Love Wins Low Price CD: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived Audio CD – Unabridged, June 7, 2011

Overall, I liked the book. The main problem I had with it was a lack of citations for his various claims. Also, there were a few minor (and a few relatively major) points that I was unsure about (For instance, in chapter 1, page 10 he says that the author of Hebrews was a woman, with no doubt about it).I believe books like this are required for the Christian community's growth. Without controversial books or publications we will have nothing to sharpen our views, and that's why I think this book has it's place in every church/denomination. It's supposed to create discussion for the sake of unity not more diversity.The main point I got out of the book was this: when it comes to doctrines like Eschatology, in all of their intricacies and mysteries, we can never draw as many hard lines or make so great of distinctions about how Jesus works in the lives of those who "are not one of us" as we would like to. Eschatology is far too mysterious and slippery to handle. Contrast that with a doctrine like Bibliology where we can measure, analyze, and find empirical/measurable evidence to support the Bible's inerrancy and infallibility. They are simply different doctrines with different forms of interpretations and analysis.Rob Bell is not a heretic, and I believe that he wants the Christian community to start talking to each other about these issues. There are rings of universalism in the book, but he does not say that they are his views. I think he simply states them; he simply throws them on the table for consideration.Chapter 1:This is a very good attention grabber. Rob basically takes all of our conceptions of hell and salvation and examines them in a critical light. I admit, when I read this chapter I thought Rob went off the deep end. I think that he wants to get people fired up so that they will start talking and debating for the sake of community and unity. However, of course, sadly this will inevitably split people apart due to the heat that these issues bring. Nevertheless, I believe that Rob's intentions are good and that there does indeed need to be buttons pushed in our doctrinal beliefs.Chapter 2: HeavenThe chapter on Heaven was really good. I'd just like to point out some basic points he made.Bell gives an interpretation of the story of Jesus and the rich man and their conversation in Matthew 19. It's too rich and detailed so I'll leave himself to describe it when you read the book. I agree with it though. He basically points to what Jesus says and why, and why the rich man does what he does and says what he says.Rob says that in "the age to come," there will be many things "not able to survive." He then lists some obvious evils which are prevalent in the world. Then, he confirms God's judgment on these things and the people who do them (page 37).Rob describes that how we think of Heaven determines the way we live on earth right now. He says that those people who work out God's work on this earth (help the helpless, provide water for the thirsty, food for the starving, etc.) are those who are fully impacted by their view of Heaven. He says, "Our eschatology shapes our ethics. Eschatology is about last things. Ethics are about how you live" (pages 44-46).Rob says that there are two sides to Heaven: a comforting side as well as a confronting side. Bell says that there are certain things (as he said before) that simply will not survive in the age to come. This is the confronting side of Heaven, and consequently, Jesus himself (page 48-49).He says later that Jesus didn't come inviting people to "get into Heaven" but to rather enter the process of transformation. Heaven will not usher in immediate perfection, but will rather take some getting used to. He argues that Heaven is a start over, and that we need to learn to be human all over again, the right way (pages 50-51). I think this is speculation and that Heaven will indeed usher in perfection due to the absence of sin. He says that we will learn how to live in Heaven due to the sudden change of circumstances, but I believe it will flow naturally as soon as we get there. After all, if there's no sin then why the need to grow and learn how to live a godly life? Also, sin is what corrupted our godliness, and before sin humans were flawless.Throughout this chapter, Rob seems to weave what I'll call a "emerging doctrine of the already-and-not-yet." He fully believes that Heaven, the age to come, has "invaded" this age in the person and work of Jesus. However, he seems to offer a more postmodern bent on this, which I'll let you decide whether that's a good thing or bad thing. The main difference between his view and the traditional view is that he puts a lot more emphasis on our role in the "creating Heaven on earth" mentality. He emphasizes "this age" and what God is doing through his people in "this age" that echoes "the age to come."Chapter 3: HellHere's where there seems to be