Time featured an in-depth article last week on Mars Hill Bible Church pastor Rob Bell, who has torn a path of criticism through the evangelic ranks lately following the release of his book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.
The idea for the book began when Bell set up an art exhibit at the church to coincide with a sermon series on peacekeeping. Part of the exhibit featured a Gandhi quote from one of the artists. Next to the quote, someone, presumably a member of the church, added this pithy statement:
Reality check: He's in hell.
Bell, even as a Christian pastor, isn't convinced.
Thus begins his book:
Really? Gandhi's in hell? He is? We have confirmation of this? Somebody knows this? Without a doubt? And that somebody decided to take on the responsibility of letting the rest of us know?
Bell's basic premise in the book is that each person could enjoy eternal life in heaven, that Jesus' work of atonement on Earth could have been all-inclusive. Of course, this stands staunchly against accepted Christian doctrine, and, well, against Jesus' own words.
In the book, Bell says the notion that
a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better (is) ... misguided and toxic.
He's right on at least one count. It is "toxic" that an all-loving god, with all the power in the universe to prevent a large majority of mankind from burning in eternal fire, would not prevent such a thing if he had the means. It's also toxic that such a god is so obsessed with blood sacrifice and demands absolute subjugation from his supposed beloved creation. It's also toxic that such a supposed loving father requires his children to pass tests for him to accept them (See Abraham and Job).
It's heartening, on some level, that Bell seems to recognize these inconsistencies. Whereas these inconsistencies may draw a more rational person away from that kind of god, instead, it appears to have drawn Bell into some kind of bizarre no man's land of religious ideology, a land that has afforded him no small measure of criticism from John Piper and other members of the evangelical community.
Article comments
1 - Jon-Paul
(Romans 10:6-8) But the righteousness of faith says this: "Do not say in your heart, Who will go up into Heaven?" (that is, to bring down Christ); or, "Who will go down into the abyss?" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what does it say? "The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the Word of faith which we proclaim) Deuteronomy 30:12-14.
2 - .Danmark
Scripture tells us that God IS Love. Not loving, full of love, love like, but... LOVE. Could a God who is LOVE condemn "his" children to an eternity of suffering for a finite trespass? Why would a God who tells us to love our enemies, asks us to forgive 70x7 times, tells us to turn the other cheek... why would that God ask of us anything that "he" is unable or unwilling to do "himself?" Why would a God of LOVE demand that our redemption be won by such a violent act as crucifixion? Scripture tells us that God takes no delight in sacrifice. "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."