Author: Rob Bell
Format: eBook
Publisher: HarperCollins (2011)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780062049636

Background on Love Wins: The Tweet Heard Round the Internet 
(well, by American Evangelicals at least)

In case you haven't heard, Rob Bell (@realrobbell) made some waves recently with the release of a new book entitled Love Wins. His name even trended momentarily on Twitter thanks in part to a blogger by the name of Justin Taylor who wrote a scathing indictment of Bell and the book on a blog called "The Gospel Coalition." Normally, I'd say Taylor is entitled to his opinion, no matter how biased it is. But this post by Taylor wasn’t simply biased, it was outright alarmist. He didn't just accuse Bell of teaching false doctrine and heresy, he had NOT READ THE BOOK!!! Shortly thereafter, and also without bothering to read the book, John Piper (who, like Bell, is also famous for his dramatic flair) tweeted "Farewell Rob Bell" and the Interwebs were nearly instantly set ablaze with the flames of a thousand "theotweets" (copyright 2011 T. C. Moore). This all led up to the actual release of the book, which brought with it its own set of reactionary reviews. So, there was that.

But before I add my review to the pile, a brief confession: I've been mostly ambivalent about Rob Bell. I heard him speak in person once a few years back when his Drops Like Stars tour came through Boston, and a year ago I listened to Mars Hill's sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount. I enjoyed both experiences, but I've never read any of Bell's books prior to this one, and to be perfectly frank, before all the hubbub over Love Wins I wouldn't have called myself much of a fan nor a detractor. But after reading the hatred and vitriol being spewed all over Bell by the folks over at The Gospel Coalition, I began to think this Bell character and his book might be worth a second look. Someone The Gospel Coalition hates this much must be writing shocking and appalling things worth examining. Which brings me to this review after finishing the book.

Review Intro: Underwhelmed

As the subtitle suggests, Love Wins is a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of everyone who has ever lived. But from all the uproar you'd think Bell had invented these categories or was at least introducing crazy new conceptions of them. Instead, what this reader found was that Bell simply frames these categories in light of God's love demonstrated in Christ. Shocking, I know! As I read, I kept waiting for the part where my jaw drops and I say out loud, "Did he just write that?" Sadly, this portion must have been omitted from the eBook, because I never reached it. My wife read the book before me, and when I reached the end a few days after her, she asked me, "Am I a heretic because I didn't find anything offensive in the book?" And my response was, "If you're a heretic, then so am I."

Content Review: So, What Does Bell Teach?

Bell teaches several things in this book, but not nearly as many as you'd think given the hype. I think the main things he teaches can be summarized in these 6 points:

1. God is love, loves every person, and wants every person to be saved

HERESY!!! No, wait, that's actually correct. (My bad Rob). Scripture clearly teaches these truths (I John 4.8,16; John 3.16; I Tim. 2.4). In fact, this one's a no-brainer if you've ever been to Sunday School. Your typical Arminian Christian won't even bat an eyelash at this point. This message is just about only controversial for the "Restless and Reformed" crowd. Moving on.

2. Jesus flips the script on who's "in" and who's "out" of the Kingdom

Ok, this point is perhaps less commonly preached than the first point, but certainly not in danger of being heretical. Bell teaches that Jesus intentionally challenged the religious status quo of his context during his earthly ministry. He routinely inverses the expected categories of those who would enter heaven and those who would be condemned for their sin. The pious, publicly-recognized, religious leaders assumed they were members of the "in" group, while examples of "sinners" like tax collectors and prostitutes, Gentiles, lepers, and beggars, were obviously cursed and would suffer under God's judgment. We should not be as surprised as they were that Jesus instead rebuked the former for pride, legalism, and hypocrisy, while showing mercy and often praising the faith of the latter. This aspect of Jesus' ministry should give us pause when we are tempted to decide who is "in" and who is "out." As Bell says, "Heaven is, after all, full of surprises."

