Universalist?

Rob Bell is causing quite a stir in the blogosphere this past week. The pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI, and author of the controversial book Velvet Elvis is releasing a new book on March 15 called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

Bell is part of the emergent church movement, which is a widely varied group, marked primarily by questioning traditional views of propositional truth, epistemology, and church. Bell embraces a number of post-modern tenets. Some of his questions are thought-provoking and worth discussing. Some of his thoughts, in my opinion, lead Christians away from knowable, Scriptural, propositional truth.

What has caused the stir is Bell's own promotional video for Love Wins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODUvw2McL8g). In the video, he asks question after question that call into question our traditional views about Heaven and Hell. The words are carefully crafted - he certainly seems to be promoting universalism (i.e., all will be saved, no matter what they believe), but he never comes right out and says it plainly. But he clearly wants the viewer to at least suspect that he's a universalist.

The buzz in the blogs is whether he's truly embracing universalism, or merely perpetrating a clever campaign to sell his book. If he's embracing universalism, he's clearly promoting an unscriptural view. If his book is orthodox, but he's promoting sales with a provocative ad, then he's running dangerously close to deception and manipulation. Either way, the ad is disturbing. (I find some of his counterarguments in the video to be unfair "straw man" arguments - inaccurately representing the opposing view, then tearing down the misrepresented view.)

Either way, we should wait until March 15 to see what's really in the book before leveling specific criticisms. Many have launched severe criticism based on the video, without having the book to read. We should wait, but the early indications don't look good.

The challenge, however, is that views like universalism are easier to swallow than the harsh reality that some will endure God's wrath forever for rejecting His revealed grace. Because universalism is easier to swallow, people are embracing it. Meanwhile, Jesus is clear about the reality of Hell, with passages like Matthew 8:11-12. It's not an easy truth, but it's the only way that Scripture's call to believe in Christ has any importance.