By now you’ve seen the above video of Rob Bell‘s new book Love Wins, due out in a few weeks, that have made a crap-storm on the internet among evangelicals of all types. Some have called it straight heresy while others have taken a back-seat suggesting that people wait to commit to a stance until the book has been officially released.
Now I’m not necessarily interested here to argue the right approach or biblical interpretation of what Rob is saying (or what others are saying about Rob) but I have been fascinated about how the internet (and blogs, twitter, facebook) have been completely inundated with the arguments since the first epic blog post dropped.
John Dyer has one of the better technological responses when he writes:
The result? Love Wins wins.
If Bell does, in fact, espouse Universalism he can say, “Wouldn’t you rather side with me – the nice guy?” And if he ends up clarifying himself and denying full-fledged Universalism, he can still say, “See, not jumping to conclusions is part of how Love Wins.” (Remember, however, that when Piper clarified his statements, his frenemies didn’t care – the blood was already in the water).
A brilliant and successful publicity effort.
But a sad and predictable fallout.
The speed of all this information has both helped and harmed many, and thanks to the internet it was made possible. Tim Challies also has some good technological thoughts:
I am not going to comment on whether or not Bell is a universalist. To be honest, at this point I think it is a little bit too early to make that determination.
My guess is that in the end Bell will take a vague universalist position—not outright universalism but still something that is still clearly unorthodox (as Brian McLaren did in his earlier days before he got into the kind of outright denial that has been the core of his more recent books).
My interest at this point is less in what Bell believes and what his book is going to say—that will be clear in March when the book begins to hit store shelves—but in the speed at which information and opinions have been disseminated. As someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about digital technologies, about how our lives have changed because of them, I see here a clear example of the ever-growing importance we place on speed, on immediacy.
In the end we’ll all have to wait and see if Rob’s marketing material is 100% on point with what the book actually says. We live in fascinating times ladies and gentleman and we must keep our wits about us, right?
But at least it makes for a bit of entertainment:
Typical.
Brian Notess says
I was wondering when you’d post about this.
I don’t know about heresy or theology but it’s darn good marking and publicity.
I wish someone would denounce my book!
Drew C David says
I hereby denounce Brian Notess’ book. Not sure that this will get you the publicity that you wanted.
Brian Notess says
Thank you.
It’s the thought that counts!
Mark says
me too, denouncing stuff that is…
Tony says
This almost makes me feel like the internet is too fast. People read and respond before they think about what they read. Responses to responses to responses become overwhelming and so people go back to the source and actually think about it before responding (if they say anything at all).
Technology has made the dissemination of information nearly immediate, and I think people are forgetting to think.
As a side note, I think I should hire the same people to publicity work for me if I ever write a book.
What did we learn from this?
Creating controversy drives more traffic than saying the same thing over and over.
Mark says
Sadest thing of all this is how it just shows Christians off to be a super judgmental bunch of people which is what lots of people think anyway.
Sad to see so much hating! Reminds me of John Acuff’s piece on trying to get more hate mail from Satanists.
Overall it’s so sad that it was a topic of argument amongst Christians that became a trending topic on twitter and not a topic of Jesus’ mandate.
Vy says
Are you being condescending with that “Typical” comment at the bottom of the post there, John?
Bill Whitt says
It’s ironic that Bell says love will win in the end, but all he’s gotten so far in reaction to his book is hate. Love’s definitely not winning now! (I’m definitely not a universalist, but I think one can even deal with heresy in a loving way, and what we’ve seen so far is not exactly loving.) And we would be advised to call it “supposed heresy” or “probable heresy,” as the book isn’t even out yet.
Ron says
Just wondering if standing hard and fast by our interpretations of scripture does not reduce God’s sovereignty?
Ron says
Not really reduce it, as true sovereignty can’t be reduced, but you know what I mean.
Mark Robinson says
it certainly reduces the amount by which we can potentially hear from God. I mean, it is His book after all and if we stick close to what we think it means then what happens when He needs to correct us?
Patrick WOods says
Thanks for the sober comments on this.
Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt says
As a liberal religious minister, I am eagerly awaiting Rob Bell’s book, and continue to be fascinated with the energy against Universalism within the evangelical community. Many of my colleagues do not track these conversations, and I don’t have time to track them as much as I would like. But I think it’s important for me to attend to these arguments and to help my people understand them. Our entire world view is so different from most folks here on the list, and many people in my congregation think of evangelical Christians as evil, narrow minded people, because that’s the experience that they have. I feel differently because I have had different experiences, and because every member of my family of origin practices a different faith.
Anyway, I love and read ChurchCrunch for all kinds of reasons, and this is just a reminder for me about why it’s such a first-class blog. Many thanks!
Tom McFarlin says
Thanks for those comments, Rosemary. Glad to have you reading :).
4granted says
It’s important to keep in mind that the goal of the video was to create interest in (and sell) Rob’s new book. Rob is provocative, he always has been. But he raises some interesting questions. An important step in clarifying your beliefs is to talk about and even defend them. So the fact that the publicity campaign for Rob Bell’s book has provided an impetus for Christians to actually do theology (to figure out what they think about God) is a positive thing. Even if you disagree with Bell, it’s important for Christians to wrestle with what they believe. Another great resource on heaven, what it’s like and who will be there is “Heaven Revealed” by Dr. Paul Enns, released this month by Moody Publishers. I recommend it. Here’s the amazon page: http://dld.bz/P8sz