"So when the gospel is diminished to a question of whether or not a person will "get into heaven," that reduces the good news to a ticket, a way to get past the bouncer and into the club.
The good news is better than that."
Rob Bell's most recent book ignited what has been called a "firestorm of controversy", especially among evangelical Christians. I think it's safe to say that is not an understatement. Much of the controversy was initially over a promotional video Bell released a few weeks before the book came out. You can watch that video here: http://vimeo.com/21214065. Upon the release of this video some rather prominent names in evangelical Christianity decided to take it upon themselves to nip this book in the bud so to speak. What played out was the exact opposite of that.
So before I dive into the book I want to take a look at the controversy surrounding it. Because the reality is this book (nor any book for that matter, but especially this one) does not exist in a bubble. Whenever you talk about this book you are inviting controversy and strong opinions. Now I don't want to turn this into me taking shots at people for criticizing a book, but I do want to talk about the nature of controversies such as these and what gets accomplished.
First if you want to stop people from reading a book don't make a big deal about the book. The reality is if it were not for all the negative reactions to the promotional video this book would not have been a huge best-seller. What we can learn is that aggressively condemning someone as "dangerous", "Unorthodox" and "heretical" does not make people not want to read their works. In fact it has the opposite effect. So by their condemning and aggressive attitude the people who felt it was their job to protect people from the ideas in this book actually ended up encouraging a lot of people to read the book.
Second for many people the biggest surprise about this controversy has been the one-sidedness of it. Now I know that many people on both sides of the controversy have been loud and angry, but they were not the person being attacked. Rob Bell has actually really impressed me with the way he handled the situation. It would have been easy to respond with the same energies of condemnation and aggression as his critics but he did not do that. Rather he seemed to practice more of a "turn the other" cheek mentality.
I bring all this up to point out how the people who were aggressive and condemning in their approach actually had the opposite effect of what they were going for, while the "turn the other cheek" mentality actually is what has drawn many people to this book that other wise would not have bothered with it.
In short you could say that love wins over condemnation.
Now on to the book itself:
In the introduction to this book Bell takes some time to invite people to take on some of the big questions of the Christian faith. For many people, such as myself there are certain questions that are just too big and dangerous. Questions about the existence and nature of hell fall under that category. So Bell does two things here. He encourages us not to be afraid of those big questions. God is big enough, after all, to handle our questions. Then he point out that for many other people these questions have not been off-limits. In fact throughout the history of the church many Christians have asked these questions, and many of them have come away with different answers. As Bell says,
"If this book, then, does nothing more than introduce you to the ancient, ongoing discussion surrounding the resurrected Jesus in all its vibrant, diverse, messy, multivoiced complexity - well, I'd be thrilled."
From here out the book flies forward at an exciting pace. The first time I read this book I literally did so in one sitting. This book is enjoyable and provocative. It certainly brings up a lot of questions that are worth addressing and yet does so with surprising humility an openness.
And I feel like I have to say this, Bell is not a universalist.
I actually enjoy reading and listening to universalist sometimes and I can assure that Bell is not one. (If you are not familiar with the works of Christian universalist Crystal St. Marie then I suggest you check her out. You don't have to agree with everything she says, I don't, but she has some great stuff to say nonetheless and it's worth paying attention to)
First of all Bell looks at the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven as a here and now reality. For Bell Christianity is not ultimately about after you die but before (a topic i talk about more extensively in other post).
From there he moves to the idea that God is loving, kind and forgiving but apparently only until the instant moment that you die in which God's whole mindset towards you changes. So it would appear that either God changes his mind about people after they die or he doesn't have the power to save them from death. Obviously both of those understandings are problematic.
Then he looks at some problems with our ideas about eternity. Mainly that it is not shared with Jesus' first audience. In the Hebrew mindset there is no "eternity" in the way we think about it. The word we often translate to eternity is Aion which refers to an "age" or "period of time", and it can also be translated as the intensity of an experience. The closest idea they have to our eternity is Olam. In Psalm 90 Olam refers to God as being "from everlasting to everlasting". But in other instances the word seems more pliable. Jonah was in the belly of a fish "forever" (Olam). In this case forever turns out to be three days.
In fact in the Hebrew and early Christian mindset there is always the possibility for something after death. Resurrection can still happen. So Bell takes the view that people can spend time after death separated from God (Hell) but even then God does not give up on them.
But more than that people can live in hell here and now, and they do. There is hell now and a hell then.
But ultimately God has power over both.
As Martin Luther said on the possibility of "second chances" after death, "Who would doubt God's ability to to that?"
But Bell also points out that love requires freedom.
God does not force himself on us. We get to choice heaven or hell. We get to reject God if we want to.
Some believe that God pre-determined some to go to heaven and some to go to hell. Some believe that God predetermined everyone to go to heaven. But I agree with Bell on this one, I think that the things we say, and do and live for matter much more than that. I think our choices now have consequences and our choices will continue to have consequences.
So Bell says that while God will never give up on you (and thus you will not stop having chances to embrace God's grace even after you die) he will never force himself on you either. You can continue to reject God forever if you want to. God lets us have our own way.
Some have called this being a "hopeful universalist" and personally I like that name. I hope that every one will one day embrace God's love and grace. But hope, by it's very nature requires an absence of certainty. I see people reject God's grace and love all the time, so who's to say they won't continue to do so.
But as I mentioned earlier Christianity is not mainly about something after you die, but something before. The Kingdom of Heaven is a present reality here and now. That's what this book is all about. The choices we make now are important! We only get a limited time on this earth so what kind of world are we working toward? Are we participating in the world that God is working towards? Because we get the opportunity to do so.
Because love still wins if we allow it to.
You can purchase this book here:
And I'm excited to announce that the "Love Wins Companion: A study guide for those who want to go deeper" has just come out and you can purchase it here:
Grace & Peace
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