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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
I'm sure this book is extremely controversial in certain circles. There were definitely parts of it I identified with and parts that made me say, "Hmm..."
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Not 2 stars because I don't agree with what he is saying, I just didn't appreciate the writing style and found the book quite boring.
I've been meaning to read Rob Bell's Love Wins for some time. Since its publication in 2011 it has been surrounded by criticism, rejection and the cry of heresy. When there is such a strong reaction to anything it really makes you curious about what is being said. For the longest time I have had on my Kindle the orthodox (small o) Christian response to this book by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle.
Rob Bell, in my opinion, writes to a Christianity that does not officially exist. I have found it quite difficult to see where he is coming from in this book, he is often not very clear in his thought trains (and this book is written like a train of thought).
So, he never defines the Christianity he is speaking against, but here are some of the elements I have concluded from what he says about the Christianity he is denouncing.
- Christians are saved to leave earth forever and go to heaven.
- The Earth is destroyed at the end of time.
- When we are saved we have to work to maintain our salvation or make God happy.
- The God other Christians believe in is actually not good because He would allow people to choose hell.
- You have to be told about Jesus to believe in Him (as opposed to having a vision in Bagdad or something similar)
- That God is not interested in the restoration of all things, only a select number of human beings.
Now, I don't know about you, but that isn't the Christianity I follow, that isn't the God I know, that isn't the Gospel that was preached to me, that is not the testimony of the Holy Spirit who dwells within me.
The fact that many Christians in America may believe in that form of Christianity is sad, it really saddens me. If it is true that there are many Christians believing the above list of things about God and Jesus and the Gospel then a book certainly needs to be written in order to address those issues scripturally and biblically, which of course they all can be.
However,
This is not that book! Rob Bell has chosen the worst aspects people believe about the Gospel and Christianity and used them as his backdrop for a belief that simply is not right.
That means that there is a tonne of good stuff in this book, so much gold! However, Bell uses it all to say Hell is what we make it, basically. It's not a real place and we can all be happy and go skipping through the Fields of Ashphodel because they all lead to Elysium anyway... That's simply not the case and is misleading.
The blend of great truth after great truth with a conclusion that is a lie reminds me of something else, someone else, somewhere else who said "Did God say?" That's strong, I know... but that's often how the conclusions (where they were clearly stated which did not happen often) left me feeling.
Rob Bell, in my opinion, writes to a Christianity that does not officially exist. I have found it quite difficult to see where he is coming from in this book, he is often not very clear in his thought trains (and this book is written like a train of thought).
So, he never defines the Christianity he is speaking against, but here are some of the elements I have concluded from what he says about the Christianity he is denouncing.
- Christians are saved to leave earth forever and go to heaven.
- The Earth is destroyed at the end of time.
- When we are saved we have to work to maintain our salvation or make God happy.
- The God other Christians believe in is actually not good because He would allow people to choose hell.
- You have to be told about Jesus to believe in Him (as opposed to having a vision in Bagdad or something similar)
- That God is not interested in the restoration of all things, only a select number of human beings.
Now, I don't know about you, but that isn't the Christianity I follow, that isn't the God I know, that isn't the Gospel that was preached to me, that is not the testimony of the Holy Spirit who dwells within me.
The fact that many Christians in America may believe in that form of Christianity is sad, it really saddens me. If it is true that there are many Christians believing the above list of things about God and Jesus and the Gospel then a book certainly needs to be written in order to address those issues scripturally and biblically, which of course they all can be.
However,
This is not that book! Rob Bell has chosen the worst aspects people believe about the Gospel and Christianity and used them as his backdrop for a belief that simply is not right.
That means that there is a tonne of good stuff in this book, so much gold! However, Bell uses it all to say Hell is what we make it, basically. It's not a real place and we can all be happy and go skipping through the Fields of Ashphodel because they all lead to Elysium anyway... That's simply not the case and is misleading.
The blend of great truth after great truth with a conclusion that is a lie reminds me of something else, someone else, somewhere else who said "Did God say?" That's strong, I know... but that's often how the conclusions (where they were clearly stated which did not happen often) left me feeling.
I am glad I read this. Because his writing is so conversational and easy to read, it really opens up a wonderful opportunity to talk about some big questions in a clear way. I look forward to using this book in a future book study with my high school youth and young adults, though I think adults would probably benefit from it as well. I don't find much of this book mind blowing or new, but I appreciate the way he wrote through it and opened up the conversation. I especially look forward to supplementing the conversation with Lutheran theology, discussion of denominational/theological differences, and other discussion questions that I've developed. I'm most excited about the opportunity to talk through it with my people! Fun stuff!
I read most of this book years ago (mostly just to piss John Piper off). I remember when this book first came out it became the crux of Rob Bell's downfall from the poster boy of the evangelical world. Interestingly enough reading it now (which was much more delightful) I found very little that anyone could gripe about as being "unorthodox" or "heresy"----- which really are ridiculous ways of describing belief systems anyway. We all have wrong IDEAS and BELIEFS. That is a part of humanity. So as I read it this time, I was looking for the parts the Piper Piety Pact would take issue with and it is simply this: Thinking. Bell is a thinker. He isn't just a thinker, he is an internal cosmological explorer- much like great philosophers and writers (Dante, etc). This book forced me to love Rob even more because Rob doesn't just sit there spewing WHAT TO THINK.... rather this book is a dialogue and DAMN if I didn't wish more Christian books would take seriously the importance of thought, doubts, and humanity.
The whole HELL thing that is supposedly controversial in this book simply isn't controversial rather it is an avenue of THOUGHT. We all must think through ideas of death, hell, heaven, and whatnot.
The whole HELL thing that is supposedly controversial in this book simply isn't controversial rather it is an avenue of THOUGHT. We all must think through ideas of death, hell, heaven, and whatnot.