I love Rob Bell and all of my friends who agree with him and the views that he proposes in his new book Love Wins which releases today. However, I disagree with Rob Bell and I would have to disagree with my friends who agree with the views he proposes in his new book. However, despite my disagreement, Love should Win among us all, and we should not allow our disagreements, no matter how deep they are to divide our love for one another. The moment your beliefs steal your love your beliefs becomes your god.
(UPDATED) Note: I have started reading the book, but am not finished, so far everything in the post stands true. I HAVE NOT read Rob Bell’s new book. I am was solely basing my opinion on three things: 1) The reviews from supporters of Rob Bell’s book and the reviews from non-supporters of the book (overall, the reviews agree on what’s being said on the content, but the disagreement comes in the beliefs of the theology and subject matter). 2) Rob Bell’s own views expressed in his interviews. 3) The pre-video released by Rob Bell to promote the book. 4) The theology of Universalism (in general)
Here are some of my major disagreements and initial thoughts on the subject. I’ll start with the most top disagreements in case you stop reading 🙂
The Chasm
No one can disregard the parable by Jesus, because it’s Jesus talking. I hear people all the time wanting to disregard words by Paul and others because it wasn’t Jesus, however this Scripture is from Jesus, so it carries a lot of weight.
Luke 16:19-31 is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Why is this so important to Rob’s new book, Love Wins? Well, Rob said himself that he does not believe that Hell is locked from the outside, rather some people create Hell here on Earth while they are other people’s Hell. He also expressed views that painted Hell as a temporary place, a time-out, if you will. To Rob and his supporters it is a place that people choose to go until they are willing to view God for who he is and at that point, because Love Wins, they are free from their Hell. For Rob, Hell is not a permanent place.
Yet, the Bible and Jesus refute this view in Luke 16:19-31. In this parable the rich man goes to Hell and is in torment. He is suffering to the place where he requests that Abraham would send Lazarus to him to just give him a drop of water. Abraham refuses and says that Lazarus is with him being comforted while the Rich man was there in torment. He expresses even if they wanted to, they couldn’t because there is a great chasm separating them. The rich man then requests for Abraham to send someone from the dead, like Moses, to WARN his family of the pending torment of Hell.
There are three main issues here that must be focused on:
- The rich man being in torment would have done anything and everything possible to get out of Hell being in the anguish and torment (flames) that he was in. He would have no problem at this point seeing God for who he really was and repenting to leave Hell.
- Abraham says that there is a great chasm separating the two places and neither groups can get to each other even if they wanted to. This is the most destructive truth to Rob’s viewpoint of an open door Hell.
- Notice the rich man did not ask Abraham to send him from Hell. He knew there was no escape and no way to leave, or he would have. He asked that Abraham would send someone from his side.
I don’t believe Rob leaves so many questions open ended because he is genuinely asking the question for his own benefit. He is asking the question to point people in the direction he believes, as well, he is painting a picture of those who disagree with him as being hateful towards him and attacking him. This is not true. I disagree with him but I am not attacking him. However, since we are asking questions, shouldn’t this one be asked and answered? What about the Chasm?
Hyper-Calvinist without the Calvinist
The Hyper-Calvinist that I know do not believe in evangelism. Why? Because in the end they believe that God’s elect are going to be chosen regardless and through His own means God is going to redeem those who he has predestined to be saved. Rob Bell’s view is not much different, he’s just promoting that EVERYONE is predestined because Love Wins and it would be unjust for God to allow anyone to go to Hell if he is love. There’s only one problem with this reverse Hyper-Calvinism and with Hyper-Calvinism while we are at it:
Romans 10:13-15 – Not only must a person have faith in Jesus alone for their salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9), but they must call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Romans goes on to say that how can someone believe on a person they don’t know about and how can they know about someone they’ve never heard about. Beautiful are the feet of those who go and share the Good News of Jesus. This would be a moot point if in the end, someone can make a final decision that they were wrong this entire time and they need to believe on Jesus for their salvation. The need for the message of the Good News would be pointless and void because in the end, everyone (or for the Hyper-Calvinist, the elect) will be saved. Basically this view is saying we can be lazy and silent about Jesus because in the end Love Wins anyway.
