{"id":281,"date":"2011-03-28T18:18:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T18:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/03\/love-wins\/"},"modified":"2011-03-28T18:18:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-28T18:18:00","slug":"love-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/03\/love-wins.html","title":{"rendered":"Love Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

Is Gandhi in hell? Is Hitler in heaven?<\/i><\/p>\n

Evangelical pastor Rob Bell\u2019s new book Love Wins<\/i><\/a> has caused quite a controversy in Christian circles. Some see it as a breath of fresh air while others simply call it heresy. I\u2019ve been a universalist since before I understood the term, but I grew up in an evangelical church and I wanted see for myself what Bell had to say \u201cabout heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived.\u201d <\/p>\n

The book itself is concise and engaging. It\u2019s a fast read \u2013 I finished it in one evening\u2026 though if I was still struggling with these issues it might have taken much longer to contemplate each point. If you are a Christian of any persuasion, or if you find yourself in religious discussions with Christians, I strongly encourage you to read this book.<\/p>\n

Many of Bell\u2019s arguments are familiar. They\u2019re the same thoughts that led me to leave exclusivist Christianity and become \u2013 among other things \u2013 a Unitarian Universalist. A god who would mete out infinite punishment for finite sins is not a just God. If salvation comes only to those who \u201caccept Jesus as their savior\u201d then the odds are stacked against people born in non-Christian countries. And just how do you go about \u201caccepting Jesus\u201d anyway? The Bible isn\u2019t exactly clear (despite the black\/white doctrines some Christians have created around this issue) and Jesus himself was downright cryptic about it.<\/p>\n

Bell is not a universalist, but he doesn\u2019t miss it by much. He argues that heaven and hell are not \u201cup there\u201d and \u201cdown there\u201d but exist here and now. Heaven is where the will of God is done and hell is where the will of God is rejected \u2013 and the will of God is Love. He best illustrates this with the parable of the Prodigal Son. The younger son, who squandered his inheritance, comes home in shame but is welcomed by the father with a great celebration. The older son, who had stayed home and worked hard, is angry and jealous because he never got a party. <\/p>\n

Two brothers are at the same celebration \u2013 one experiencing heaven and the other experiencing hell.<\/p>\n

For Bell, the central question is \u201cdoes God get what God wants?\u201d If God truly loves all Creation and truly desires that all will be saved and if \u2013 as conservative Christianity teaches \u2013 most of the world ends up in hell for all eternity, then God has failed. Bell doesn\u2019t think God is going to fail.<\/p>\n

Love Wins<\/i> is more than an intellectual argument, more than proof-texting to prove a point. Like Jesus, Rob Bell seldom answers a question with a black\/white answer. In an essay on Huffington Post<\/a>, he says:<\/p>\n

We are wise to pause here and remember that Jesus rarely answered someone\u2019s question with a direct yes or no or with an even remotely straight forward answer. He tells a story, he spins a parable, he points to flowers and birds. This isn\u2019t because he\u2019s avoiding the questions or he\u2019s scared to come clean on where he really stands. It\u2019s because he understands that some truths can\u2019t be crammed into sound-bytes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ultimately, this may be Rob Bell\u2019s greatest contribution to Christianity and to religion in general \u2013 moving it away from literalism. We don\u2019t understand religious mysteries by concocting elaborate doctrines of textual citations and logical inferences. We understand them by engaging them through rituals and stories and direct experience. <\/p>\n

Is Gandhi in hell? <\/i><\/p>\n

This is the challenge for Christian exclusivists \u2013 how could a just God send one of the most Christ-like people of our era into eternal torment? Rob Bell gives no simple answers, but his thoughts are clear \u2013 Gandhi is not in hell.<\/p>\n

Is Hitler in heaven?<\/i><\/p>\n

This is the challenge for universalists \u2013 how could a just God allow a genocidal mass murderer into heaven? Bell doesn\u2019t mention Hitler, but again, his thoughts are clear \u2013 Hitler isn\u2019t in heaven.<\/p>\n

Not yet.<\/p>\n

God gets what God wants \u2013 Love wins.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/div>\n

Now, what does this have to do with those of us who don\u2019t accept the whole heaven or hell dichotomy? <\/p>\n

Christianity is the largest religion in the world and the dominant religion in the United States. Although it has been in decline for the last few centuries, it isn\u2019t going away any time soon, and certainly not in our lifetime. Many people believe their brand of Christians are going to heaven and everyone else is going to hell not because they\u2019ve studied the Bible and examined the arguments but because that\u2019s what they\u2019ve always been taught and they\u2019ve never questioned it. <\/p>\n

These folks aren\u2019t likely to listen to Buddhists or Pagans or Humanists and they certainly won\u2019t listen to abrasive New Atheists. But they\u2019ll listen to one of their own. They won\u2019t listen to the story of Gaia but they\u2019ll listen to the story of Jesus. <\/p>\n

Imagine some of these folks \u2013 not all, let\u2019s not get carried away, but some \u2013 not trying to qualify for the Kingdom of God and instead working to build the Kingdom of God right here right now. Imagine some of these folks not trying to shove Jesus down other people\u2019s throats and instead living like Jesus right here right now. Imagine some of these folks not worrying about saving people from a mythical hell after death and instead working to save people from a thousand literal hells right here right now.<\/p>\n

Rob Bell and I don\u2019t tell the same story, but we share a vision of the way things could be. Rob Bell and Christians like him are our allies and we need to support them.<\/p>\n

Love wins \u2013 and we stand on the side of love.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Gandhi in hell? Is Hitler in heaven? Evangelical pastor Rob Bell\u2019s new book Love Wins has caused quite a controversy in Christian circles. Some see it as a breath of fresh air while others simply call it heresy. I\u2019ve been a universalist since before I understood the term, but I grew up in an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLove Wins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is Gandhi in hell? Is Hitler in heaven?Evangelical pastor Rob Bell\u2019s new book Love Wins has caused quite a controversy in Christian circles. 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