Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7
**Note, this is longer than 75 words. Way Longer.
The 75 Words summary:
It's ok to have an opinion on a book without reading it.
I was tainted before I read the book.
Love Wins is not a systematic theology.
It avoids the hard texts and difficult issues.
Bell's freedom isn't really freedom.
Satan has to be reconciled.
Does everyone accept what is offered?
Bell is no Luther.
Heretic or False Teacher? I’m punting on this one. You’ll get no ill-advised tweet expelling Bell from fellowship here. If you want that, you can go here.
Reckless pastor, irresponsible preacher.
Read the book. It'll be good for you.
Preliminary Thoughts
It’s ok to have an opinion about the book without reading it. We do this all the time. Do you read every article your pastor reads?
Do you read every page of commentary that your pastor cites?
Do you read every word of the book your pastor quotes?
My point is this; you don’t have to read a book to know what it is about.
The same applies for this book. There are more than enough reviews, good and bad, from which to form an opinion.
Having said that, I should say that I read numerous reviews on Love Wins prior to actually reading the book. As a result, I came to the book with my own notions of what was inside which made objectivity difficult. Also, this is not an attempt at systematic theology. Bell uses this book to counsel those in his flock, and those in wider evangelicalism, regarding the fate of mankind. This is why this book is so dangerous. No normal church member will pick up a copy of Grudem or Ryrie to read through their works on salvation. It is far more likely, however, that the normal church member will read this book and will probably identify with the same angst and questions raised by Bell. Ultimately Bell is unable to provide clear and Biblical answers to the myriad of questions (over 300) that he is able to muster.
Onto some issues:
1. Avoiding the hard texts. Bell does a seemingly fantastic job compiling all the scriptures that have the words “all”, “saved”, and “loved.” With these texts he shows the breadth and depth of the offering of reconciliation towards mankind. The underlying problem here is that he doesn’t deal with Romans 9. You absolutely cannot approach the concept of salvation adequately without addressing Romans 9. Bell avoids Romans 9 because it would shorten the book by about 7 chapters. This kind of deliberate and willful avoidance of difficult texts and conclusions is at best intellectually dishonest and at worst outright biblical fraud.
2. Freedom isn’t really freedom. Love Wins is predicated on the idea that we are free to love or not love God. Bell seems to contend that we’ll have that choice after death. After seeing God and his love, Bell argues, we’ll succumb to it and live with God forever. The problem with this is that if we have freedom, our choices matter and a choice to reject God would logically result in our separation from him, forever. Bell’s freedom isn’t really freedom because it is a foregone conclusion that we will eventually succumb to the love of God. There is no freedom there. The result is a cruel God who allows all of humanity to suffer pain, sorrow, cancer, war, inequity, injustice, and evil for the span of their lives here on earth only to ultimately love them to Heaven after death. It’s one big cosmic joke.
3. Satan gets reconciled. This is another one of those issues that Bell doesn’t address. If God loves everything he created and if everything has been reconciled or will be reconciled to him, Satan ultimately has to be reconciled. If Satan isn’t reconciled then there is a possibility that God’s goodness and beauty couldn’t overtake the darkness of Satan. This, obviously, is a problem for Love Wins that Bell doesn’t address.
4. Offering vs. Acceptance. Love Wins does a great job of showing how wide and deep God’s love is for his creation. The problem is he does a shoddy job in showing how quickly, often, and deeply we reject our Creator. In Love Wins, the assumption is that we all end up accepting the offer. That conclusion, unfortunately, isn’t biblical. (John 3:36)
5. A lesser Jesus and a wasted sacrifice. In attempting to answer the question “Why can’t everyone end up in heaven? “ Bell denigrates the cross and takes away the need for Christ and his sacrifice. If everyone eventually responds to God’s love and beauty, there is no need for Christ or the cross. In Love Wins there is no need for the scourging, the ripped out beard, the public scorn, the crown of thorns, the nails, or the spear…it is useless and not central to the reconciliation of God and man. Jesus is now a man of sorrow for a completely different reason. The price paid by Christ is for everyone, even if you reject it, you’ll ultimately be saved by it. By the way, this conclusion is not in the book, but it is, in fact, the end conclusion of Love Wins theology.
6. Heretic or False Teacher? I’m punting on this one. You’ll get no ill-advised tweet expelling Bell from fellowship here. If you want that, you can go here.
7. Reckless pastor, irresponsible preacher. This is what came across most vividly as I read this book. Bell is reckless, deliberately so, with God’s word. This is the most frustrating thing about this book. I can appreciate the question asking and the desire to move people closer to God but not at the expense of basic bible study methods. His disregard for context or correlation of Scripture is maddening. Those reading this book with a basic biblical knowledge will ask the question, “Well, what about when the Bible says ____?” or “Is this passage even talking about ______?” It’s those folks who lack the basic biblical knowledge (read:lots and lots of people) who will read this and accept its faulty premise and unsustainable conclusions as biblical truth. Bell’s abuse of Scripture is more than enough to consider him a reckless pastor and equally irresponsible preacher.
Conclusion
Love Wins was challenging precisely because Bell asks you to struggle with the nagging and terrible truth that not everyone ends up in Heaven reconciled to God. We should all be confronted with that truth and our response should be hearts that are heavy for the lost. We should be on our knees weeping and pleading for the hearts of the lost to be turned. You should read (read:borrow) this book and be challenged. You may not love it but you'll find your theology tested and you'll likely find yourself more appreciative of what God did to reconcile you to him. I did, and for that, thanks go to Rob Bell and Love Wins.