Martyrs and Missionaries Must Be the Stupidest People on the Planet
If Love Wins as Rob Bell sees it and everyone ends up in Heaven anyway, then he just made Martyrs and Missionaries the stupidest people on the planet. Why would anyone risk their life or give up their life preaching a message that in the end doesn’t matter much for the people of other faiths who have good intentions, but just doesn’t happen to use the name Jesus when they refer to their god? I work for a church who supports a lot of missionaries. Some of these missionaries cannot have their names or locations printed in any material or posted on the internet because their lives are in such danger. What stupid people! Pack-up and come home, live life, have fun, enjoy every minute of it, and let God woo those people in the end.
How does this view of an empty or an open, non-permanent Hell, with an afterlife decision opportunity not diminish the gospel and the work of Christ here and now? How does this view not diminish the commission of Jesus himself to “go make disciples?” Do those of us who are able to lead people to Christ here and save God that extra work get some kind of prize in the end? Rob’s view, in my humble opinion, just keeps unraveling for me.
Hints of Mormonism
I guess if other religions despite their belief in the actual Jesus is acceptable in the end, then, it is also okay to grab a few ideas from the Mormon religion. From my understanding, Mormons believe that there are second chances after death as well. Of course there is some temple work that has to be done on the part of the persons loved one, but regardless, death is not the end, it is the beginning. People who hold a traditional view of the gospel message is being painted by Rob Bell as being closed minded and unwilling to accept new ideas about a progressive faith, he even gives a slight pity party to say how people hate him and are attacking him, which I have not seen. However, I believe what I believe because I have studied it out #1 for myself and it stands firm on Scripture. The question I have is this, “Where is there any hint of a second chance in the afterlife to choose Jesus or to see God for who he really is, anywhere in the Bible?” “Where did Jesus even hint at such a possibility?” Rob says he wants to have a conversation on these issues, so in my conversation, I would like these questions answered.
The Bottom Line
It wasn’t a day after the first blog popped up declaring that Rob Bell may be a Universalist, that those from Rob’s viewpoint started saying that people like myself only believe in Hell because it gives us permission to hate our enemies and that we have a twisted viewpoint to want there to be a full Hell, etc. I’ve never heard something more outrageous in my life!!! I believe in a literal, hot, tormenting Hell, and I don’t believe there is a second chance after this life to choose Jesus. That’s why the reality of Hell must be preached here and that’s why the gospel must be preached now. I don’t want a full Hell, but that’s what I believe it will be if we become silent about Jesus and the gospel and if we start telling people to live life to its fullest now because in the end there is no way a loving God is going to let them go to Hell, so they can choose Him anytime they want. If I hated my enemy, this is the message I would preach. If I hated my enemy, why would I want to warn them about Hell? See how dumb that accusation is?
Love Wins because God loved a world full of people who took the perfect gift he gave us and we rebelled against him and through our sin we broke his ideal plan. Through this love of His, he sent the perfect sacrifice through his son, Jesus, so that all those who believe in him, would be redeemed. It would be disgraceful to call this act by God hate and it would diminish God’s power to say it’s not good enough and that we need an after-death grace period because the time on Earth He gave us was not long enough. Rob Bell wants to talk about Hell limiting the power & love of God, however, saying that a person cannot come to faith in the lifespan God gave them, would diminish God even more.
I may be totally wrong about Rob Bell’s views on this matter once I read the book, but based on his own answers in his interview and the reviews from those who both agree and disagree with him, I believe I am completely accurate. If I find I am wrong I will apologize and correct it as emphatically as I have dismissed it.
**Also, please note, I have not and am not attacking Rob Bell or those who agree with him, I have simply pointed out some of the areas where we disagree, Love Wins**
Amen Brother Carnes….good stuff.
Good word. I read a great article the resurgence boys put out the other day, just answering questions about hell. Here’s a quote from it that sums up the deal
“What happens when we die?
God created humans as thinking, feeling, moral persons made up of spirit and body tightly joined together. Death is not normal or natural, but an enemy, the consequence of sin. Death is the tearing apart of these two intertwined parts, the end of relationship with loved ones, and the cessation of life on this earth. The body goes to the grave and the spirit goes into an afterlife to face judgment. The Bible is clear that there will one day be a bodily resurrection for everyone to either eternal life with God or eternal condemnation apart from him in hell.
Christianity differs from all religions in that Christians believe our eternal status depends on our relationship with Jesus. We really believe that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It may not be politically correct, but our lives are shaped by the reality that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
On the part of “attacking,” I think it is completely ok to “attack” an issue (and the people promoting it) when it is contrary to the Truth of Jesus as long as our attack is driven by revealing Jesus’ truth.
I wrote a post on that a couple weeks ago. From some of the reviews that have come since it does look like Rob Bell is turning away from sound doctrine. It’s a shame.
