punish sinners for eternity, and that eventually everyone is saved and goes to heaven. Why? Because “love wins,” that is, God is love and “God always gets what God wants.”

Bell says the traditional presentation of the Gospel in which some are saved through faith in Christ, while those without Christ are damned to eternity in hell, is “misguided and toxic.” The doctrine of election is clearly on trial in this book.

Bell complains that evangelical or fundamentalist churches don’t permit people to ask questions, so he asks them here. He paints a jaundiced picture of such churches and then claims there are a “staggering number” of people who don’t like the biblical message or the “vicious,” “cruel” God these churches present. He says the traditional story of historic orthodox Christianity, which he still claims to represent, is not a good one and that “the Good News is better than that.” t;/p>

Bell believes in hell, although given the varying ways he defines hell it’s difficult to be sure what he believes. He uses the term “hell” like one might use the word “hellish.” It more or less describes anything evil, bad, or discomforting.

When General William T. Sherman famously said, “War is hell,” he meant it metaphorically. That’s what Bell is doing with the word—and a lot more. He says there are “all kinds of hells.” For Bell, hell is genocide in Rwanda, it’s “what we want,” it’s individual hells, communal, society-wide hells, hell now and later, it’s refusing to trust. Whatever it is, for Bell hell is a lot of hellish things other than the Lake of Fire referenced in Scripture.

Bell says failure is not final and hell is not forever. He conceives of hell as something akin to the Catholic belief in purgatory, an undefined but apparently limited period of time when some people experience a “period of pruning” or “internal experience of correction.” However long the time in this netherworld, in Bell’s theology, people do not stay forever. He says there’s hope for Sodom and Gomorrah and suggests Mahatma Gandhi might be in heaven (though there is no record in Gandhi’s voluminous writings that he embraced the Christ of Christianity; in fact, there’s the opposite). He even suggests people can be saved after death.

Rob Bell clearly possesses a gift for communication. I’ve heard him speak a number of times, enjoyed his ability to take listeners through a long list of Scriptures without losing them, and appreciated his teaching talent. I’ve also wondered how long people could sit under his youthful shtick or imbibe his perpetual flippancy, particularly as he grew older and the shtick didn’t align with his age.

Bell’s gift for communication shines through in Love Wins. For example, he coins a creative and thought-provoking phrase like “garage full of nouns” to describe the excesses of materialism. The man can write and he can teach, no question. His ability to create word pictures is why he’s highly regarded as a speaker, why his Nooma DVD series are best sellers, and why he’s attracted a large following.

But now comes Love Wins. The book saddens me, not only because it presents a watered-down, which is to say false, version of biblical teaching, but also because it will undoubtedly mislead a lot of people. I’ve read Bell’s earlier books. In those he attempted to re-think tradition, something the conservative church always needs. This book is different. In Love Wins, Bell attempts to re-think doctrine, central teachings of the Bible and the Christian faith.

Bell’s book is one long reconstruction of the Christian faith in terms he thinks postmodern sensibilities can handle. While he quotes a myriad of Scripture, he picks and chooses, curiously omitting entire passages relevant to his topic. So the primary evidence for his claims, especially those related to how people respond to the Church, is his own experiences and perceptions.

And therein lies an odd point: I’ve read many books written by people who grew up in the fundamentalist church. Many times the authors work very hard to demonstrate how they’ve grown beyond their spiritual roots. It’s almost like a rite of passage—in their effort to say, “I’m not like that” they bite the hand that fed them. Bell’s book is another example of this sort of public therapy session.

Bell is clearly wrestling—I’d say struggling at some points—with his spiritual heritage. He claims he’s not saying anything new, that he’s part of a “deep, wide, diverse stream” of “historic orthodox Christianity.” Then he proceeds to debunk his own caricature of evangelical Christianity and turn historic orthodox Christian doctrine upside down. He’s trying to have his cake and eat it too. He keeps implying, “I’m one of them,” while at the same time hinting, “I don’t believe what they believe.”

Pre-publication controversy about this book, and much of it since, centered on whether Bell is a “universalist.” There are varying versions of universalism, a belief that all people will ultimately be saved, escape hell, and live in heaven eternally. Universalism is not historic orthodox Christianity. Bell has repeatedly said in interviews that he is not a universalist, yet his entire book makes a case for just that.

His first chapter is entitled “What about the flat tire?” This is his dumbed down way of not dealing with the sovereignty of God and of ostensibly demonstrating how a person’s spiritual fate might turn upon whether a missionary got a flat tire on the road to share the Good News. Herein he deconstructs scriptural teaching indicating people must hear the Gospel in order to respond to it (Romans 10). He says he agrees; yet he doesn’t. He basically says it doesn’t much matter. Eventually, whether a person heard or not, whether a person responds in faith to the Gospel or not, people will be saved because love wins.

Bell does not deal coherently with the holiness of God or the biblical teaching of judgment. He talks about sin, believes it exists, yet somehow whitewashes it in terms of a sentimentalist version of God he considers palatable for contemporary culture. He works hard to rewrite Christianity as a “good story.” In the process he reveals an astoundingly underdeveloped theological understanding of the sovereignty of God.

