“Love Wins – A Review of Rob Bell’s New Book” by Tim Challies

Tim Challies writes:

Questions matter. They can help you to grow deeper in your knowledge of the truth and your love for God—especially when you’re dealing with the harder doctrines of the Christian faith. But questions can also be used to obscure the truth. They can be used to lead away just as easily as they can be used to lead toward. Ask Eve.

Enter Rob Bell, a man who has spent much of the last seven years asking questions in his sometimes thought-provoking and often frustrating fashion. And when he’s done asking, no matter what answers he puts forward, it seems we’re only left with more questions. This trend continues in his new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, where Bell poses what might be his most controversial question yet:

Does a loving God really send people to hell for all eternity?

The questions you probably want answers to as you read this review are these: Is it true that Rob Bell teaches that hell doesn’t exist? Is it true that Rob Bell believes no one goes to hell? You’ll just need to keep reading because, frankly, the answers aren’t that easy to come by.

You can read the rest of Challies’ review of Bell’s book here.

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Kevin DeYoung on Rhetoric & Rob Bell

Rob Bell

Popular “Emergent” author/Pastor Rob Bell has written a new book entitled Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. If one watches the promotional video, it quickly becomes very apparent that one of two things are happening:

1. Bell is teaching a form of Universalism, a belief that rejects the Scriptural truth about Hell and teaches that all are “saved,” no matter what one believes.

or,

2. Bell is deliberately toeing the line of ambiguity, purposefully using misleading questions and phrasing, so as to stir up controversy and draw attention to his new book.

I can’t find a third possibility. I hope it’s #2, but either way, it’s bad. Kevin DeYoung has written an excellent post about Bell’s promotional book trailer, public & private criticism, and the power of rhetorical questions. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever heard of Rob Bell (and even those who haven’t). You can read DeYoung’s post here.

UPDATE 3.10.11: Tim Challies has written a review of Bell’s book.