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I need to begin by stating that, as yet, I have not read Rob Bell’s ‘Love wins’. I am familiar with his work, however, having read ‘The Velvet Elvis’ which I found very affirming. Rob Bell has caused some controversy by seemingly advocating Christian universalism. Well, although I have not read it yet, most of the reviews I have read suggest Rob Bell has made no firm commitment to Christian universalism or otherwise, but has made us aware of the ‘tensions’, as he puts it, in the New Testament.

I am glad this debate has been raised by this book. I believe that there are, in fact, a number of patterns of thinking amongst evangelicals about the afterlife that do need to change if we are to be true to the Scriptures.

Firstly we need to abandon the crazy idea that heaven and hell are places for reward and punishment respectively. Nothing could be further from the Christian truth. Dare I say that such an idea has been fuelled by the Church for its own ends?! The Christian claim is that no one deserves God’s favour. In fact I don’t think it is at all helpful to think about heaven and hell as ‘places’ as such. But our language for heaven and hell has created such a concept within our subconscious. We speak of heaven ‘up there’ or ‘out there’ and hell as ‘down there’. Medieval art, in particular, has further fuelled the idea of hell as a place of fiery torment and punishment. The image much more frequently employed in the Scriptures is that of heaven and earth becoming combined, of God reigning in Sovereignty and glory over the earth. Where God’s presence is, where His glory shines is heaven, but God’s Kingdom is about making this reality a reality on this earth.

Secondly (and this follows on from what I’ve just said) we need to stop preaching in an ‘other worldly’ sense to the detriment of this world. It is not the primary purpose of Christians to go to heaven ‘up there’, or to make sure others go to heaven instead of hell. This idea of ‘Christian escapism’ (as I like to coin it) is actually detrimental to evangelism, and certainly detrimental to Jesus’ commission to make disciples of all nations. Christian faith is about walking with Christ, following his example in love, service and obedience. I know Rob Bell believes this too. It is not about a moment of salvation in which one finally affirms his heavenly status, only to continue living in this world in sin and rebellion against God. So many criticisms of Bell’s book and of the view of universalism in general concern the place and purpose of evangelism. ‘What is the point’ people ask, ‘in evangelising if we believe in Christian universalism?’ Such a question is null and void if we recognise the fact that being a Christian is not about avoiding hell, but about the wonderfully exciting and challenging experience it is to follow Christ in humble love and service and about seeking to work with Him in bringing about his Kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’. Only those with a mentality of Christian escapism say such silly things as ‘evangelism is pointless...’.

Moreover Christian escapism can, and in some Christian quarters does, affect our attitudes to other important issues including for example the environment. ‘It does not matter’ I’ve heard some say ‘about global warming or climate change because, at the end of the day, this world will be destroyed, God will judge the world, and our destination will either be heaven or hell.’ Firstly the Bible teaches us to be stewards of God’s creation, but secondly the Bible does not teach ‘escapism’. So often evangelicals isolate words and phrase and tear them from their context in order to come to an understanding of heaven and hell. In fact if we read the Scriptures holistically we recognise that it teaches about a new heaven and a new earth. It teaches about reform and renewal, about returning this world to the glory for which it was created. We were created in His image, have since been corrupted, but now, according to Paul, are growing once more into the likeness of Christ and the form of His image. Reform and renewal, not destruction and escapism.

A lot more can be said on this issue (perhaps notably that Jesus’ resurrection was both physical and spiritual, and that, therefore, the very commonly held notion that only our souls enter heaven is entirely absent from the Scriptures), but maybe that’s enough food for thought for now!

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