LOVE WINS: A book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived.
by Rob Bell
I have enjoyed reading and studying up on the difficult topic of “hell” in the past and find this book consistent with many of the books and mainline perspectivies I have read before including Brian McLaren’s The Last Word and the Word After That and C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce. My conclusion is still that I don’t know what I believe about hell! But I also am convinced that Rob Bell is not a heretic as there is nothing in this book that is too different than what the hero of the modern Christian apologetic C.S. Lewis teaches. Varied conclusions about theological perspectives are certainly fair, but throwing stones and labeling heresy is not fair this time.
Another thing to consider from my perspective…I don’t think this book should be taken too seriously. Or at least definitely not in the way many are taking it – as if it were an attempt at a theological textbook. “Love Wins” is more like prose or poetry or ramblings and questions from a thinking heart. It’s just Rob Bell’s style. This is his attempt to paint the picture of what the Gospel truly is all about – the love of God.
Finally, the reason why I loved reading the book and would recommend it to others is that Bell puts into writing the very questions I have asked and wrestled with and stewed over all my life about “heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived”. Perhaps he asks the questions better than some say he answers them, but I give him credit for asking them. I guess it makes me feel like I am not alone in questioning what everyone else around me says. I also love the tone of the book that ultimately God is still God and he can do whatever he pleases, but in the end we can cling to the hope and promise of the gospel that “Love Wins”.
