I stand in awe of Rob Bell's well-established communication skills and wish others would share his passion to make God's love known. But now comes the controversial Love Wins which was hyped up before it was even published.
Love Wins is full of confusing half-truths - and each of those words is important!
Love Wins contains truth. It's true that "the indestructible love of God is an unfolding, dynamic reality" and we're all "endlessly being invited to trust, accept, believe, embrace and experience it". Much of what he says about the cross is straight out of the Bible. His criticism of some evangelicals for their superficial and misplaced judgmentalism rings true. He's right: biblical teaching on heaven and 'the age to come' is misrepresented if all it does is encourage some to boast, "I've got a ticket to heaven". The Bible presents Christ's work as much wider than the salvation of a few individuals. It is about the restoration and renewal of a fallen creation. Eternal life doesn't start "when we die but is about a quality of life lived now'. Amen to that. But I learned that in the Brethren Assembly where I grew up, many decades ago! There are many 'Jesuses' being spoken about and it's vital we get the authentic one and not one of our own creation. All this and much more is true.
Love Wins however only presents half the truth, which is disturbing to those who believe in the other half of the truth. Old Testament verses are strung together which speak of God's grace triumphing over Israel's sin and that their punishment will have a 'sale by' date. But he never mentions repentance in this connection as the prophets do, nor the fact that it was a remnant restored to the homeland. His teaching on hell ducks some hard issues while firing out a lot of questions of his own. God's wrath, and his holiness, is touched on only very inadequately and insubstantially. He says the sacrificial understanding of the cross belongs to a primitive cultural world we no longer inhabit, so he sidesteps a key understanding of the cross. He assumes that people will come round to accept God's love in the end, and doesn't see why death is the irreversible cut-off point. But why does he think people will 'repent' after death when they haven't done so before? He uses some parables that appear to fit his argument but ignores others and uses them all in a somewhat interesting way.
Bell is good at drawing on 'the hard cases' to make his point and ignoring the rest. He can be very emotive. He's very critical of evangelicalism for its lack of engagement in this world and ignores its huge and long-standing involvement in communities and in helping the poor. Many mission halls supported the vulnerable that others neglected. And the great and varied evangelical contribution to society in education, health, homelessness, youth work, drug rehabilitation, pregnancy crisis centres and so on is ignored. Perhaps the evangelicals he knows are nasty people. I know a few like that too, but I know many more who aren't.
Above all, Love Wins is confusing. I can see now why people are asking whether Rob Bell is a universalist (all will be saved in the end) or not, because it's unclear. Brilliant communication sometimes gets in the way. The book contains volleys of rapid-fire questions but isn't so good at giving answers, at least not clear ones. It confuses things like when he uses the parable of the prodigal sons as a parable about heaven and hell. Hell he says is the older brother going into the party and so hell is not about separation but integration. But didn't Jesus say…?
Much of what Bell writes is based selectively on the writings of Tom Wright and C. S. Lewis. But it is 'theology-lite' and people would be better served by reading those authors for themselves.
The style, which peppers the pages with moving stories and ever-lengthening lists or questions, would bedazzle you in if you were listening to it. In print, it doesn't work so well. It's very postmodern, which isn't a bad thing in itself. But its cultural fit does not exempt us from asking how true to the bible it is. It's a book to which I want to say 'Yes, but…' It's a book that is destined to punch above its weight. But those who wish to criticise this book need to earn the right to do so by being as passionate about sharing Christ's love as Bell himself is.
Statements: The Evangelical Alliance has responded to the publication of Rob Bell’s latest book, Love Wins, which has attracted widespread attention on account of its controversial views concerning the nature of hell.
29 March 2011
The Evangelical Alliance has responded to the publication of Rob Bell's latest book, Love Wins, which has attracted widespread attention on account of its controversial views concerning the nature of hell. The Alliance's Theological and Public Policy Advisory Commission has discussed the book and has helped shape the Alliance's response. The Alliance is also concurrently publishing a review of Love Wins on its website written by Derek Tidball, a member of the Alliance's Board and Council (of which he was previously Chair), and former Principal of London School of Theology.
Rob Bell is a popular evangelical celebrity figure and widely appreciated as a pastor and inspiring speaker.
It is recognised that there may be strong feelings about Bell's alleged departure from the majority traditional view that heaven is reserved only for those who profess faith in Christ and, perhaps, for infants who die within the church community before being able to make such a profession. However, the Alliance is urging that debate about the book should be characterised by respect, humility and grace, particularly where Christians disagree with one another.
Love Wins, as its title suggests, is a positive and hopeful book written in Bell's customary winsome style which will strike sympathetic chords with many readers. However, it casts doubt on the traditional Christian understanding of hell and the fate of non-Christians. Though he does not state dogmatically that all will be saved in the end, Bell appears to adopt a view more akin to 'wider hope' theology which is optimistic that God will ultimately save the vast majority of people, or even, perhaps, all people.
The Theology and Public Policy Advisory Commission points out that this type of theological debate is not new, reflecting especially 19th century concerns, and indeed goes back to debates among the early church fathers. However, over the centuries a minority of Christians have adopted such views and the Church has consistently rejected similar arguments. It is the personal profile of Rob Bell that is responsible for the current highlighting of issues that are familiar to centuries of previous theological debate. Therefore, the importance of an accurate historical perspective on these questions is crucial.
Anticipating such a debate, the Alliance clearly articulated its understanding of the evangelical position on this subject in its book The Nature of Hell published in 2000. Its conclusions are available on the Alliance's website but the following key points may be of help to the present discussion:
- In The Nature of Hell, the Alliance explicitly rejects universalism (pp.24-34; Conclusion 4, p.131)
- The Nature of Hell is open to a 'wider hope' for those who don't explicitly profess faith in Christ, citing as possible examples at least some of those who have never heard the gospel, children who die in infancy (including the unborn), and those whose mental incapacity makes such profession impossible. However, it is insistent that absolutist assertions that these and other categories of non-professing people are saved risk being at least as arrogant as absolutist assertions that they are damned. The destiny of such people is God's to determine, and it is determined by his grace alone. (pp.93-95; Conclusion 4, p.131)
- In The Nature of Hell, the Alliance recognises that certain reputable evangelical scholars have either embraced or entertained the possibility of 'second chance' repentance. However, having explored the exegetical arguments for this position, it finds them unconvincing (pp.89-92; Conclusion 4, p.131).
- The Nature of Hell also considers restitutionism - the teaching that some or all in hell will ultimately be translated to heaven - finds this teaching similarly unconvincing, and concludes that consignment to hell cannot be repealed (pp.81-89; Conclusion 5, pp.132-33).
"The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgement, bring eternal life to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new earth."
Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, commented: "Rob Bell is a valued brother in Christ and has felt it important to raise publicly some difficult areas of Christian theology that many people feel uncomfortable with. The issues he raises reflect genuine but complex questions that Christian theologians have wrestled with over centuries. We hope that Christians who disagree with Rob will nevertheless model how good debate should be conducted."
The Alliance's key principles relating to how evangelicals should conduct their relationships with each other are set out in its Practical Resolutions.
Steve Clifford added: "There are deeper and perhaps more crucial questions which should be addressed as to the nature and character of the God that we worship and to his commitment to and care for the earth he created. I trust that in this biblical exploration we will discover that both love and justice win."
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