Hell, Rob Bell, and What Happens When People Die

A "response" to Rob Bell's "Love Wins" more in conversation with the general audience, especially those who are not Christians, than really with Bell or the issues he brought up in the book. The author attempts to keep the discussion accessible to most readers and does fairly well at showing a lot of the challenges with the arguments Bell makes for his position. Most of the "meta" issues are...more

A "response" to Rob Bell's "Love Wins" more in conversation with the general audience, especially those who are not Christians, than really with Bell or the issues he brought up in the book. The author attempts to keep the discussion accessible to most readers and does fairly well at showing a lot of the challenges with the arguments Bell makes for his position. Most of the "meta" issues are not addressed, but a lot of the particular Scriptures used by Bell improperly are clarified, and the author does well at showing how Bell does not really address God's holiness, justice, and wrath. The author does well at showing how serious hell is and attempts to treat the issue with respect and humility. The author's portrayal of heaven is questionable; Bell's presentation of the resurrection seems to be a bit more accurate (although even there some things are iffy). The appeal to the "plan of salvation" is a bit ironic; he mentions how many things are often neglected in discussing what is necessary to be saved, and then goes ahead and neglects baptism as necessary for salvation (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-7, 1 Peter 3:21). If you are looking for a short discussion of the relevant issues that mostly handles the issues with respect, this is a good resource. It is no substitute for actually reading Bell's book so as to understand the opposing view, and it does not dig too deeply into the issue; that is handled in other books that have arisen. *--book received as part of an early review program   hide