My Problem With Bell…

Universalist? Not in the traditional sense, but my opinion is that rob bell is a bit confused about what he thinks about Christianity.
For those of you who don’t know Rob Bell, he is a 41 year old pastor from Grand Rapids Michigan who recently caught national attention with his book “Love Wins.” Before the man even released his book he released a promotional video full of the thought provoking questions that we are used to seeing from Pastor Bell. And although his questions were left without answers, the Christian community believed his answers were already clear.
So let me clarify two things before I continue!
1. The Position of a Christian Universalist when considering Heaven, Hell, and God.
a. Heaven – Exists, all ways lead to heaven
b. Hell – Doesn’t exist
c. God – an all loving God that will not judge anybody but loves us all and will take us all in heaven regardless of what we believe.

2. The Traditional Christian view of Heaven Hell and God
a. Heaven – Exists, as stated in the bible by Jesus – He is the ONLY way to heaven.
b. Hell – Exists, as stated in the bible – Eternal Punishment for the devil and all sinners that REJECT the cross of Christ, the son of God.
c. God – All loving and yet also perfectly Holy (set apart, different from creation) and Perfectly just in his judgment. Loves all and wants all to be saved but is leaving the choice up to humanities free will.

3. The Rob bell Position on Heaven, Hell and God.
a. Heaven – Exists but also exists in your mind – all of humanity will eventually be overwhelmed by the loving kindness of God and will come to him and go to heaven… in this life or “the next.”
b. Hell – Exists but also exists in your mind - exists but only for the devil and those that choose not to repent in this lifetime or “the next.”
c. God – all loving and couldn’t possibly send anybody to Hell. Gives the opportunity to all to choose Christ in this life and “the next.”
So here’s the deal. Bell has arrived on certain conclusions based on his study of scriptures. Namely the ideas that the word “eternal” in the bible means a period of time, The idea that heaven and hell are not only real places but also states of mind while you are on earth, the idea that God can not possibly allow people to go to hell, the idea that you don’t have to accept Christ in this life time, but that you will get to choose him in a separate life time if this lifetime was spent sinning without repentance, etc, etc.
Here’s the problem, None of these ideas are biblical or found in context within Scriptures.
- The word Eternal = taken out of context and then seen as meaning a period of time when bell found it convenient to do so.
- The idea that heaven and hell are states of mind = not found in scripture as a state of mind but as real places.
- The idea that God can not possibly allow people to go to hell = He is not sending them to hell, He is giving them a choice. The Choice is His Son on the cross. The Rejection of His Son is rejection of salvation and heaven as clearly stated in scripture. He made the way, He provided His Son, He gave us the Scriptures to show us not only that he loved us but also what would happen if we rejected Him. If we ignore it or reject it, it is completely on us.
- The idea that we don’t have to accept Christ in this lifetime, because we can do it in the next. = Not based on Scripture. The decision is to be made in life as states in the bible. Nowhere in scripture do you find the afterlife as a place of decision but a place of final judgment.
Part of me understands why Rob Bell is doing this. There are portions of scripture he doesn’t understand. There are parts of Christianity that don’t make sense. And I get that! I have doubts and ideas, but the difference is that we have to submit those to God in prayer and diligently search the scriptures to find with the answer.
What you can not do is decide to change God and doctrine by adding your own ideas into the Bible and proving these ideas by taking Scripture out of context. Here’s how that happens: You make certain assumptions in your mind without submitting them to God. You decide that your ideas are right and God is wrong. You want your God to fit your ideas. You take your ideas and eisegeticaly (idea not in scripture, use verses out of context to prove your idea) compare them to the bible. You change your God to fit your ideas. You create a false God.
And that is the problem with this whole Rob Bell Mess. He has created a false God, A God that is only loving but not Holy, and not just. He has created a Jesus that might not be who the bible states, but a being whose death wasn’t needed and is not considered the way, truth and life. He has created a doctrine that is not found in the Bible, but added to the bible. That is the problem. May Rob repent of what he is doing, may he pray to God for revelation and may he submit his heart mind and soul to Jesus.