LOVE WINS
by Rob Bell
I’ve written these responses to each of the chapters of Rob Bell’s book on facebook, but am beginning to post them here as well. These are merely meant to talk about what Bell actually says, and help to think about it critically.
Preface:
Jesus’s story is first and foremost about the love of God for every human being. This story has been hijacked by a number of other stories, and for many, “The plot has been lost,” as a result.
– We need to have a discussion about hell, and we’re allowed (Jesus can handle it)
– Those who tell the story wrongly will call us heretics for doing so
– The people shouting are same people who used to kill heretics
– Nothing in this book is new or novel – it is orthodox
Reading between the lines: no person is allowed to decide for everyone how we should rightly read the scriptures. Among the people of God, this topic of heaven/hell/what happens when you die is a “deep, wide, diverse stream that’s been flowing for thousands of years, carrying a staggering variety of voices, perspectives and experiences.”
Chapter 1 Synopsis:
Bell uses this whole first chapter to ask tons of questions. He walks through all of the different things Christians have said about what gets you “in” and what gets you “out.” There are all kinds of different views. Some say baptism, some say the sinner’s prayer, some say the way you live, some say it just happens to you. Some seem to think all that matters is getting into heaven when you die. He begins to point out a lot of the logical issues with the way people pick and choose one thing and say “this is it – you have to do this or you are screwed.”
For example: some believe that all who die before what is called “the age of accountability” (around 12 years old), get into heaven when they die. So why not kill everyone before that age? That way everyone would be safe. There are other great examples.
Bell says, “all that matters is how you respond to Jesus… that answer totally resonates with me.” The question is, which Jesus? There are many false Jesuses who people use as rationale for killing, raping, controlling, hurting, profiting off of or opposing all kinds of things from science to sexuality – he gives some stunning examples of what has been done in Jesus’s name. When someone rejects Christ, it’s important to know which one of these they are rejecting. Sometimes the Jesus they know (obviously he thinks it is a false one) should be rejected.
Some will say – upon hearing all of these questions – all that is important is having “a personal relationship with Jesus.” The problem with this idea is that it is found exactly nowhere in the bible. If that’s the ticket, the main thing, then how can it be nowhere in the bible?
So what does the bible say about who is in and who is out? How does it happen? Well, the scripture uses a TON of images in different places sometimes it is: what you say, who you are, what you do, what you say you’re going to do, who your friends are, who you’re married to, whether you give birth to children, what questions you’re asked, what questions you ask in return, etc. Some say it’s just what you believe – but then we’re told even demons believe.
That’s chapter 1… really good questions. That’s all he does here is ask questions. All this results in doing is to loosen up the ways in which we view the issues involved. He’s shooting down pat answers and easy-outs that suffer from a lack of internal coherency.
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