Love Wins Low Price CD: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived

Rob Bell's newest book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived sits at number three today in Amazon's book sales list. Love Wins will no doubt hit the New York Times bestseller list this week. Bell has obviously churned up tremendous interest in his take on the Christian doctrines of heaven and hell, but is that what Bell intended? If you read Bell's book as doctrine you are missing the point Rob Bell is trying to make. In short, Bell is taking on the evangelical establishment. And while Bell asserts ultimately that Love Wins, it remains to be seen if Rob Bell will. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, ridiculed Bell's book as Velvet Hell, a play on the title of another of Bell's books, Velvet Jesus. John Piper, evangelical pastor and author, tweeted "Farewell, Rob Bell," signifying that Bell has fallen out of favor with the silver-haired evangelical leadership. Popular blogger Tim Challies accuses Bell of "exegetical gymnastics" and "the toxic subversion of Jesus' gospel." Others have weighed in on blogposts, challenging Bell. One blogger posed the question, "John Piper Vs. Rob Bell -- Which Gospel Are You Trusting?" Bell is not being well-received by the evangelical establishment. Bell Raises Questions But what does Bell's book actually say about heaven, hell, salvation, and of course, love? That's a good question, and questioning is where Bell excels. In Bell's first chapter alone he asks 90 questions, and that figure does not include scripture references which contain a question in their text. Bell uses questions skillfully to open the conversation about the way in traditional evangelicalism has portrayed the gospel. He poses questions like: "Of all the billions of people who have ever lived, will only a select number `make it to a better place' and every single other person suffer in torment and punishment forever?" - p. 1 (loc 88) "Does God punish people for thousands of years with infinite, eternal torment for things they did in their few years of life?" - p. 2 (loc 94) "And when people claim that one group is in, saved, accepted by God, forgiven, enlightened, redeemed -- and everybody else isn't -- why is it that those who make this claim are almost always part of the group that's "in"?" - p. 3 (loc 109) There are 87 more questions just like that. Bell provokes thought, and he provokes it by questioning things evangelicals have not questioned publicly. Bell might as well have burned a copy of "The Four Spiritual Laws," evangelicalism's gospel-in-a-booklet popularized by Campus Crusade for Christ. A Postmodern Perspective on Narratives Bell says "there are millions" who don't buy the evangelical party line now -- "millions" -- and his book addresses that audience and their concerns. Here's how he puts it: "This love compels us to question some of the dominant stories that are being told as the Jesus story. A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better." - Introduction, (loc 47) Bell's concern is with the "story" or narrative embraced by modern evangelicalism. Postmodernism has raised the issue of "narratives" or stories that dominate our culture. Many social scientists and philosophers believe that postmodern thinking no longer accepts at face value the "stories" that have shaped our social consciousness. Examples of these "meta-narratives" or "over-arching stories" include the stories of white European "manifest destiny" -- that God was on the side of the white Europeans who settled the New World, and forcibly converted (or killed) native populations. American evangelicalism created its own meta-narrative, its version of an over-arching story that gave rise to the modern missionary movement, the two Great Awakenings, revivalism, and the establishment of churches throughout the United States. It is this "story" that Rob Bell wants to replace with a new story. Bell makes his case by appealing to history. He asserts that this conversation about following Christ and what that means has been going on for centuries. He also notes that some significant church fathers -- Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Eusebius -- offered an alternative centuries ago to the modern evangelical narrative. Bell fails to mention that not all scholars agree that these and other church fathers were universalists, but Bell is not arguing for universalism as some of his critics have said. Bell's Theme is "Love Wins" What exactly does Rob Bell say? Bell raises more questions than he answers directly. But that is the nature of this type of discussion because Bell acknowledges that ultimately we are all speculating about a subject on which we have no first-hand knowledge. But Bell's theme is consistent and compelling: love wins. God's love, that is. Bell includes in the power of love the possibility of post-mortem, or after-death, encounters with God in which those who have died get a "second chance" to respond to God's love, on either one or more occasions. Bell also suggests the possibility that persons who perpetually reject the love of God, spiraling further and further into the abyss of evil might lose the part of their humanity made in the image of God. Bell doesn't extend this argument to the concept of "annihilation" but others who write about it do. What Bell does do well is open the door for us to be humble in the face of questions that are difficult to answer. He contends God's love holds out hope, is a seeking and finding love, but a love that also grants freedom to the beloved. We have a choice, in other words, and if we choose to reject God, we are choosing hell. Bell sees familiar Bible stories with new eyes, inviting his readers to explore again the story of the prodigal son, the story of Lazarus and the rich man, some of Jesus' parables, and the story of the cross. Bell clearly embraces these stories as Biblical and foundational to his understanding of God's love. Despite what his critics say, Bell doesn't paint a picture of a "soft hell" lined with velvet. Rather, Bell contends that we must not confuse "the very