The perspective of this book is rather aptly outlined on the back cover, where it says “God loves us. God offers us everlasting life by grace, freely, through no merit on our own part. Unless you do not respond the right way. Then God will torture you forever. In Hell. Huh?” That is basically the perspective underlying the whole book. The rationale is as follows: since God is love (John 3:1), surely He cannot punish people in hell, for that cannot be loving. Bell cannot seem to properly reconcile God’s justice and His love.
I personally found the arguments for his position very unconvincing – they were either based on out-of-context scripture quotations or emotional appeal. However, amidst his many wanderings outside of Christian orthodoxy, we find a few good points which I will get into as I go through the book.
One thing to note is that, although Bell denies the Word of God at almost every turn, he never openly disregards its authority. He refers to it (subtly twisting it) to support his position. This has the potential to make the book appealing to not only ‘liberals’ but also ‘conservatives’.
In the preface and the first chapter, Bell is essentially preparing his readers for the false doctrine which will be expounded later in the book. But that is not to say that the preface and first chapter are devoid of false doctrine. Bell essentially is kicking up the mud at the bottom of the puddle, if you will. Making what seemed to be clear seem unclear, he prepares the readers to embrace the doctrine of universalism – the belief that everyone will be saved.
Having said all that, I shall begin.
Bell introduces the book by talking about God’s ‘beautiful, expansive love’ which is for ‘everybody, everywhere’. He then goes on to state that ‘Jesus’s story’ has been ‘hijacked by a number of other stories, stories Jesus isn’t interested in telling, because they have nothing to do with what he came to do.’ He informs the reader that ‘the plot has been lost’ and it is time to ‘reclaim’ it.
His writing is annoyingly vague, but he gradually becomes clearer as to what he is talking about. He protests the version of ‘the Jesus story’ that has caused people’s pulse to rise, their stomach to church, and heart to utter the resolute words, “I would never be part of that”. He specifies this ‘version’ of ‘the Jesus story’ as follows:
“A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous pace called heaven, while the rest of humanity will spend forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better. It’s clearly been communicated that this belief is a central truth of the Christian faith, and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus.”
The Question Bell essentially communicates is this: How can God create billions of people to go to hell? Isn’t God love? How could He punish sinners like that?
In answering this question. it must be acknowledged that Christians of varying theological positions will answer this question differently. For the Arminian how believes in free will for salvation, it is rather simple to answer this. Man goes to hell simply because he does not choose God. For the Calvinist who believes in sovereign election, answering this question may be somewhat more difficult. However, I generally stay away from theological controversies such as Calvinism/Arminianism in my blog posts, and I do not intend for this blog post to be an exception to that rule.
Let us look at a few things here. First, we have no right to question the justice of God. Bell is arguing against a literal hell primarily on the presupposition that God cannot eternally punish people in hell because He is too loving to do that. However, we cannot pit one of God’s attributes against another. God is both loving and just. He sent His Son to die for sinners, but at the same time, He is holy and just. We are all by nature sinners, and we all would die in our sins, were it not for the Father drawing us to Himself. It is only by His grace that we were saved in the first place. God has every right to send unrepentant sinners to hell, and Rob Bell, as the rest of humanity, has no right to question God’s justice in that regard.
Romans 9:18-20 has some words for anyone who would question God’s justice and sovereignty regarding who is saved and who is not.
18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20. Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
This is a passage he seems to have ignored in his book, but it is very relevant. Bell goes on to teach that, in the end, all will be saved and Love will win. But do you realize how many scriptures must be ignored to teach such a position? Bell appeals to the readers on more of an emotional basis than on a scriptural basis.
Is it cruel to preach hell? Is it cruel to preach that not all will be saved, and that eternal damnation is the lot of those who do not repent and believe? If the gospel is false, most certainly. But if the gospel is true, then it would be cruel not to preach it. Rob Bell claims that by preaching hell, we hijack the ‘Jesus Story’. But if hell is a real place, where sinners will actually go, then it is Rob Bell himself who has ‘hijacked’ the ‘Jesus Story’ by watering it down and eliminating the urgency of it.
I will write more soon, hopefully.
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