In case you had not heard... Rob Bell has a new book...and it has been subject to controversy, to say the least.
"Farewell Rob Bell"
"The theology is heterodox"
"You’re creating a Christian message that’s warm, kind, and popular for contemporary culture. . . . What you’ve done is you’re amending the gospel, the Christian message, so that it’s palatable to contemporary people who find, for example, the idea of hell and heaven very difficult to stomach. So here comes Rob Bell, he’s made a Christian gospel for you, and it’s perfectly palatable, it’s much easier to swallow. That’s what you’ve done, haven’t you?"
-Just a few of the 'loving' things that have been said about Rob's book by some well known Christians.
Before I get too far on judging Rob's book or whatever I am going to do, let it be known that I have not read it. I have not even had the time to go out and buy it. I know not what it says, other than Rob is now an on the radar universalist (though he still says that he is not a universalist, cited in a Relevant Magazine interview, defending that by saying the traditional view of universalism differs greatly than his view on the afterlife.) He is saying that people can essentially choose Heaven, after they have gone to Hell. And with saying that...it is what it is, you can agree or you can disagree with it. All I know is that whether it would be a 5 minute stay in Hell or an eternity in Hell... It is not some place that I hope to ever set a foot.
Moving on from that though, to my point...
The body of Christ is arguing.
And now with Rob publishing this book with a secular label, Bashir doing an interview on secular TV, every newspaper (at least in GR) writing articles on this book and the contents of it....
The setting of the argument has changed.
Our argument, and internal conflict is now on the streets...for people all over the world to hear. People from every tribe and language and people and nation are now hearing our arguing, they are hearing the inconsistencies that we have within our Christianity Community. They are hearing that we may not have our "shit" together as we so often talk about. That we are just a rag-tag clan that cannot agree on theological issues much deeper than "Jesus wept".
I am not saying that our arguing within the 4 walls of the church was good. Sure there is a lot of healthy debate that must happen in everything, including doctrine. But why must we continue to argue questions that have been raised from 2000 years? if Jesus didn't give us the answer...then maybe we don't need the answer.
Calvinism? Arminianism? age old questions, who is right? both sides would say that they themselves are right....now if you follow very simple logic skills...considering both ideas of theological thought are opposing, that does not make one bit of sense. That is, if you confine God to an earthly logic system....
What if God is out of this world? What if our God is not confined by the laws of nature? What is our God is bigger than anything we have ever imagined? What if our God is in fact THE God of this world? wow...........wait? isn't He? isn't He all of those things? isn't He Awe-some? isn't He completely undefined?
You see where I am going? If our God really is out of this world (which He is), how could we begin to describe Him? How could we begin to put the parameters on Him? How could we say that He must conform to things like being either A. All powerful, and not all knowing or B. All knowing, and not all powerful? (cited from Bashir interview) How could we begin to limit Him by saying that He could in no way rescue people from Hell no matter how hard He tried? (wait, I thought Jesus did that once already?) How could we begin to limit God by saying that we are guided by Him along our entire journey, and that we have the freedom to choose our own journey?
All that this arguing is doing, is limiting God, well it's not limiting God. It's limiting our understanding of God. It's limiting the non-Christian's understanding of God. It's making our God look human, and that cannot happen.
So to answer the question: Who is right?
Rob- for being a Universalist?
Tim Keller- for being a Calvinist?
George MacDonald- for being a Universalist?
John Calvin- for being Calvinists?
Billy Graham- for being a Arminianist?
How about another question: Who of the last 3 made it to Heaven?
(I know that I do not have jurisdiction with this question, nor do any of you, but for the sake of thought...think about it)
My answer would be this:
They are all in left field, the answer probably does not even lay somewhere in the middle. The answer is somewhere at least 3 parsecs off of each theologians thinking. If we try to limit our God to the laws that we have come to abide by in this world, we will be wrong. By limiting our God to meaningless things such as human logic, we will become lost sheep. However, the good thing to know is that our Lord will find us. And He will do all that He can to bring us to Him, forever. For the Lord is MY Shepard, and He is ALL that I need.
-Note: this is not an exegesis work, it is no where near it. I have some very vague scripture references that are taken out of context. I have not done much research. I have only what is in my heart of hearts and what I learned from my various Sunday school classes and Bible studies that I have gone to over the years. As well as my independent study of the Bible, and study of books written by theologians from all walks of life.
