Rob Bell's new book: A missile aimed at orthodoxy with "Love Wins" etched into its side

Generally, I don't write negative reviews about Christian books. I find it generally counterproductive to God's Kingdom and so I usually just ignore the books I don't care for. Because of all of the mainstream publicity and persisting controversy over Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, I feel as a pastor I need to address it for the sake of our church if nothing else.

I finished "Love Wins" by Rob Bell over the weekend. The book is very well written, engaging, provocative and creative...perhaps creative to a fault because I'm not sure creativity is a good word to associate with theology (kind of like accounting). And make no mistake about, despite all that makes Rob Bell so endearing, this is a book of theology and needs to be judged on its content not its style. So let me cut to the chase: I cannot recommend "Love Wins" to anyone interested in knowing God on His terms, because it is a radical departure from orthodox Christianity.

I first heard Rob Bell in 2003 after some friends raved about his talk at the Catalyst Conference. I checked out some of his stuff and readily agreed with them. So I subscribed to his podcast, bought all of his Nooma videos, and kept current with his work. When Velvet Elvis came out I liked it, but the yellow flags began to appear. I thought Sex God was brilliant, but I began to lose interest in anything after that until now. I share that just to say I am not a Rob Bell "hater." I think he is a brilliant communicator, and a very gifted teacher that I have learned a lot of good things from. And in "Love Wins" there are moments of great insight and genius. However, his new book is way outside of orthodox Christian faith and is thus a concern to me.

Here is a summary; "Love Wins for dummies" if you will (though I know you are not one if you read my blog):

• Jesus is the only way to God BUT
• You don't actually need to follow Jesus (and in fact you can reject Him) to make it to Heaven.
• Everybody makes it into Heaven eventually (in this life or sometime after death)
• Hell is what you make it (it is your failure to embrace God and thus alienation from Him, not some far off place of anguish and torment)
• God is such a nice and loving supreme being that He'll give you as much time and space to work through your divine Daddy issues until you eventually warm up to the Big Guy.

As attractive as all of that may be, there is a problem with all of this; it all flies in the face of what most Christians believe the Bible teaches. Rob basically asks the reader at one point, don't you at least WISH all this were true? Sure, and sometimes when I review my finances I also wish the prosperity teachers were right too. Despite what Rob says, the concepts in "Love Wins" (though admittedly not new) are WAY outside of the mainstream of historical and modern Christian orthodoxy. So if Rob is right, then almost every other Christian has been wrong for the last couple thousand years. What's wrong with that? Since I am currently teaching through Galatians at our church, this verse comes to mind:

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ” (Galatians 1:8, NKJV)

This is a stern warning that inspires a healthy fear in me to stick to the core gospel message within the Bible and mainstream Christianity (which Rob describes as "toxic."). Problem: The gospel of mainline Christianity and the gospel Rob Bell presents are not slightly different degrees of variance, they are completely different, which means a) one side is wrong and b) one side is in trouble! Thus this book (and any book that makes bold claims contrary to what most Christians believe) must be flagged and handled with extreme caution.

You have to decide which side you fall on at some point because embracing two contrasting viewpoints does not make you enlightened or nuanced, it makes you confused. Understand that if you accept the conclusions of "Love Wins" then you simultaneously reject what most understand to be Christian doctrine. I am suggesting that for you to make such a big leap you owe it to yourself to answer this question: "Has Rob proved his point sufficiently for me to join him in taking such a big leap?" I'm not saying don't read "Love Wins;" I'm saying if you do, PLEASE read it with a critical, discerning mind. For much more indepth analysis, I recommend you read this 20-page blog post from Kevin DeYoung (note: I chose to read the book before I read this post). Or check out this review by Al Mohler. Or if you prefer, just read the Bible.

I am not judging Rob Bell (that isn't my job), I am simply responding publicly to his ideas that he made very public. Rob upped the ante with "Love Wins," bringing concepts and conclusions he has hinted at in shadows out into the light of day for discussion and debate. I respect him for his bold honesty, and I hope he respects the honesty of those of us who can't just sit idly and watch silently after he fired a missile aimed at orthodoxy; even if the words "Love Wins" have been etched into its shiny, metallic side.

Comments

[momma fox]

I was really looking forward to reading "Love Wins". I was honestly hoping that he was just doing some crazy two step to lure people into reading his book for a chance to preach the Gospel to unbelievers. I'm disappointed. I would still like to read it just to hear what he is saying.

Thanks for such a great review. Very honest, very loving.

You are an amazing pastor, Bill and a good man. We really do miss learning from you. May the Lord bless you. Miss you and your family lots.

Blessings,
Bethany

[Mandy]

Thanks for the review Bill. I'm not going to read the book. I'm sad for Rob Bell - that he is blinded to the truth - and for all the people who will believe what he writes in this book and who sit under his preaching. I really liked some of the things he wrote in the other books you mentioned. Just a reminder that Satan is out there deceiving and destroying, and that we should not relax our guard against him or fail to put on the whole armor of God. I'll stick with the Bible, thanks!

[Bill LaMorey]

Bethany, I had high hopes (along with some reservations) for the book too. I hesitated to write the review because I can't stand when Christians wait to pounce on one another. But that wasn't my heart, and hopefully that came through. Thank you so much for the kind words. We miss you and the Fox clan too!

Mandy, doesn't the Bible mention something about testing the spirits? :)

[jason berggren]

Great review.