Love wins
So much angry, pain, accusations, hatred, ignorance, idiocy, arrogance, and basic bullshit (which I believe is the first time you have every read me state that on my blog) came about over this simple book. I suggest first, ignore all the stupidity and read it.
My thoughts on it are nothing has changed about Rob Bell. He has not change into a Universalist, though he holds to universal atonement as I do. I think the issue is many who read Bell and hate him are those so entrenched in their defined and narrow theological view, they cannot fathom that anything beyond their own understand might be right. They cannot trust God and face the challenge and cling to their own understanding thus remain static and never grow.
The book is a very easy read. In some ways Bell does not go very deep yet in others if you understand what he is saying the impact of the words like “It’s the gospel of goats.” (p. 180) and how Bell unpacks that statement that make the book very much deeper than first glance might give. I would give this book to people as a way to help them understand that God is not angry or wrathful but is love.
Oh, about the hell thing… my own opinion is that Hell does not save us God does. We cannot go were God is not. Hell is real and Bell broadens what both heaven and hell are. You might not like it, but it even fits the most fundamentalist of beliefs if only those who hold that style of belief understood what they believed.
Bell opens the doors to possibilities and here is a huge hint. There may seem to be only two choices.
1. Calvinism 2. Universalism
But there is a third way. Here is a post I did a while back that might help you get where Bell comes from. And yes, whether there is a hell or not, Love wins. The Bible is clear on that one.
4 comments:
Your first paragraph one me over. (-;
Indeed, towards the end of your blog
" You might not like it, but it even fits the most fundamentalist of beliefs if only those who hold that style of belief understood what they believed. " Too bad so many judge first, and make assumptions....based on their dislike of Bell. Some it appears are afraid of artsy folks and want clear, abstract modernistic absolute definitions where God often does (on purpose???) not make it so clear.
Keep writing....always good. (-;
Thanks Iggy! Great post as always. I like Bell for opening people's minds.
I love Rob Bell and have since I was fairly little (well high school). Thanks for the post, "Love Wins" just made my long reading list.
One of my favorite books is "Whats so Amazing about Grace," by Philip Yancey. I would argue that Yancey is not as "post modern" as Bell but the book is still a great read.
Here is a poster series inspired by the book and my experience wit the LGBT community.
http://sckrlgn.blogspot.com/search/label/Grace%20is%20a%20bit%20Queer
Enjoy! And thanks again for the post.
Having been a believer longer than I will admit here, I always wonder why a loving Father would be so vague, even to his disciples, with his parables, stories and answering questions with a question. And then to top it off, supposedly teach (at least the way many Christians believe) that if you don't believe EXACTLY the right way, you are bound for eternal torment forever and ever. I for one have not been too eager to market that kind of Jesus. Thank you for giving Love Wins a positive spin here. I've read the book and was able to attend one of Bell's meetings recently in Minnesota. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the GLORY of the Father. It's great to come across some thinking that really supports that verse!!
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