Rob Bell is a universalist.
At least according to Justin Taylor and his reading of Bell’s forthcoming book Love Wins. The subsequent conversation has been loud, emotional, and the coverage has been all encompassing in the church world (our version of Charlie Sheen coverage). You can read a very measured response at Christianity Today.
I am not as interested in the theology (I’ll wait to read the book) what I am interested in is the fact that Bell engaged this issue. In the interest of full disclosure I admire Rob Bell. I have read his books, heard him speak, and been to a conference he hosted.
Tony Jones, someone who knows controversy within Christian subculture, wrote that Rob Bell simply doesn’t care if people call him a heretic. I disagree, Rob Bell does care what people think just like the rest of us.
The difference is that Bell is willing to take the criticism. Criticism is nothing new for Bell and he had to know that talking about the issue of eternity he would rile up his detractors, he may not have approved the blurb released by Harper Collins but he couldn’t have been surprised.
Bell took this risk because he understands the centrality of the question. Eternal conscious suffering for those who refused the salvation from Christ is more or less the orthodox understanding of Hell. Questions regarding various scenarios of never hearing the Gospel or being misled by family or culture are soon to follow and a tension emerges. What it appears Bell is doing is engaging that tension.
I strongly doubt there are many followers of Christ who revel in the idea of people experiencing the fire and agony of hell. In fact I think that many (including myself) hold out some hope that God’s love does indeed transcend our understanding and that there are more in heaven than we assume.
Hell bothers me, and I guess it should. In fact I would be more than happy to be proven wrong on this. My guess is that Bell realizes that this is a common sentiment and decided to ask some questions out loud.
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Great post! Totally agree. By the way, I love the Standard Theme for wp. My site is standard theme too.
Thanks Ryan! Yeah I just recently made the jump into Standard and really like it even though my learning curve is pretty steep. If you have any tips or best practices I would be all ears.
A couple things here:
1. I, too, haven’t yet read the book. So I will withhold any evaluation of Bell’s theology.
2. I, too, mainly hold to the orthodox position, that there is Hell, in some sense, and that many will experience it. Some of us experience it on earth, even.
3. I want to suggest that there is an in-between the “Believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved” and the “there is no Hell and everyone is saved” of the universalists. And I would suggest that this in-between is plenty within the bounds of orthodoxy. What I am suggesting is the same as what C.S. Lewis argues in Mere Christianity. That some who do not know they are under Christ–maybe they are not claiming His name–are indeed under Christ. We see this in his fiction, too. There is plenty of biblical support for this. Think Zacheus, think the thief next to Jesus on the cross. At the Mercy House, Matt Connor often says “The Kingdom is bigger than any of us think it is.” I agree with him and Lewis. But that DOES NOT MEAN that there isn’t a Hell or that no one will suffer there for eternity. Jesus didn’t say what he said to BOTH criminals next to Him on the cross, just one of them. As Lewis says, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened. “
Definitely believe that the either/or paradigm of this conversation isn’t very helpful and if anything limiting to the power of God.
Would also agree that C.S. Lewis and especially The Great Divorce is well worth the read and helped me wrap my mind around some other possibilities for eternity. I am just thankful that I don’t have to make these decisions.
The other angle on this story from a leadership perspective is how Bell deals with this criticism. It appears that he doesn’t care because he has found a way to keep things in perspective.
Rob Bell only seems to engage those who may criticize him on his terms. He doesn’t have a blog or even that active of a Twitter account. What he has is a very focused platform in which he can still dialog but have more control.
Actually, I had it confirmed yesterday. He doesn’t care.
Well there you have it.
Also got this email this morning about a live stream Q&A that Bell is doing on March 14th
http://www.livestream.com/lovewins
Regardless of how much he does care I still think he is trying to articulate and engage a common question.