A book I’ve just finished
I’ve finished Rob Bell’s most recent book called Love Wins: A book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived. Quite a title. And I have to say the book itself did not deliver on what the title said it would. When I was nearly all the way through the book my reaction was “Huh? What is he trying to say?” But then I got to p. 170 and Bell finally came out and said what he thinks hell is. He said, “Hell is our refusal to trust God’s retelling of our story.” If I understand his point correctly, he says that heaven and hell are how we respond to God. They are not places you go when you die, but how you experience life. I certainly don’t agree with his conclusions. Revelation 20:10 & 15 are quite clear about hell being a place of eternal punishment for those whose names are not in the book of life. And Revelation 21 & 22 are quite clear about the reality of an eternal heaven.
Here are a couple of valid points from his book. 1. As Christians we should act to alleviate the injustice and suffering in this world, not just be happy that we are on our way to heaven, ignoring Christ’s call of compassion and love (Matt. 25:31-46). 2. Eternal life is not just for after death. We can begin to expereince and live it now (John 17:3).
However, I do not recommend that people read this book. Why? Well for starters, its not worth the time because he doesn’t make a very compelling case for his thesis. Also, he propagates a form of universalism in which every person who is ‘good’ will experience heaven and he does this by taking many liberties in interpreting key Bible passages. But the biggest reason not to read this book, and most importantly, he leaves out the Bible’s teaching on God’s holiness, the depth of man’s rebellion against God, Jesus’ grueseme death on the cross for our sin, and God’s judgment against sin. All of these are central theme’s in Scripture that explain our world. Bell emphasizes God’s love but leaves out His holiness, which is the foundational quality of God’s character (Isaiah 6:3). The fact of God’s holiness helps us see our sinfulness and to understand His judgment of sin (Luke 5:8).
I’d rather we turn to what God has already said about sin, hell, salvation, and heaven in the Bible, rather than learning from Bell’s thoughts. Listen to what the prophet Jeremiah said in light of God’s judgment, “Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39). And here’s what God inspired to be written in Hebrews “…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…” (9:27)
In sum, don’t buy the book. If you want to read it, borrow a friend’s and skip to the last two chapters to get to the point. Pay attention to what Biblical truths he doesn’t mention (God’s holiness, sin, Christ’s death, judgment). Finally, God’s word is clear about the warnings of hell and the promise of heaven. The dividing line between the two is how one responds to Jesus Christ (John 3:36).