Not very often do you get branded a heretic for something you wrote BEFORE it even hits the bookshelf. For this, I commend pastor/evangelist Rob Bell. Much controversy has been generated over Bell's upcoming release, "Love Wins" which is slated for a March 29th release. Countless blogs, video posts and tweets have been spun into the world wide web, all of which condemn, praise, or remain in the "middle of the road" on what little we know of Bell's latest work. I thought I would join the bandwagon and put in my two cents.
Anyone familiar with Bell's literature, mega-sermons and NOOMA videos knows that this man is no stranger to controversy. In his upcoming release, Bell tackles one of the most pervasive and controversial topics in not only Christianity, but religion as a whole: what happens after we die?
Let me be honest in saying that I really look forward to reading this book. I have been a fan of Bell's work ever since I was first exposed to it in youth group roughly 10 years ago. He is an intelligent, charismatic and entertaining individual, and the above trailer highlights this, and the topic of the book very well.
At the beginning of this video Bell shares a story of a note attached to an art piece containing a Ghandi quote. This note makes the assertion that Ghandi is in hell. Bell's response was simply, "Really? Someone knows this for sure, and felt the need to share it with everyone else?" To me, Bell is simply raising questions that others in Christian leadership have simply been too afraid to ask: What is the central message of Jesus' gospel? What do we believe about heaven & hell? How does this affect how I see God? If we take our faith seriously, we can and must ask these questions without being afraid of what we'll find. After all, don't we serve a God who's big enough for those types of questions? Or is God so insecure that He can't handle something like that?
I suppose I should take this time to mention that I do, in fact, believe in the existence of hell...but not as some have previously understood it. I diverge in the traditional sense in that I don't claim to know what it looks like...I've never been there, nor do I plan to! What I do believe is that eternal life doesn't start after we croak. It starts right here, right now. So, we have the opportunity each and every moment of every day to either help bring heaven or hell to earth, to our current existence. And how we consciously choose to live out this life day to day is going to have profound implications for what our lives look like for the rest of eternity. I truly wish I could say hell doesn't exist, but the eternal, resting truth that what we chose to believe, do, say, and how we treat others simply do have consequences. My only reservation in Bell's book is that he may try to overstep that truth.
With that said, I think "Love Wins" will be thought provoking, informative, inspiring and yes, a little controversial. But I refuse to make any pointed judgments/arguments without having read it. To me, it is simply in poor taste and un-Christ-like.
I too want to read the book just to understand the controversy and form my own opinion, just as I wanted to read the Shack to find out what it was about.
ReplyDeleteHave you read NT Wright's "Surprised by Hope"? He discusses some of the same topics -- of heaven, redemption, and eternal life that begins here and now.
I haven't read that one yet, although it is on my shelf. What were your thoughts on that one? NT Wright is a smart dude. I tend to read "heretical" books. Haha. They tend to be more intelligent, challenging and honest.
ReplyDeleteWright used the resurrection as a paradigm (I think that's the word) to show what new life is like in Christ -- it's new and different than anything seen before.
ReplyDeleteHe claimed that Jesus's ascension to heaven wasn't to a LOCATION, but a DIMENSION...which reminds me of Rob Bell using Flatland as a metaphor in his "Everything is Spiritual" tour (have you seen that video, or "The Gods Aren't Angry"?). This seems to jive more with God's omnipresence, rather than heaven being somewhere beyond the fluffy clouds.
In part 3, he says that this future hope leads to hope in the present day, and that this implies that what the Church does now will last through eternity. We can live in this new world, God's kingdom, and be agents of change -- and when the church works to bring hope at every level, right injustices, etc, then evangelism “will come as a surprise”.
Wow, that was long. I may as well have sent you my .doc file with notes from when I read the book in college.
PS Wright's book "Simply Christian" is good too. Do you remember if he's more of a Calvinist/Reformed theologian or Wesleyan/Arminianism?
Nothing wrong with long posts. Haha. Yes, I have seen "Everything is Spiritual". Another good one is "Drops Like Stars". Ever see that one?
ReplyDeleteRob Bell has definitely echoed some of the "eternal life begins here" ideas in his tours and Sunday morning sermons (which are also really good). That view really makes a lot of sense. I'm really looking forward to reading that book now.
"Simply Christian" is also on my book shelf. I've got a stack of books I'm slowly wading my way through. I'm currently reading "Walking the Bible" by Bruce Feiler. It's a solid read, but it's over 400 pages!
I'm sure where Wright stands theologically, but I'd say he leans more towards Wesleyan/Arminianism since he wrote a book on the Justification of Christ a few years back, after which John Piper, who's more of a reformed pastor, responded to Wrights book with a book of his own. He definitely has more liberal views of the atonement and the after life, so I'd guess he's an Arminian. What denomination did you grow up in?
And just for the record, I think I beat you out with the longer post on this one! :)
Correction...both posts are exactly the same word count. Weird...and yes, I have way too much time on my hands right now.
ReplyDeleteWeird indeed.
ReplyDeleteNo, I've not seen Drops like Stars. I wanted to buy the book a year or two ago, but it was too expensive.
My friend Zee and I want to read Love Wins too; she cannot believe that someone (especially a prolific author/speaker) can assert that there is no hell, because then it has implications about sin/evil.
I grew up in the Church of the Nazarene, and still am a member. What about you?
Yeah, I'm curious to see how he plans to defend his argument, because he's mentioned hell in passing in a few of his sermons and in one of his books, I believe. And I know he's quoted N.T. Wright on several occasions, as he's one of his favorite theologians, and he claims that hell exists.
ReplyDeleteYou grew up in the Nazarene church? Very cool. I've actually been all across the board denominationally growing up...but I grew up attending a pentecostal church for a good portion of my childhood. Currently I'm a covenant member and a pastor in the Wesleyan church, so more or less the same thing. Haha.
So I wasn't the only one to blog on this topic, was I? Good to hear from you Mike and good to hear that in looking at this video and in the controversy that surrounds it, that we both came to the same conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI miss you, ya little Italian man.
btw, I added a link to your blog on my blog, under "Other Blogs I Read". I hope that's okay.
Dude, I miss you too. And yes, totally cool that you add me to the blogs you read. I believe I will add you to mine as well. Good hearing from ya bud! We'll have to catch up soon.
ReplyDelete