Whaaaa…not robby:(……well i agree with you, except for the mute point part. I think it would be more of a moot point…hehehe!
I’m glad you agree. I can’t believe the spelling queen is giving me grief over a word. I fixed it by the way 🙂
Thanks. Good words as well.
On the “attack” issue, I’ve seen so many conversations on the topic get off course by being distracted by the claim of a “personal” attack. I tried to write it in a way the conversation can stay on target with the issues that Bell raises in his book 🙂
LOL…Whats even funnier to me is that i knew you would change it, because you hate to be wrong. I really didnt care because everyone know im “great” with grammer myself:)
Actually its not a matter of being “wrong” I personally read slower when people use words like “their” when they mean “there,” etc. So, if someone points out to me (as others have done in the past) that I’ve got a spelling or grammar mistake, I WANT to change it for my other readers. If it was a matter of being wrong, I would have not said anything, changed it, and let people think you were the crazy one 🙂
You have the audacity to comment on a book that you never read? And futher than that, disagree with the views? That says a lot more about you then the book you’re commenting on. I wonder how much of the wave of controvercy over Rob Bell’s new book is simply from a bunch of lazy people who don’t read the book and then spout off their views about heaven and hell because it’s easier than practically living out their beliefs. If you believe in a literal tormenting hell then why don’t you get off your ass and work at saving people from going to such a horible place? I can’t believe you would have any time to spare aside from that task!
John, you are a little late to the conversation. I’ve started reading it and as I said in the post I didn’t really need to read the book to form an initial opinion because Rob assisted with that in his own interviews. He clearly stated what he believed in his LiveStream interview as well as his other interviews. So yes, I do have the audacity.
I do notice however, you didn’t want to keep on the topic of the book or the Scriptures presented, you wanted to attack me personally, something I didn’t do in my opinion about the book towards Rob Bell. I guess you’re defending the man not the view or the theology. By the way, as much as I have read so far, I am correct in my assessments, thanks to Rob being very candid in his interviews as to what his thoughts are on Hell. It is ignorant to speak towards a man’s laziness when you don’t know the man. I’ve devoted my life to lead people to a passionate relationship with Jesus and to choose life over Hell, sure I could always do a better job, buy I’m definitely not the lazy man behind the computer spewing opinions I don’t back-up with actions. I guess that would mean since you obviously do not believe in an eternal, tormenting Hell, you are sitting around being lazy and not trying to rescue people? That seems to be the only logical explanation to your comment.
Yes, you are right and I am sorry for attacking your character. It just makes me frustrated that there are so many people out there that are quick to judge Rob without actually respecting his ability to bring up great conversations. While his views might not always be on the mark, the fact is that the bible is not clear on a variety of subjects and I believe the Christian life has a lot to do with the tension involved in bringing up these tough conversations again and again. That’s what refines and grows us. The minute we try to make a ‘grey area’ into black and white, sides are drawn. Jesus constantly rocked the boat for people who thought they had it all figured out.
I find great freedom in not knowing all the answers. I would say this freedom of not having to choose one side or the other (for example, “is it figurative or literal” always comes up) has helped me connect with a variety of people that I would have never engaged with if I continued to have a black and white, “you’re in you’re out”, you’re a project and you’re a friend mentality.
It is admirable that you’ve devoted your life to such a cause, and I hope that the Jesus you share is the one of love, mystery, and surprise like the one I read about in scripture.
John, thank you for your apology! I have great respect for that and accept it.
I don’t mind having conversations at all. I have friends who believe and feel exactly the way you do, and the beauty is, we can challenge and have conversation with each other and still allow Love to Win between each other even though we disagree.
I don’t know that arguing with each other (in general) really changes our thoughts and beliefs, I believe God is the changer of hearts. So, I don’t think poorly of anyone who I think is “wrong” in their theology, I simply share what I believe to be true according to Scripture and allow God to do whatever “changing” he wants to do in my or anyone else’s life. It’s a beautiful thing not to have to be God 🙂
Rob is using his book and other platforms such as interviews to share his view and beliefs on Hell, and I am using my only avenue that I have to share my view on Hell. My intention was truly not to attack him even though I think his position is a harmful one, but to add my thoughts and opinions to the conversation. I’ll happily admit, I like a lot of Rob Bell’s work and have used his videos in many aspects of my ministry. I’ve also read several of his books (and am currently reading this one). So, I am not dismissing how brilliant, creative and effective he has been through his ministry. I love a lot of his stuff. I just happen to disagree with him on this issue.