Hell?

I read "Love Wins," by Rob Bell.  Everyone who reads that book has a response.  They either love it or hate it, but no one I've talked to shrugs and says, "ah, it was OK."  Everyone has an emotional response.

I, too, have a response.  I don't want to take the time write, nor do I ask you to read, a lengthy review on the book.  A web search will yield better results than I could piece together.  Rather, this is simply my response.

There are two basic lenses through which people read the Bible.  Everyone interprets Scripture with Scripture, and everyone interprets Scripture with life.  Everyone admits to the first statement; most deny the second, but without doubt everyone interprets Scripture through those two lenses.

There are two basic groups of people reading the Bible.  Those who accept it as supremely authoritative  over all things, and those who view it as a good book of stories about God and morals.  People from both camps exist in and out of "the Church."  People from both camps preach, teach, and write books about the Bible.  Most of the time they don't identify themselves as belonging to either camp.

The first group (for lack of a better term we'll call them "Bible-centered") begins with the clarity of Scripture.  The clear passages ("by grace are you saved through faith") are used to interpret the fuzzy passages ("sell all you have, give the money to the poor, then you'll inherit eternal life") and troubling circumstances of life (like when kind, old grandma died who never confessed Christ).  We leave the possibility open that she confessed Christ in those final moments.  There is always room for one more criminal on a cross.  But, ultimately, Scripture is allowed to speak more loudly than our wants and longings.  It begins with Scripture and seeks to align man with God's revealed will.

The second group (for lack of better term we'll call them "philanthropic") emphasizes the ambiguity of Scripture.  The fuzzy passages ("sell all you have, give the money to the poor, then you'll inherit eternal life") are used to create pause before the clear passages ("by grace are you saved through faith"), providing space for comfort in the troubling circumstances of life (like when kind, old grandma died who never confessed Christ).  One may say, "Grandma didn't know Jesus by name, but there never was a more Christ-like person to grace this earth.  We'll see Grandma again in Heaven one day."  The meaning of the Bible is interpreted through the lenses of life and Scripture from the basis of our wants and longings.  It is philanthropic, it is man-centered, and reads the Bible accordingly.  The Bible is a helpful source, but what settles the hard issues is what we think mankind needs.

In "Love Wins" Rob Bell, if nothing else, demonstrates that he reads Scripture through his lenses sitting behind a philanthropic desk.  The question dominating the book is, "what kind of God do you want to believe in?"  The difficult circumstances of life and fuzzy portions of Scripture repeatedly create pause in front of the clear warnings from even Christ Himself, like, "fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.  Yes, I tell you fear Him!"  God never asks us what kind of God we want to believe in - what kind of God we think He should be.  Rather, He lovingly reveals Himself to be a God of love and wrath, power and mercy, forgiveness and punishment - a God to be feared and worshipped, loved and obeyed.  He is the Lion and the Lamb.

The final response to "Love Wins" I leave to the individual reader.  But, I caution you, interpret God on His terms.