essence of God, which is love, with the very real consequences of rejecting and resisting that love, which creates what we call hell." - p. 177 (loc 2137). Chapter Summaries Bell organizes his argument into eight chapters. Chapter 1 raises lots of questions and sets up the remaining chapters as discussion points for Bell's argument. Chapter 2 explores the idea of heaven, which Bell says begins here because life in the kingdom of God begins here, not just after death. Bell echoes N. T. Wright's Surprised by Hope, and other current eschatological theologians including Jurgen Moltmann, that God is making all things new including a new heaven and a new earth. Chapter 3 is simply titled "Hell" and Bell explores the Bible texts and unpacks the meanings of words like hades, gehenna, and sheol. If heaven begins here, Bell contends then hell does, too. Hell is embodied in our own inhumanity and violence. Many, Bell argues, live in their own hells, some of their own choosing, some in the hells created for them by others. Hell is the rejection of God's love, the resistance to God's seeking, the refusal to see God's redemptive plan for creation. Chapter 4 raises the question "Does God Get What God Wants?" which Bell believes is the salvation and the redemption of creation. Obviously, Calvinists will have a problem with this because of the doctrines of election, predestination, limited atonement, and so on. But Arminians (free-willers) may also have problems with Bell's assertion that God wins because love wins, which seems to limit humanity's free will. Bell is an equal opportunity offender because he is speaking in categories that the Calvinist/Arminian arguments do not have room for. In Chapter 5 Bell explores the cross and resurrection. Here he asserts about the Gospel of John that "John is telling a huge story, one about God rescuing all of creation." Crucifixion and resurrection are God's way from death to life, to redemption, to atonement, to satisfaction, to all the metaphorical roles that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection play in the story of God's redemptive love. Bell situates us, human beings, not at the center of the story, but within the story of God's overarching redemption of everything. When John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world..." it means just that. God loves the entire world, the cosmos, and will redeem it all. Bell expands the Gospel story because "A gospel that leaves out its cosmic scope will always feel small." - p. 135 (loc 1653). Chapter 6 is Bell's chapter on Christology. It's here that Bell soars. He talks about people whose lives God has touched and redeemed in marvelous and mystical ways. Christ, Bell says, "is bigger than any one religion." p. 150 (loc 1824). And, Christ is not God's Plan B, but God's always-present plan to demonstrate his love, and incarnate his presence among people. In Chapter 7, Bell appeals to the reader to examine again the story of the prodigal son, the father, and the older brother. Bell ties together his thesis by discussing the three stories being told in this parable. First, the younger son, the prodigal, tells a story about himself. His story is one of failure, or desperation, but also of contrition. But even after his repentance, the younger son thinks himself unworthy to be called "son" anymore. The father's story, however, says that the younger son has always been and will always be his son. The father has been waiting for this day, which is a day of celebration because his son has come home. The older brother's story is one of duty without love. He is just as alienated from the father as the younger son is, and Bell writes that our goodness and striving can also separate us from the father, just like our sin and failure can. But Bell believes it is the father's story that is the true story. Both sons are loved, and both are received with affection. The younger son returns to the father's house; but, for the older son, it was always his anyway. Neither son's telling of their own stories is true, only the father's story is the true story for all of them. Chapter 7 is the chapter that ties Bell's argument together, and makes a compelling case for choosing the story of love rather than estrangement. Finally, in Chapter 8, Bell returns to his childhood. As if to say, "Although I am critiquing modern evangelicalism's story, I am one of you." Bell recounts the night he knelt by his bed, and with his parents on either side of him, he prayed to receive Jesus into his heart. Bell clearly has affection for his Christian evangelical upbringing, even while questioning its theological perspective. Bell is one of the millions he writes about who have been told a story that in this postmodern world may be wearing thin, but whose life was changed by it nevertheless. Conclusion There is much of Bell's book with which I agree. He approaches familiar scripture with fresh eyes and insights; he expands the gospel so that it is good news for all creation; he moves beyond the heaven-and-hell debate to engage the greater work of God's redemptive love; and, he does all this with humility that is refreshing. This is not an apologetic for postmodernism or universalism, or a polemic against the establishment. Rather, I believe Bell is inviting us all into a "divine" discussion about these issues. He's inviting us to re-examine the "escape from earth" spirituality of another era, and to involve ourselves in following Christ in tangible expressions of God's love now. Bell's story is not a new story, but a new look at the Old Story. Jesus is central, God is love, the Spirit is moving, the Kingdom is coming, and we're invited. There's not much there to disagree with, in my opinion. Disclaimer: I purchased the ebook version of Love Wins from Amazon, and read it on my Kindle, iPod Touch, and Android phone. I did not receive a review copy (although I had been promised one), and was not given any inducement to review this book either positively or negatively. The opinions expressed are mine, and mine alone. I have noted both page numbers and ebook location numbers in the citations above.

