love wins

[Eliezer]

Has anyone read "Love Wins" by Rob Bell? I ask because i know he was thrown out of his church because of his belief that God will save all. most of his books have been very helpful to me and his nooma series is incredible.

[octoberose]

Hi Eliezer,
  I havent read the book - just read about it. I even e mailed Rob Bell and told him about this website. I had not heard that his church threw him out. I believe he was beginning to have an understanding of universal reconcillation without really understanding the Biblical reasons behind it.
  I agree the Nooma films are worth seeing.  We should pray for him - maybe he will end up here.

[Kat]

Hi Eliezer,

I just remembered that there was a thread on Rob Bell so time a go. Here are links, there were 2.

http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,13535.msg119303.html#msg119303
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,14538.msg134253.html#msg134253

mercy, peace and love
Kat

[octoberose]

disregard the smiley faces in my above post- i put them in the wrong
place!

[John from Kentucky]

I call him Rob Baal.  He is one of the many ministers of Satan who appear as an angel (messenger) of light.

On March 17, 2013, in an interview, Rob Bell stated, "I am for marriage.  I am for fidelity.  I am for love, whether it's a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man."  (Taken from a Wikipedia article on Rob Bell's beliefs.)

His comments are contrary to the Scriptures.  How can he be a teacher of God's ways?

[octoberose]

John I looked this up and sure enough, that's exactly what Rob Bell believes. It will always surprise me when  people start seeing a little Truth  and then go off the rails.  Once again God's
plan differs from mine. ( obviously ) !

[Farlsborough]

Indeed... Frustrating too when people lump a perfectly scriptural conclusion like UR together with liberalism and those who seem to disregard God's word to suit themselves.

When people ask me why I have changed my mind to accepting universal reconciliation, my answer is "because I started taking the Old Testament seriously". And it's true; studying around the Greek words translated as "hell", "torment", "destroyed" etc. did help, but it was the fulfilment of the feast days (almost never read or studied by most
Christians) that made the truth of it clear and obvious to me, rather than some kind of clever argument.

But if the subject comes up in discussion with Christians, they often say "oh, like Rob Bell" and then trot out something from John Piper. But there is a world of difference between not supporting the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment on scriptural grounds, and tossing out scripture you don't like. Indeed, I often point out that UR is a "harder" position for a Christian to accept; it may ultimately be better news for non-believers but it is more demanding on the Christian who previously thought that praying the sinner's prayer was their get-out-of-jail-free card.

[rick]

It will always surprise me when  people start seeing a little Truth  and then go off the rails. 

Its incredible isn't it. A little truth to suck one in, mix with lies, to keep one in bondage.

I guess in the end people like to have their ears tickled including me.
Everything Ray wrote indeed tickles my ears but with truth.

We should all be thankful to God for the truth we have been freely given by God through Ray. 

[Dave in Tenn]

To be fair--to come to understanding through the New Testament is not a matter of clever arguments.  It's a matter of understanding sound words. 

But yes, Mr Bell's name has come up several times when I've attempted to explain these things.  But I'm not a "universalist" any more than I am a Baptist--its just another box to climb out of.