A friend gave me a copy of the book last week, and I read it over the weekend. I found it to be a wonderfully engaging book that has got me thinking. And really, what more could you want from a book? It is well-crafted and full of probing questions, compelling stories, and astute analyses.
Much of the controversy is about Rob Bell's position on what happens after we die, specifically whether or not he is a universalist. In my reading of the book, he certainly does not use that term to describe his theology, nor does he even carve out a position that I would interpret as universalism. At most, I would say that he leaves the door open for that possibility (mainly because who is he - or any of us - to say what God can or cannot do).
I really enjoyed chapter 6, entitled "There Are Rocks Everywhere." The title is in reference to the rock that Moses strikes in Exodus 17 that gives the Israelites water. Bell then identifies this same rock in 1 Corinthians 10 from which all the Israelites drank. Funny thing is, though, that this rock is then identified by Paul as Christ. In other words, a millennium before Jesus was born, Christ was with the Israelites providing for them. Likewise, in the prologue to John's Gospel, Christ (the Word) is identified as being co-eternal with God and the agent of creation. All this to say, Christ is at work all around us - and all around others who don't even know it. This leaves open the possibility for Christ's work in people's lives without their calling him by name (like the Israelites) or even without their knowledge. Our God is a big God, and there are rocks everywhere.
One of the other things I like about the book is that he continually emphasizes the here and now as opposed to what happens after we die. He claims - and I think rightly so - that the Gospel is bigger than a message about what our ultimate destination will be. He continually affirms that heaven and hell can be experienced in this life, and that matters. Focusing exclusively on the afterlife gives very little meaning to the things of this life, yet Jesus, the prophets and all of Scripture spends much more time and energy focused on this life rather than the afterlife. We would do well to pay attention to that.
In the end, one of the things I take away from the book is that it has sparked this great theological debate, but it's not really a theological book. By that, I mean that Bell didn't set out to explain or defend a certain doctrine or theological perspective. Not that you can always separate these two, but he is writing as a pastor and not a theologian. His concern is for people who have been hurt in the past by hateful messages from the church about hell. His purpose is to open us up to the possibility of different ideas and to remind us that there is a different story about God's love that we need to tell.
This summer during the month of June, I plan to lead a 4-week Sunday School class on the book and the issues that it raises. I look forward to many good conversations. Feel free to post thoughts or questions here!
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Which Afterlife?
In his new book "Love Wins" Rob Bell seems to say that loving and compassionate people, regardless of their faith, will not be condemned to eternal hell just because they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Concepts of an afterlife vary between religions and among divisions of each faith. Here are three quotes from "the greatest achievement in life," my ebook on comparative mysticism:
(46) Few people have been so good that they have earned eternal paradise; fewer want to go to a place where they must receive punishments for their sins. Those who do believe in resurrection of their body hope that it will be not be in its final form. Few people really want to continue to be born again and live more human lives; fewer want to be reborn in a non-human form. If you are not quite certain you want to seek divine union, consider the alternatives.
(59) Mysticism is the great quest for the ultimate ground of existence, the absolute nature of being itself. True mystics transcend apparent manifestations of the theatrical production called “this life.” Theirs is not simply a search for meaning, but discovery of what is, i.e. the Real underlying the seeming realities. Their objective is not heaven, gardens, paradise, or other celestial places. It is not being where the divine lives, but to be what the divine essence is here and now.
(80) [referring to many non-mystics] Depending on their religious convictions, or personal beliefs, they may be born again to seek elusive perfection, go to a purgatory to work out their sins or, perhaps, pass on into oblivion. Lives are different; why not afterlives? Beliefs might become true.
Rob Bell asks us to reexamine the Christian Gospel. People of all faiths should look beyond the letter of their sacred scriptures to their spiritual message. As one of my mentors wrote "In God we all meet."
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