3. Heaven isn't ethereal, pie-in-the-sky, harps-and-clouds. Heaven is a new, restored earth

Next, Bell teaches yet another biblical doctrine that is less controversial than infant baptism in many circles: that heaven is not "out there" for us to "go to" when we die, but will rather be established here as a new and restored earth. Scripture is again clear on this point (Rev. 22.1-4). Heaven is not a reality disconnected from earth—heaven is a NEW earth. This truth reminds us that God is committed to his creation. He called it good! Heaven is not an escape plan and caring for God's creation is still the human task. God will have his garden again!

For more on this point, see N. T. Wright's new book Surprised by Hope.

In addition to this truth, Bell adds that heaven is also not exclusively a future reality. We needn't wait for death to begin experiencing "eternal life." Eternal life is available now and Jesus invites us into it now. This, too, is far from heretical. Christian theology has always included the overlapping of the ages. Since Jesus, we have lived in between "this present age" and "the age to come."

Nothing to see here people, keep it moving.

4. Hell is the consequence of rejecting God, and we are free to have as much hell as we want

Bell believes in hell. He states this plainly. He believes in both the hells we create for ourselves now and a hell we choose for ourselves after death. He writes, "God gives us what we want, and if that's hell, we can have it. We have that kind of freedom, that kind of choice. We are that free." I think Bell does a particularly succinct job of summarizing what little biblical data actually exists for the doctrine of hell. This is an important insight in a debate that is sometimes carried on between people who are dogmatic (pun intended) that their view of hell is unquestionable. In the span of a few pages, Bell has surveyed all the major passages in which Jesus teaches on hell and we are left with many more questions than answers. Granted, Bell does not provide treatment of Revelation's "Lake of Fire," but I find his choice to set that concept apart from gehenna, or hades, the correct one. Ultimately, what readers will find is that Bell challenges and shows inconclusive the established assumption that hell is a place of "conscious torment" that lasts "forever." Upon closer inspection, Bell is not the first Christian by a long stretch to determine that Scripture simply doesn't close the case on this idea. Like it or not, this also doesn't make Bell a heretic.

As with his discussion of heaven, Bell is sure to draw our attention to the hells we experience here in this life. His warning is that by our doctrine of hell, however we choose to articulate it, we should make certain not to render insignificant the suffering of others here and now. God is not only concerned with elevating suffering in the age to come, or else Jesus would not have a healing ministry. Furthermore, Bell illustrates this more starkly by pointing out that some in the same party may be experiencing heaven while others experience hell.

5. Jesus transcends Christianity; he is the mystery that holds together the entire universe

This teaching certainly sounds controversial on its face, but in the end it isn't all that odd of a thought. For years it's been common to hear people say "Jesus didn't come to establish a religion." But I'm not sure many American evangelicals have properly considered the implications of this bumper sticker platitude. If Christianity, in its institutionalized form, is something foreign to the Way Jesus came to model and train us in, then what role does religion play in authentic faith? I think this may be the tripping up point for most evangelicals who will object to Bell's book—more so than his view on the reconciliation of all things. Commonly called Inclusivism, the view Bell relates with this point was much earlier articulated by theologians like Justin Martyr in the second century. More recently, the beloved Christian author C. S. Lewis has notably taught this view both in his fiction and nonfiction. In fact, while many American evangelicals would like to pretend it isn't true, the famous evangelist Billy Graham espouses this view as well.

For more on Inclusivism, see: A Wideness in God's Mercy by Clark Pinnock (Amazon) or check out my essay: "Christ, the Light of All People." 

6. Ultimately, God's love will achieve its telos: the restoration of all things (AKA "Love Wins")

Now we come to the crux of the book, and the locus of the controversy. Bell makes the claim that God's love will not fail. It will ultimately accomplish what it has set out to do: redeem and restore all people to Godself. In this point Bell posits some speculative things for sure. Are they heretical? I don't think so.

