Rob Bell Review

Rob Bell came to campus a few days ago to debate with a professor and answer questions about his new book, Love Wins.

I was expecting to leave the session disliking the guy, but I didnt dislike everything about him. The few things he does say are good, I couldnt find a reason to shout "Blasphemy!" or throw a tomato... Instead, I found that I disagreed with all the things he didnt say.

If you've read reviews of his new book or any of his previous books, you know what I mean. He is all about "relationships, love, grace, forgiveness, and 'come as you are'" Christianity. And while these things are good and true, they leave out a huge portion of the gospel: wrath, justice, holiness, righteousness, etc.

I felt really nerdy going to the discussion Friday morning. My friends and I got up early to wait outside the doors 30 minutes before the doors were even opened. I couldnt decide if that made me extra holy or just ultra dorky... I was just glad no one shouted "Hallelujah" or "Amen" during his speech...

One of my friends compared the guy to a politician. He answers the questions he wants to answer, but runs in circles around questions that dont make him look good. For instance, the seminary professor asked him why he said that the word "forever" was used by the New Testament writers to mean: when talking to someone for 5 hours feels like 5 minutes, rather than the literal sense of eternity. So naturally, Blomberg and the other NT specialists came to bat against Rob's weak use of his Greek... Rob didnt exactly answer that question...