The Salvation Controversy That Won’t Go Away
Pastor Rob Bell’s best-selling book Love Wins has come and gone despite being plastered on the front cover of Time Magazine in April 2011. The focus of the dilemma raised by Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI, is whether hell is a real place and is God going to “send anyone to hell” in the final scheme of things.
Bell’s controversial views attracted the hearts of people who would rather not think about hell and their eternal destiny and just hope for the best when it comes to the afterlife.
In addition, Love Wins caused an upset among evangelical Christians who believe the pastor is denying the fundamentals of traditional Christian doctrine. Samaritan’s Purse President, Franklin Graham even went so far as calling Bell a “heretic and a false teacher” on FOX-TV’s Bill O’Reilly show.
Though the heart of the conflict is no longer in the lens of the media, Christians cannot allow Bell’s denial of Christian truth to be ignored. However, the real controversy is not about Bell’s view on hell, but rather on his teaching on salvation.
In his book Bell asks a series of rhetorical questions that would ordinarily come from a fifth grade student inquiring about God’s fairness. In today’s blog, I’d like to respond to some of Bell’s juvenile questions. (more…)