Let me say that I thought the hype surrounding the release of this book was ridiculously disappointing and was a significant factor in my near-decision not to read the book. That is to say, I only come to this discussion out of obligation (and because of a copy that voluntarily landed on my desk). I don't have a wide readership, but I evidently will sleep better tonight knowing my two cents are posted. In what has been a stunning display of evangelical slam-culture, Rob Bell has been (once again) maligned as some sort of heretic for what he proposes as truth in his latest book, Love Wins. What is particularly fascinating about this judgment is that it has been given a priori - which is to say that people decried Bell's position before they ever knew what his position was going to be. Sadly, those who are supposed to be more concerned with truth than anyone else were actually quick to judge without knowing truth. And that might be the biggest lesson from this whole episode: Love Wins (Except in Modern Theological Debates). As to the book itself: First, I wholeheartedly agree with Jeff Cook's comments (posted at Jesus Creed) that one would be hard-pressed to find any more controversial idea stated in Bell's book that in the writings of C. S. Lewis. However, I will say that one issue that I have with Love Wins is that Bell is content to leave some avenues of thought open to interpretation. While this might sound like the theological high road, it will make life difficult for those who are looking for more definitive answers to his direction of thought. I suppose the solution to this is for Bell to state his position and make a more concerted effort to guide the discussion to an absolute rather than playing the postmodern fog of eternal questions. Second, in spite of my stated concern, I will say that Rob Bell has much to say that is definitive and straightforward. This is especially true for human freedom and the divine will. For instance, he makes the strong statement: "God gives us what we want, and if that's hell, we can have it. We have that kind of freedom, that kind of choice. We are that free. We can use machetes if we want to" (72). Such a statement is also in the context of Bell's conviction that heaven and hell are not simply realities that are to come in a future and disconnected 'eternity,' but that they are descriptors of what life is like in the present. This strongly echoes the Jewish-Christian belief in exile and restoration, where the majority biblical expectation was for God to bring his kingdom of justice and righteousness into the present experience of the world. Third, Rob Bell takes much from parables and apocalyptic/poetic imagery that sometimes calls into question whether or not he uses proper methods of hermeneutic, but overall I think he does capture the tenor of most passages. At first it appears that he is going to read too much into 'The Rich Man and Lazarus' but then unveils a profound point: that even in the stark realities of the afterlife the rich man still expects to be served by the poor man, which is why he is dead but still hasn't died (77). Also in this area is his discussion of the Prodigal Son, to which Bell highlights the singular party, which is heaven for the younger son and hell for the older son . . . the same experience offered by the father. This is straight interpretation inspired by the singular experience of the Holy Spirit as both judgment and blessing as found elsewhere in the New Testament. Fourth, Rob Bell arrives at what I consider one of the most significant and revealing theological questions in front of us, Does God get everything that he wants? How one answers this is significant. 1. Scripture says that God wants all people to be saved (1 Tim 2); 2. Not everyone will be saved. Therein lies theological synthesis and inquiry. Although, it appears that while God wants all people to be saved, most of his followers do not share his sentiment. So the love of God seems to go further than human emotion. This is not surprising, but it is revealing. In the end, one of Bell's main points says it well: We do not need to be rescued from God . . . God is the one who rescues us from ourselves (cf. 182). Notice that this review did not get bogged down with the discussions of hell and universalism that so many people have accused the book of containing. That's simply because the book isn't preoccupied with those things. Regarding both heaven and hell, Rob Bell makes a powerful point - the Bible doesn't say as much about them as we believe to be concrete truths. This reveals the evangelical tendency to narrow our thought based on the assurances of the unknown. In the end, this is Rob Bell's best writing to date. There is a lot to investigate here, and nobody should expect to enter into the discussion without minor disagreements along the way. That might be true here. However, in the end Love Wins does not contain or assert any idea that falls into unorthodox categories. Much of the book reflects thoughts presented in N. T. Wright's Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church . Other parts contain pieces which are reminiscent of John Sanders' presentation of Inclusivism as found in What About Those Who Have Never Heard?: Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized - which is an investigation into the destiny of the unevangelized. What is, sadly, overlooked in the entire hype is Bell's personal testimony to the power of God's love and salvation which is included in the final chapter. It is quite powerful. What We Should Learn: 1. Rob Bell doesn't conclusively know the realities of heaven and hell. 2. Neither do we. 3. God's love never stops pursuing us, nor does it cease to amaze us. 4. Everything else matters, perhaps more than our knowledge of heaven and hell. [grasshoppersdreaming/blogspot/com]

I really enjoyed this book and found it very inspiring. Rob Bell has a very clear way of explaining things and putting things in a perspective I have never thought of before. I came away with a new understanding of the choices we have to be happy. I recommend this book whole heartedly and hope that people who seek this information find it in due time.

Ouvrage réconfortant, facile à lire et dont la portée est très positive. A lire doucement, pour s'ouvrir à un monde intérieur, très chaleureux.

Excellent book about love in the Christian world.

Apesar da polêmica, o livro é muito bom! Faz pensar em diverso aspectos e traz muitos questionamentos. Acredito que qualquer um que queria pensar a respeito do amor de Deus, como esse é mostrado nas escrituras e como devemos interpretá-lo deve ler esse livro.

This is a solid book. It’s fairly short, partly because of the larger font and spacing, but it’s definitely worth the read. There are many insightful reflections on Scripture that challenge you to think more deeply about what you believe and why. What I took away most is the call to live as children of the Kingdom here and now, rather than being primarily focused on anything else. It emphasizes that we can begin living that reality each and every day. Whether you agree with everything or not, it’s a thought-provoking and worthwhile read.