After writing a book like this, I don’t know why Bell bothers to ask, “Will everybody be saved, or will some perish apart from God forever because of their choices? Those are questions, or more accurately, those are tensions we are free to leave fully intact. We don’t need to resolve them or answer them because we can’t, and so we simply respect them, creating space for the freedom that love requires.”

This transparency, it seems to me, evidences confusion and makes the fact he argued as he did an even greater theological and spiritual train wreck. First, he makes a case for not believing (affirming “the story”) in foundational doctrines of the biblically Christian faith. Then, with this last set of questions he indicates he’s not sure of any of it. So he’s done the classic postmodern thing—he’s deconstructed an argument only to toss what’s left into ambiguity. He doesn’t believe like he used to believe. Now he’s not sure what or if he believes at all? So where does that leave all those who follow him?

Love Wins strips God’s love and the Gospel of the power and majesty Bell wants to provide spiritually bereft people. Sadly, he teaches error and leaves them adrift.

Check these theologians’ blogs reviewing Love Wins: seminary president Albert Mohler; author Randy Alcorn, and pastor Kevin DeYoung.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2011

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com or follow him at www.twitter.com/RexMRogers.

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 11 April 2011

Given the serious, important, or painful things going on in the world, it seems to me that we spend a lot of time, money, media, and cyberspace on things that don’t matter. Perhaps it’s irony, but I’m going to do it too, but just for this list. Here’re my nominees for unimportant things that get way too much attention:

--Charlie Sheen – Whether for real or a charade or self-parody Sheen isn’t a star, he’s sad. Inside Sheen is a person that is important, but what he’s doing to himself and offering the world is toxic.

--More New Kinds of Pet Food.

--“Blessing of the Animals” - Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, part of Palm Sunday service, which happened to be the closest Sunday to Earth Day. People brought dogs, guinea pigs, cats, an alpaca, snakes, etc, to church “to be blessed.” Meanwhile there are hundreds of children within five miles of the church who need its help and blessings.

--“Reality” Television – Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, ad nauseum.

--Political Correctness – Really just another way to force-feed a liberal view of “correct politics.”

--Westboro Baptist Church, Topeka, KS.

--Another Megachurch Building Campaign – Do we really need another multi-million dollar complex duplicating similar facilities across town?

--More Enormous New Professional Sports Stadiums, tearing down still useable older facilities – ala megachurches.

--Celebrities.

--Wrestlemania and Professional Wrestling.

I’m not suggesting all these things are “bad” or that there’s no redeeming social value in any of them. It’s just that by comparison to other issues the world faces—human trafficking, wars, budget crises, unemployment, hunger, poverty—these things seem superfluous and a waste of time and money.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2011

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com or follow him at  www.twitter.com/RexMRogers.

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 09 April 2011

It’s possible to work too much for the wrong reasons. It’s possible to be motivated by what Bill Hybels labeled “the monster called ‘More.’” Another word for it is greed, a desire to acquire and possess and accumulate far beyond our basic needs.

Greed is not a uniquely American problem, but it’s clearly one of our problems. Greed happens when we go over the top with our work ethic. We work at good projects for a good organization. We take care of our family. We advance in our professions. We’re amazed at all the stuff we’ve acquired. But we still want more.

Greed is not a word you expect to see listed among the top ten rules for good living. You won’t hear a preacher in the midst of wedding vows encourage a couple to pursue greediness. You won’t hear any eulogies listing greediness as one of the deceased's most endearing qualities.

In one of the better-known passages of the Bible, God talks about greed in what’s often called the “Parable of the Rich Fool” (Luke 12:13-21). In this story the rich fool celebrates his riches not with praise to God but with a bold declaration to build even bigger barns for his goods. Then he issues his infamous cry of excess: "Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry."

But earlier in the story, Jesus offered this divine warning: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Greed displaces the joy of work. Greed is a form of idolatry. Greedy people worship both conspicuous consumption and accumulation of assets more than God himself.

Greedy people do not acquire-to-live; they live-to-acquire. What do they want? More. How much more? Just one more.

Greed equates life with what Jesus called "the abundance of his possessions." Greedy people define themselves based upon how much they have and how much more they can acquire---this could be money, personal property, net worth, corporate kingdoms, real estate, a greater inheritance . . . things. For men, it could even be wives (plural), “trophy wives,” girlfriends, or just conquests. For women, it could be husbands (plural), boyfriends, and more.

Howard Hughes was a brilliant man who wanted and seemingly attained it all. Greed warped his work and legacy. He died a spiritually bereft and psychologically disturbed man, lonely and alone.

For all this, greed isn't about "things" as much as it is about perceived stature or power. We want, not because we want the possession—we want because of what we think the possession can do for us or what the possession makes of us. This can be true whether the greedy person is a pauper or a tycoon. For a greedy person the amount is always relative.

Or, we want because of insecurity . . . in ourselves . . . in our lives . . . in God.

Greed enslaves; it doesn’t liberate. Under the guise of giving us more, greed instead exacts a price. Ironically, what we want to get actually takes from us.

The remedy for greed is to replace this form of idolatry with a right expression of worship. Pursue God, not greed. Pursue work to the glory of God not the accumulation of possessions, power, or position. Pursue God not money-for-money’s-sake. Pursue God and he will bless you according to his sovereign will.

For all greed promises, it only results in emptiness. For all God promises, He fills our cup to overflowing.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2011

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com or follow him at www.twitter.com/RexMRogers.