Saturday, June 4, 2011

My Review of "Love Wins"

I finally got around to reading Rob Bell's "Love Wins" last week.  Here's my review:

I just read "Love Wins," but this leads to all sorts of questions.

Did I really actually read it?
Were my eyes opened as I read it?
Did I comprehend what I read?

Assuming that I did actually read the book, that my eyes were opened as I read it, and that I did comprehend what I read, a ton more questions surface:

Is this really a book about heaven?
Or hell?
Or both?

And this leads to yet more questions:

Which heaven?
Which hell?
Yours?
Mine?
His?
Hers?
Theirs?

And, by the way, who is this Jesus we read so much about in the Bible?

Savior?
Example?
Good guy?
Angry fella?

For that matter, what is the Bible?

God's revealed Word?
Nice story?
A little of both?

Let's go ahead and assume that the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God.

The infallible Word.
The inspired Word.
The inerrant Word.

With that assumption in place, we need to figure out how to interpret this Word of God.

Because we're not God.
He is.
We're not.

Here's how I think we need to interpret the Bible.  We need to figure out what the one main point of the Bible is and then interpret everything through that one main point.  If that means that we end up having to twist this or that verse, or this and that passage, to make it line up with that one main point, that is obviously what God intended.  Fortunately, we can easily determine what the one main point of God's Word is:

God is love.
God.
Is.
Love.

That's what this whole thing is about.  God is love.

God loves.
Everyone.
You.
Me.
Her.
Him.
Them.
Christians.
Buddhists.
Hindus.
Jews.
Muslims.
Scientologists.
Atheists.

Wait, even those people?  Yes, even those people.  God loves everyone, regardless of what they believe or do or say or teach or confess.

His love is that vast.
That wide.
That expansive.
That cool.
 
And, His love is not temporary or fleeting.  It is a forever kind of love.  God's love never ends.  It is:
 
Always.
Unfailing.
Unceasing.
Forever.

Good, now that we have that figured out, we can begin to answer all these other questions about heaven and hell and Jesus and the eternal fate of all people.  Luckily for us, all those other questions are easily answered:

God is love.
He loves all.
Love wins.

Any questions?

[NOTE:  Those who have read the book will understand this review.  If you haven't read the book, my recommendation is that you don't bother with it.  Go fly a kite.  Or spend hours watching youtube videos of cute kittens.  Or whatever else you can think of to waste some time, because that's exactly what this book is:  A complete and utter waste of time.  Oh, and it's heretical.  Another reason to avoid it.  In no way, shape, or form is it consistent with Christian theology.  But, that's kind of Bell's point.  He seeks in this book to get his readers to disregard everything they have ever learned about Christianity and begin to conceive of the god he has created out of his own imagination.  He begins with his own preconception of who God is and then goes and finds Scripture passages to try to support that preconception.  In the process, he blasphemes against the true God revealed in the Bible, claiming that for Him to allow anyone to suffer eternal punishment would mean that He is like an abusive father who needs to be locked up.  So, Bell creates a god more palatable to his taste, a god who will, given enough time, bring everyone to enjoy his love forever.  Bell's god is a lot like Oprah Winfrey's god - a god who doesn't care what you call him (or her, or it), who doesn't care what you believe about him, or if you worship him or not, or what you do, or what you say, or anything else, but who loves everyone, saves everyone, and will eventually have everyone with him forever.  According to Bell, the Christian God is a puny failure, since He doesn't get His desire fulfilled to have all people saved.  But, Bell's god is almighty and gets his way in the end.  But, enough.  I've already written more than I wanted to.  As I said, go fly a kite.  Watch youtube videos.  Get a root canal or something.  Anything would be better than having to endure the nonsense in this book.] 

2 comments:

Steve said...

Pr. Messer,
Thanks for the review. My wife, who did read the book because her cousin was talking about how good it was when she told him it was garbage said she really shouldn't comment unless she'd read it. She did and was always crossing her anger with sadness at the Godlessness of Bell. Since both of you have agreed that it's worthless maybe he should pay you both for your time.

Steve Foxx SSP

Scott Diekmann said...

I would expect no less from someone who asked "Is the Bible the best God can do?"