11AR16-41

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Apologia Report 16:41 (1,091)

December 15, 2011

Subject: Rob Bell "wandering wondering, no clear destination"

In this issue:

BELL, ROB - Love Wins, "coffee-shop thinking, cool-shaming"

CULTURE - reflecting on a record 50 years as talkshow host, regret over the missing moral compass seen as a result

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BELL, ROB

A flood of responses from academics to Love Wins [1] has finally come out in print. Of three reviews that stand out, one is quite concise, the second is more detailed, and the last expresses comic exasperation.

Glenn R. Kreider (Theological Studies, Dallas Seminary) begins with criticism that after Bell presents "a series of questions about the gospel and how the Bible describes it and the response that is required. ... [Bell's] responses ... throughout the book are often unclear and uncertain, and sometimes seem to be contradictory."

Missing, Kreider says, "is any clear statement that the hope of eternal life is limited to those who believe, [and] the necessity of faith to experience the bliss of heaven. ...

"Bell does not state explicitly that those who died in Sodom and Gomorrah might still be saved, but he seems to imply that possibility.

"The fourth chapter, 'Does God Get What He Wants?' is perhaps the heart of this book. Bell frames the question from Paul's statement in 1 Timothy 2:4, 'He wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth' (NET). [Bell] merely makes strong assertions as if the claims [that everyone will be saved] are common knowledge. If they were, there would be little reason to write the book. Bell's lack of biblical, historical, and theological argumentation here is inexcusable. ...

"Bell addresses the question of the exclusivity of Christ when he observes that Jesus' claim in John 14:6 makes 'as wide and expansive a claim as a person can make.' He explains that 'what Jesus does is declare that he, and he alone, is saving everybody. ... He simply claims that whatever God is doing in the world to know and redeem and love and restore the world is happening through him.' Again, he stops short of affirming universalism but he does affirm an inclusivist position when he writes that the 'door is opened to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland.' ...

"At times he writes clearly and carefully. Yet at other times he is unclear and even confusing. He sometimes makes bold assertions without engaging the diversity of interpretations. ... He makes clear statements which he then seems to contradict by the questions he raises and the positions he entertains. He does not explicitly defend views that are heretical, but he does not clearly deny them either." Bibliotheca Sacra, 168:3 - 2011, pp353-356.

Mary L. Vanden Berg (Systematic Theology, Calvin Seminary) laments Bell's "theological sloppiness," complaining that he "frequently blurs the lines between popular misunderstandings of the Christian faith and the actual teachings of the historic Christian church. He never acknowledges this distinction, and therefore it is never clear whether he is responding to popular misconceptions about hell or to the church's actual teaching about this subject. Some may call this blurring of the lines between popular conceptions and the church's teaching provocative. I think it is misleading. ...

"[A]s Bell suggests, will [people] have numerous chances to change after death? I cannot see where or how the Bible suggests any such thing.

"Bell does use the Bible throughout the book to try to make his points, but he frequently ignores the immediate context as well as the audience of the texts he cites. He also ignores the larger, overarching story of the Bible."

Vanden Berg notes that Bell "not only reinterprets" Scripture, "he also seems careful to avoid clear statements by Jesus in the gospel [Matthew 11] that suggest that the future does not look promising for those who reject him in this life. ...

"Bell's problematic use of the Bible is also apparent as he cites various prophetic texts." Bell "fails to notice ... that not all of God's people whom the prophet [in a given example] addresses will be restored, and that restoration requires repentance, a turning to God.

"Bell further confuses the issue by suggesting that these prophetic messages are not just for Israel; the are for all nations, suggesting that all will be saved. ... The point of these texts is that salvation is not about physical descent from Jacob. It is about turning from trust in other gods to trust in and worship of the LORD, the only true God. ...

"One of the more disturbing parts of the book is Bell's suggestion that Jesus is whatever you make of him, positively of course. ... The implication seems to be - and Bell does not say this directly - that no matter whom you call on, if your are sincere in that call and live a good life, you are basically calling on Jesus." Calvin Theological Journal, 46:2 - 2011, n.p.

Last, novelist/essayist N.D. Wilson lets us know that his patience is simply exhausted: "Bell seems driven to make the gospel palatable for fallen men, and it is hard not to sniff a wide seam of desired coolness in his positioning. ...

"Cool-shaming is a major player in all evangelical discussions of Hell and evil (along with any social hot-button issues). But our focus can't be cultural acceptance or sneers or growing congregations. We should strive to love what Christ loves and loathe what Christ loathes. We must think what He thinks, and peer pressure be damned (not purgated)."

Wilson slams the book as "a pitiful piece of coffee-shop thinking and foggy communication. It reads like an extended blog post, and feels like one too - all the way down to the typesetter's decision to line-break between every paragraph and eschew all indents. It is a pile of wandering wondering without a clear destination."

Wilson actually begins with this summary of "things that Rob Bell said clearly (or clearly implied):

"1. If you've ever heard a Jesus story that made your pulse increase or your stomach churn and made you say or think 'I could never be a part of that,' then Rob Bell wants to be on your team. You're right, and he's with you.

"2. Eminem might be a Christian. Or not. Not sure. He did wear a cross once in 2010.

"3. Gandhi might be in Hell. Or not. No real comment, but the possibility seems distressing.

"4. Bell 'raises questions' like some people raise rabbits. Incidentally, those rabbits raise more rabbits and those rabbits look pensive when you ask them things.

"5. Many people assume (from television) that Jesus is anti-science or anti-gay. No comment on whether in fact he is.

"6. A woman wrote the book of Hebrews.

"7. Given enough time, every last sinner - dead or alive - might succumb to the love of God and end up in Heaven. Or not.

"8. Jesus is obviously bigger than any one religion.

"9. If you really want your church to be 'missional' and 'relevant' and 'welcoming,' but the clever marketing and good music and great coffee aren't working, then something is probably wrong with your God. ...

"In the end, Love Wins does raise questions that should be discussed. But it raises them breathily and from a strange place, a place where cultural loyalties are too much in play, and God has been told to watch where He treads or we might have to find another one. After all, our great coffee isn't holding us back." Books & Culture, Jul/Aug '11, pp11,13. <www.bit.ly/vMSUz7>

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CULTURE

At the most basic level, cultural awareness is inbred for those who experience life as a truly new creation in Christ. So we try to keep our eyes open for the times when noteworthy cultural interpreters identify significant markers of change.

Newsweek (Nov 14 '11, pp28, 30) ran an interview in which comedian Jerry Seinfeld questions Regis Philbin - who's retiring as "the most enduring act in the history of television" - at the end of his unbroken 50-year run as a talk-show host. Seinfeld kids Philbin about being so morally square. "When you get to a certain line of propriety, [Philbin is] is going to say, 'I don't want to hear about that.' And that's what we're missing in television: people who realize I don't want to know everything. I don't want you to display your sexual proclivities. It's a moral compass of what I'm going to talk about on TV and what I'm not going to talk about on TV, and that's what Regis provided."

Philbin responds by saying: "But excuse me, you're one of the few guys left in our business - there's only about three guys I know who don't use the F word to get a laugh. It's you, Cosby, and Rickles, believe it or not."

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, by Rob Bell (HarperOne, 2011, hardcover, 224 pages) <www.j.mp/lQWgh8>

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