Book Reviews
I was late to the party.
For weeks now the Christian world has been up at arms about a book by a provocative pastor from Michigan. Rob Bell's new book promised to open up dialogue regarding heaven, hell and the love of God. A three-minute promotional video for Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (Harper-Collins, 2011) sparked a landslide of conversation regarding orthodoxy, heretics, universalism, false teachers and other words that excite theologians beyond what we are willing to admit.
During those first few weeks, there have been a few bloggers who received an advanced copy and immediately expressed concern over what they had read and seen. Some of these were quite clearly blind rejection of a man and his teachings. Some were equally clear defense of whatever Mr. Bell ever had or would write. Some were very responsible, tempered and even sad.
Then the "twitter-universe" got to work.
Once the great Rob Bell had a target on his head, he was finally fair game for the hoards of pastors who dream of preaching to a congregation a tenth of his size to take pot-shots at.
But I was late to the party again.
Judgment Suspended
What held me back was not my love for Mr. Bell's body of work. Frankly, having my theological roots in the "reformed camp," I had a hard time understanding his message. What I did understand, however, was the great impact he had particularly on two of my very best friends.
My first friend Matt, who could simultaneously out-think, out-preach and out-swear any foe, had used Rob Bell's Nooma videos in his youth group. Matt is the type of guy who could smell deception from a mile a way. Nobody pulls the wool over Matt's eyes, and as a fellow reformed thinker, Matt's willingness to use Mr. Bell's materials convinced me that they were orthodox, helpful and faithful to the message of Jesus.
My second friend is Garrett, whose friendship and partnership in ministry has proved ever true. He has been reading, hearing and watching Rob Bell for years and he turned out not to be a heretic but instead a strong believer, teacher of the word and lover of God's people. It was Garrett's background as something of a Bell-disciple (I do not mean this in a derogatory sense- I feel free to call myself a disciple of Bonhoeffer) that convinced me that, although he may never be my "cup of tea," Rob Bell had something to offer serious believers in Jesus.
And so you may understand my hesitation to condemn the man' his teachings before I gave them a fair hearing in his latest controversial book.
A Fair Hearing
So I bought it on Tuesday morning, as soon as it came out, and I set out to read it with the cleanest slate that I could. You know, there really is no point to reading a book once you have decided it is a load of crap. It is good and healthy for us to think through a differing viewpoint. If we are too afraid to have our thinking challenged, especially as leaders in the church, how can we expect to engage anybody that disagrees with us?
And so I started to read the book for myself. You know what I found? Promise you won't tell my theology professor.
I really liked it.
I found myself standing up and shouting in agreement at times. At other times, I cussed like a sailor- which is a sign that I agreed! Allow me to throw some great sentences your way:
Jesus freed us to call things what they are.1
Often times when I meet atheists and we talk about the god they don't believe in,
we quickly discover that I don't believe in that god either.2
In the stories about Jesus a lot of people, including his own family, are uncertain about exactly who Jesus is and what he's up to- except demons, who know exactly who he is and what he is doing.3
Justice and mercy hold hands,
they kiss,
they belong together in the age to come,
an age that is complex, earthy, participatory, and free
from all death, destruction, and despair.4
I cried when I read that last one. Seriously. Beautiful. I can tell why Garrett and Matt love Rob Bell's stuff. For the first time in a couple of attempts to read him, I was personally impressed. I liked it. I was in.
A Break From Orthodoxy
But then he started to make his point.
All of a sudden a sickening feeling came over me. This is why my theological family was pre-emptive in discrediting this particular book. Let me point out the two foundational points at which the book departs from orthodox, biblical teaching.
No matter how painful, brutal, oppressive, no matter how far people find themselves from home because of their sin, indifference, and rejection, there's always the assurance that it won't be this way 'forever'.5
It is easy to read that quotation and rejoice. It is indeed true for us who are in Christ. In fact, if the word "his" were between the words "far" and "people", it would have ended up in the earlier list of quotes. The very saddening truth is that this little word was left out. This incredibly subtle shift in language has turned the conversation around. This, to my knowledge, is the first definitive heretical statement in his book.
The second, and perhaps the most important statement in his argument, a statement upon which the next 100 pages hang upon, is so subtle that we will miss it if we get swept away in the beauty of the writing. He writes about the Greek word aion, a word that is used in Matthew 25:46:
Aion, we know, has several meanings. One is "age" or "period of time
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