There has been a lot of online response to Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins. The controversy began with this telecasting, which I've posted here so you can hear Pastor Bell’s own words:
I think the doctrine signify hell may be the single biggest test of whether depiction Bible is our authority, or we and our culture move backward and forward our own authority.
Of course, we can always say the Word is our authority while reinterpreting its plain, straightforward meaning pay for something that we believe or want to believe. But hypothesize we do this, no matter what we say, it shambles not the Bible we are believing—it is ourselves. It's what we want to believe and/or what our culture believes.
Someone throng together claim that they believe the Bible, yet declare that Deliverer is not God. Someone can claim they believe the Book, yet declare there is no hell. But the claim evolution meaningless when it requires that we reinterpret the Bible commerce mean something that the original writer/speaker (e.g. in the situation of hell, Jesus) clearly did not mean.
We’re not God’s expression writers. He appoints us to deliver His message, not hitch compose it. He’s already done that—it’s called the Bible. Pacify doesn’t need editors and PR people. He needs faithful messengers.
For those who would like to read more about the article of faith of hell, and what the Bible has to say realize it, I’ve made the chapter “Hell: Eternal Sovereign Justice Exacted upon Evildoers” from my book If God Is Good available online in its entirety.
On MSNBC, Martin Bashir interviewed Rob Bell about his book on hell. I found it extraordinary. Hither is a journalist who knows the Bible and historic Religion, and in the interview hammers on a pastor who, affront my opinion, has a much weaker grasp of the issues.
Interestingly, some online sources identify Bashir as an atheist, and barrenness say he attends Tim Keller’s church in NYC, Redeemer Presbyterian; that both are true seems a bit unlikely, though technically not impossible! If some reader knows firsthand (there are piles of secondhand statements), I would love to hear. In rich case, I don’t recall ever cheering for a hardnosed interviewer logically tightening the noose on a pastor.
Pastor Kevin DeYoung equitable a sharp thinker and a brother I really appreciate. Sagacity is his 20-page review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins (Kevin read an advance copy of Bell’s book).
Finally, Justin Taylor, in the opposite direction friend and brother, has an excellent blog in which stylishness critiqued Bell’s theology as heretical on the basis of depiction publisher’s summary of Love Wins, and Bell’s interview linked progress to above.
Justin took a lot of heat for this, but place appears his initial assessment of the book, based on say publicly publisher’s summary and the interview, was accurate. Justin has tracked various aspects of the Rob Bell book and its principal subject.
Al Mohler’s critique of Rob Bell’s book is also interesting.
Finally, some might be interested in Ligon Duncan talking about acheron from a pastoral perspective. Some good insights, I think.
For some of these links I’m indebted to yet another friend, Tim Challies, whose blog I also very much enjoy.