Love Wins by Rob Bell: A Book Note by Peter Lumpkins

  I finally finished my copy of Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person who Ever Lived by Rob Bell (hereafter, Love Wins, HarperOne 2011, $22.99). Some wondered why I have not already written a review. Others questioned my motives for posting a Reformed scholar’s review, while one blogger even strangely implicated me in surfing the internet looking for positive reviews of Bell’s book to post. Two quick points: a) I did not sense the urgency in critiquing Bell’s position before I actually read Bell’s position as did The Gospel Coalition bloggers (along with a few Southern Baptist bloggers); b) I do not schedule blogs to be posted based on others’ curiosities or desires. I have a limited amount of time to dedicate to this site. In short, I can only do so much>>>

As it turns out, so far as I am concerned, my initial gut sense about Love Wins was and remains correct. The book hardly poses a new or serious threat to biblical Christianity’s understanding of eternal torment, and for that reason alone, those bloggers who felt the need to "expose" Rob Bell before the book was even published cannot be considered prophetic or pastoral in any sense of the term. Knee-jerk remains a very good descriptor. So, borrowing Rob Bell's words, "Let's keep it!" (p.93).

The fact is, Love Wins is little more than a standard slice of postmodern confusion about absolute truth and final, definitive answers on most any religious question one may raise. Those who suggested Bell finally “outs himself” are surely mistaken. Denny Burk early in the cyber-frenzy wrote, “the best thing to come of this may be that he [Bell] is declaring himself plainly. Hopefully more evangelicals will be able to see his teaching for what it is.” Bell declaring himself plainly in Love Wins?  Hardly.  Indeed, the very fact that Bell is so fundamentally confusing stands as good reason why his book cannot be considered dangerous—at least dangerous in so far as having any type of lasting influence concerning evangelical Christianity. Additionally, those who likened Bell to C.S. Lewis must have had too many onions on their hamburger. To compare Bell to Lewis is to compare a spit wad to a scud missile.

The obvious question everybody wants to know is, does Rob Bell embrace universalism? The most honest answer I can offer is, after reading Love Wins, I could not tell you. I don’t know. His exegesis of relevant biblical passages is virtually non-existent, and his theological affirmations are at their very best moments, vague and non-committal. For example, he writes of hell’s existence,

“There are individual hells, and communal, society hells, and Jesus teaches us to take both seriously. There is hell now, and there is hell later, and Jesus teaches us to take both seriously… . To summarize then, then, we need a loaded, volatile, adequately violent, dramatic serious word to describe the very real consequences we experience when we reject the good and true and beautiful life that God has for us. We need a word that refers to the big, wide, terrible evil that comes from the secrets hidden deep within our hearts all the way to the massive, society-wide collapse and chaos that comes when we fail to live in God’s world God’s way. And for that, the word “hell” works quite well. Let’s keep it” (pp.79, 93, embolden added)

Whatever Rob Bell affirms in this selection has nothing necessarily to do with a person’s eternal fate.  However, note as well: Bell does not explicitly deny eternal hell in the afterlife either.

I could offer several more examples of both Bell’s confusion and crafty maneuvering around a commitment to a certain position. No need nor real desire on my part exists for it, however. Being sold out to a thorough-going postmodern hermeneutic, the last thing Bell wants to do is offer a definitive answer to any question posed. That's perhaps why he repeatedly asks questions rapid-fire with rarely (if ever) a personal committment to explaining why one answer is better than another. For Bell, grand metanarratives hardly exist in reality. Indeed this aversion to definitive answers itself should have been a tip-off to knee-jerk critics who wanted to instantaneously solidify Bell into a particularly strong theological category. And, universalism is, after all, a definitive theological position—albeit it a wrong-headed theological position—but a definitive theological position nonetheless, a category prima facie suspect to thinkers like Rob Bell.