Bell draws from the scriptural motif of God's love as a purifying fire and the biblical vision of a completely restored creation in which God is all in all. Bell also reminds us that all who will be saved will be saved by God's grace. Not one of us "deserves" eternal life; it is a free gift offered by God to all who will receive it. For those who have turned their hearts towards God, God's love is a shower of warmth that animates. For those who have rejected God, God's love is a burning fire that destroys. I had a professor who liked to say "The same sun that melts butter hardens clay."

For those who would adamantly object to Bell's hypothesis here, I ask, "Why?" Why shouldn't we, the recipients of grace, who were God's enemies but have been made family, hope that all people can be restored? Is this not the very spirit of Jesus, who prayed from the cross for his murderers, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do"? Are those we would count as "outside" grace any less deserving of God's grace than those who crucified Christ?

Bell strongly insists that we are free to reject God and create hells for ourselves here in this life and in the next. Bell only contends that God's love is stronger and more enduring than our rejection. At this point, let's consider a text, and see if there is truly no basis for Bell's claims:

"By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames." 

— I Cor. 3.10-15

Conclusion

On MSNBC, Martin Bashir conducted an "interview" with Rob Bell as a part of the press tour for the book. Bashir was not interested in allowing Bell to talk about the book, his motives for writing the book, or even the content of the book. Instead, Bashir took every opportunity to attack Bell, attribute false motives to him, and interrogate him using questions unrelated to the book's subject. This is all par for the course in Bashir's career. He prides himself on "getting to the truth." But what I found so telling, was the interview Bashir participated in with a conservative, Calvinist radio host about the interview he'd conducted with Bell. In it, Bashir ironically psychoanalyzes Bell, speculating that his motives for writing the book stem from his conservative Christian upbringing and the feeling that he wasn't allowed to question his faith. This is highly ironic considering in the very same interview Bashir divulges several significantly telling factors that contributed to his antagonism towards Bell. He revealed that he is himself a traditional, evangelical Christian who attends Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York—where Tim Keller is pastor. Keller is a part of the very same network of Calvinist pastors as Justin Taylor and John Piper, who wrote the blog post and tweet that ignited the firestorm around Bell's book in the first place. Second, Bashir acknowledged deep-seated anxiety around his own age and relevance to his teen-aged and adult children. He named fears that maybe they consider him a "dinosaur." Third, he even vocalized resentment that his adult daughter attends a church he labeled "emergent" (a label he and the radio host continually applied to Bell, among others). "It's not the type of church I'd go to," Bashir said. So, it seems clear that rather than witnessing an example of Christians demonstrating the love of God to one another, who all seem to have baggage informing their worldviews, we are instead witnessing yet another example of Christians attacking one another on the basis of biblical interpretation and generational differences. Certainly this is what Jesus wants: Orthodoxy. Right? "The world will know you are my disciples by how orthodox you are."

Most fascinating of all was a story Bashir shared from his childhood. He told the story of himself as a 12-year-old boy questioning an Imam in a mosque about the historicity of the prophet Mohammed. He recounted that the Imam rebuked him sternly and warned him never to question Islam again lest he "burn in the fires of hell." This experience, Bashir tells, was transformational for him. He then said, "Any theological position [that cannot] be challenged is not worthy of being followed."

Bell has been honest and upfront about his baggage going into this project, and in his approach to theology in general. He's been asked if his upbringing in a conservative Christian home influences his desire to explore theological subjects that are often thought off-limits. As he put it, "I'll totally own that." He is definitely, purposefully taking a different look at these subjects. He is intentionally scrutinizing sacred cows. Is that heresy? Certainly not. Will it upset the apple cart? Definitely.

Whether or not you can follow Bell, through his exploration, to the same conclusions at which he arrives, is beside the point. Merely participating in the conversation is divine, because as we question we seek, and the Lord promises that the one who seeks shall find. This reviewer recommends Love Wins highly. Even if you are sure you won't agree with Bell's conclusions, don't close yourself off to the discussion, or you may find that you're closing yourself off to the very God being discussed.