"Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" by Rob Bell

198 pages

Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment. Did God create billions of people only to select a few to go to heaven? What about the people who have been hurt by Christians? Or the ones who have never heard about Jesus? These are troubling questions—so troubling that many have lost their faith because of them. Others who stay in the church might think about these things but feel too scared to voice their concerns out loud. Some just try not to think about it. But here, pastor and bestselling author Rob Bell asks: what if these questions bother us for a good reason? Is God trying to tell us something? Perhaps contemporary Christian views about heaven, hell, and salvation are distorted from what God intends. Bell uses a variety of Scriptures to support the idea that God wants everyone--every single person ever born--to be reconciled to Him one day, and because he's all-powerful, one day that will happen.

Needless to say, this is an extremely controversial idea that has earned Bell a lot of criticism and ridicule from the Christian community. I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. Although I don't agree with everything Bell says here, I think he does make some very good points and I got a lot out of "Love Wins." I won't get into the theology here, but I will say that Bell backs his ideas up with Scripture--his interpretation of it, that is. Of course, the mainstream ideas about Christianity are based on interpretation as well, so it's a matter of perspective. Some verses are clear-cut, but most require some level of analysis and then there's the matter of translation. In some cases, Bell makes some pretty big leaps in his arguments, but for the most part he supports himself well. I'm guessing that some of his most vocal critics haven't even read the book, as I've discovered that many of the claims against him aren't true--mainly, that he doesn't believe in hell or that there are people in hell (he certainly does). The bottom line is that this book will definitely make me examine my own beliefs and inspire lots of discussion, which is always good.