Love Wins stands as the quintessential marketing ploy to get people to buy books. It worked. Somebody deserves a raise at HarperOne--a big raise. But Love Wins adds exactly zero value to the church's historic views on the eternal fate of unbelievers. Why would it? Rob Bell never offers an answer clear enough to the questions he raises which warrant him an earned voice in the historic dialog. But Love Wins sure is a pretty book.

In short, I plan not a another think about Love Wins. Nor do I imagine will most Bible-believing Christians. 

With that, I am…

Peter 

Comments

[Griff]

Before you criticize TGC bloggers, I spoke to one of them on the phone: they got advanced copies.
Like it or not, Kevin DeYoungs extended review on the book, which he obviously read, is incredibly useful.

[peter lumpkins]

Griff,

You're a little late to the party. Already had that one.

Nor why anyone would even desire to read through a tome like DeYoung's, reviewing a book which offers little, if anything, substantial to say about the subject it addresses lies beyond my radar. Other commitments must drive someone to that length. No thanks.

With that, I am...
Peter

[RL Adler]

great review Peter. ive read another even handed review by ben witherington, here's an excerpt that resonates:

"While I agree that the underlying theological assumptions and assertions in this book are fair game for close analysis and critique, you would be missing the point if that is all you do."

i am convinced that deyoung, burke, taylor, et. al, wrote tomes to muddy up their rush to judgment. when one sorts through their exhaustive rhetoric you almost forget what they're writing about. because it just becomes another circular argument resulting in reformed systems.

[Brooks]

I have to disagree about the danger about Bell's work. In the Canadian evangelical subculture that I'm a part of he's a big deal. And from my vantage point, Bell isn't an end in itself, he seems to be a gateway drug to liberalism. The guys I know who liked Bell and Mclaren didn't stay with those guys and their confusion, they became more certain but in a more non-evangelical direction.

Good post though!

[peter lumpkins]

Brooks,

Thanks for your contribution and perspective. I appreciate your candid appraisal. Lord bless...

With that, I am...
Peter

[kim]

Totally agree with you Brooks. Our state introduced Bell to the college and youth crowd years ago. Many youth pastors I know were intrigued by his Nooma video's, books, conferences, etc. Not seeing a problem at that time, they used his material. He was and is very popular among the younger set.

I agree with Peter that Bell didn't introduce anything new to Christianity that we haven't heard before, but I believe in the past, he cloaked it well enough that many didn't see it. Bell wrote many years ago that he and his wife had decided that the Bible was not a book of divine fiat, but just of men. As I've said before, that told me all I needed to know. He wrote in Velvet Elvis, if everything we learned about Jesus turned out to be a lie, didn't do miracles, wasn't born of a virgin, etc., we should be able to follow him because he was a great person.

I've read so many books of folks in the emergent movement, including Bell, and in my opinion, there is no doubt in my mind where he and others have stood on God and His Word! Wasn't hard for me to know this man was peddling dangerous stuff a long time ago. Love Wins is just more of the same. Just wish we as SB would do our homework and check these folks out before we bring their messed up teachings into the church!

[Max]

Many of the "resurgent" young pastors in my area cut their teeth on "emergent" teachings by Bell, McLaren, Miller and others in that camp ... more "culturally-relevant", you know. I've had that discussion with more than one young SBC pastor recently. As Kim notes, Nooma materials have been used in many SB youth programs. Yet another example of the influence of non-SBC entities on SBC ministries to youth and young adults. It's been interesting to note how quickly the young, restless and reformed have distanced themselves from Bell after the recent revelations about his teachings. They're dropping him like a hot potato now, when in the not too distant past they didn't have enough discernment to pick up on the error they were introducing to SB youth. Look for Bell's books and videos to show up in yard sales soon.

Max

[Phil]

Ah, was hoping for a review from you Peter and not just a blurb.

[peter lumpkins]

You got my review. It was a doggone pretty book--literally!

With that, I am...
Peter