"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love questions and those who love answers.
Question-lovers focus on the ambiguity and uncertainty of belief. Reality is bigger and more complex than our theories about it. Consequently, we must be humble in the face of mystery, knowing how much we do not know.
Answer-lovers focus on the clarity and certainty of belief. Reality may slip the grasp of theory at the margins, but theory has a firm grip on reality at the center. So, we must act courageously in the world on the basis of what we do know.
Rob Bell loves questions. His critics love answers. This difference between them--a difference that is both temperamental and methodological--illuminates the controversy surrounding Bell's new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.
Bell asks, "Does God get what God wants?"--namely, "all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:4). He further asks, "Do we get what we want?" A "yes" answer to the first question makes you a universalist, that is, a person who believes that God both desires the salvation of all people and realizes that desire. A "yes" answer to the second question makes you a proponent of hell, that is, a person who believes that we can be separated from God for eternity.
A "yes" answer to both questions makes you Rob Bell, a hell-believing universalist." -By George P. Wood (Springfield, MO)
(To read all of George's review visit his site: http://georgepwood.com/2011/03/21/is-rob-bell-a-hell-believing-universalist/#comment-1996)
5 comments:
For readers interested in an answer-lover, I recommend Ray Pritchard and his wonderful book An Anchor for the Soul. It distills the Gospel message in such a clear and compelling way, telling the Good News that can only be found in Jesus Christ. http://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Soul-Help-Present-Future/dp/0802415369/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297455328&sr=8-1
Anonymous, I love that book, but thought it was out of print. Can you still get it?
It's a great book and presentation of the gospel...I have given a lot of them away.
Let me add one further thought of my own if you read this review...personally, I don't think Rob is a Universalist. He for sure has confused some and fogged the edges for others, but his faith has been clearly communicated in the past and I think he has clarity about what it means to be a Christian. If you read chapter 8 in his book you will see that, but the confusion comes from his questions. They are questions we need to discuss, but in the vacuum of clear answers many have filled in their own and decided his view is heretical. I think we will discover that the discussion about these issues is much needed in the church and if we can stay civil about it all we will see a great discussion among people who are supposed to love one another. I hope that can happen.
"I think we will discover that the discussion about these issues is much needed in the church and if we can stay civil about it all we will see a great discussion among people who are supposed to love one another. I hope that can happen."
I agree - these are great questions that we need to discuss civilly. Eugene Peterson (who wrote "The Message" paraphrase of the Bible) said in an interview about Bell's book, "I knew that people would jump on me for writing the endorsement. I wrote the endorsement because I would like people to listen to him. He may not be right. But he's doing something worth doing. There's so much polarization in the evangelical church that it's a true scandal. We've got to learn how to talk to each other and listen to each other in a civil way." Great quote.
I hope that those who are opposed to the ideas in the book or offended or whatever will at least thoughtfully read the book for themselves instead of just reading what everyone else has to say. It is a very thought-provoking book. I enjoyed reading it, but didn't agree with everything.
But what I do know is that Rob Bell is passionate Jesus and the love of God. If that makes one a heretic, then I guess you better count me in, too.
That should have read..."passionate ABOUT Jesus..."
And it's clear he is a Christ follower in the book as he shares his very clear memory of accepting Christ as his savior (when he was a child).
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