by Keith Bassham
Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI, has released a book titled Love Wins. This is not a review of that book. However, there are many reviews filling Christian blogs and websites, and there are dozens of sermons and studies in that same venue where at least part of the book is addressed. Additionally, Mr. Bell has been on television promoting the book, so you have probably heard about it.
The book’s central subject is the cause of this publicity: apparently, everything we think we know about heaven and hell and who occupies those places is wrong.
As I say, this is not a review, and the book defies attempts to give a simple summary, but briefly, it looks like Mr. Bell objects to the teaching that one must believe on Christ to be saved, and that those who do not believe experience the wrath of God, or at least he is questioning our understanding of Bible passages such as John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Here is an example of his thinking:
Millions have been taught that if they don’t believe, if they don’t accept in the right way according to the person telling them the gospel, and they were hit by a car and died later that same day, God would have no choice but to punish them forever in conscious torment in hell. God would, in essence, become a fundamentally different being to them in that moment of death, a different being to them forever. A loving heavenly father who will go to extraordinary lengths to have a relationship with them would, in the blink of an eye, become a cruel, mean, vicious tormenter who would insure that they would have no escape from an endless future of agony.
If there was an earthly father who was like that, we would call the authorities. If there was an actual human dad who was that volatile, we would contact child protection services immediately.
If God can switch gears like that, switch entire modes of being that quickly, that raises a thousand questions about whether a being like this could ever be trusted. Let alone be good.
Loving one moment, vicious the next. Kind and compassionate, only to become cruel and relentless in the blink of an eye.
Does God become somebody totally different the moment you die?
That kind of God is simply devastating. Psychologically crushing. We can’t bear it. No one can. … That God is terrifying and traumatizing and unbearable. (Rob Bell in Love Wins, 173–75)
Now, rethink that verbiage, but substitute gravity for God:
Millions have been taught that if they don’t remain in a tall building, if they don’t leave the building in the right way using stairs or an elevator but rather used an upper story window, and then died by stepping out the window into midair, gravity would have no choice but to send them quickly to the pavement below. Gravity would, in essence, become a fundamentally different force to them in that moment of death, a different force to them forever. A gravitational force would, instead of keeping them from flying off into space from the earth they walk, would in the blink of an eye, become a cruel, mean, vicious force that would insure that they would have no escape from an impact with that same earth below their feet.
If there was another natural force that was like that, we would call the physicists. If there was another physical law that volatile, we would contact research universities immediately.
If gravity can switch gears like that, switch its practical results that quickly, that raises a thousand questions about whether a natural law like this could ever be trusted. Let alone be good.
Benefitting us one moment, keeping our feet on the ground, vicious the next, pulling us unstoppably from the 15th story window to that same ground. Kind and compassionate, only to become cruel and relentless in the blink of an eye.
Does gravity become something totally different the moment you exit a tall building by the window?
That kind of natural force is simply devastating. Psychologically crushing. We can’t bear it. No one can. … That gravity is terrifying and traumatizing and unbearable.
At least one or two reviewers noted that Mr. Bell’s problem with God’s wrath is not dissimilar to what one might find in the writings of Christopher Hitchens (god is not Great) or other secularists. J. I. Packer explains this: (thanks, Chris Regas for the tip):
The sentimental secularism of modern Western culture, with its exalted optimism about human nature, its shrunken idea of God, and its skepticism as to whether personal morality really matters — in other words, its decay of conscience — makes it hard for Christians to take the reality of hell seriously. The revelation of hell in Scripture assumes a depth of insight into divine holiness and human and demonic sinfulness that most of us do not have. However, the doctrine of hell appears in the New Testament as a Christian essential, and we are called to try to understand it as Jesus and his apostles did. (James I. Packer, Concise Theology, 261)