a lot of speculation, obviously. However, I believe that this chapter created and will continue to create much-needed discussion in the Evangelical community. We need to understand that we can't grasp the mystery of hell. We need to trust God and focus on what to do about the mystery rather than draw lines that aren't quite clear in Scripture.I will not provide as much of my input for these various points but will instead let you decide what you think when you read the book. They are far too slippery for me to summarize for you for you to judge accordingly. I do not want to offer my input as the final word in other words.He says that the Hebrew mindset of the OT treated "death" and "life" differently than we do today. Instead of it being fixed realities, the Jewish mindset can be summarized by Deuteronomy 30 and its command in verse 19: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live." They viewed life and death as realities of living certain ways. Either one lives "life" or lives "death" so-to-speak. He also says that the afterlife wasn't a major concern for the Hebrews. (pages 66-67)For the NT, he says that the concept of Hell mainly occurs in the Gospels from the lips of Jesus. The word Jesus used for "Hell" was Gehenna, which comes from "ge" (valley) and "henna" (Hinnon): the valley of Hinnon. This valley was the place where people would dump their garbage and where there would be fires lit to burn the garbage. Besides this, wild animals would live in this valley and fight for scraps of food--hence, says Bell, the "gnashing of teeth" phrase which was used by Jesus to describe hell (pages 67-68).He argues the same concept that he used with Heaven: the "age to come" is, to a certain extent, a part of "this age." He says that we choose hell in this life all we want. He argues that God gives us what we want. If we want hell, we can have all we want of it (page 72).He then gives an interesting interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. He says that the rich man, in the afterlife, could see the prosperity that Lazarus was enjoying while at the same time the rich man was in torment. He says that the fact that the rich man wanted Lazarus to "get him a drink" meant that the rich man desired Lazarus to serve him. Rob says that the rich man thought of himself as better than Lazarus on earth as well as in the afterlife because of his desire to still be served in the afterlife. Bell says that the "chasm" in this parable is the rich man's heart: he will simply not let go of his pride (page 75).A brief note: Rob does indeed confirm hell in the afterlife: "There is hell now, and there is hell later, and Jesus teaches us to take both seriously" (page 79).Bell says that when Jesus teaches about hell, he is talking to the religious leaders, not "outsiders." He argues that Jesus isn't talking about "beliefs" to them, but rather about the condition of their hearts when he uses the word hell ("Gehenna"). He says that Jesus was warning the religious leaders who thought they had a sense of security in their "religious-ness" instead of their belief in Jesus. Bell then quickly confirms that our beliefs are indeed important, he was just pointing out that Jesus was using hell in terms of the conditions of hearts instead of beliefs (page 82).Now there is one thing, major, that I have to disagree with and this is the only place in this section where I will provide my input, and you will see why. Bell argues that Matthew 10:15, which says, "it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for [those towns who disbelieve the Gospel]" indicates the there is still a future hope for Sodom and Gomorrah. To make matters even more difficult, he lists an ample amount of passages concerning the correction and restoration of Israel throughout the Prophets to support this interpretation of Sodom and Gomorrah. He lumps Sodom and Gomorrah in with Israel and says that the former still has hope (pages 83-87). I would just like to point out that Sodom and Gomorrah were the epitome of sin which were used extensively throughout the Bible as a warning. The Biblical writers always used Sodom and Gomorrah as negative examples to avoid, and not as encouragement for hope for sinners. However, I'm not sure if Rob is saying this as if it was a proven fact, and I highly doubt he is, but the way he worded these pages certainly seems to indicate that he thinks there is hope for Sodom and Gomorrah.Bell may or may not be arguing for purgatory. I'll let you be the judge of that (pages 91-93). He uses the Greek words "aion" and "olam" to prove his point.Chapters 4, 5 & 6These chapters were by far my favorite. I will not summarize them because I want Rob to lead you through them by his own words. I believe that they GENERALLY land in good doctrinal and theological ground. They helped me see Jesus' sovereignty and love to greater degrees. Chapter 4 is the only "questionable" of the three, in my opinion.Chapter 4 is mainly about the problem with an all-powerful and loving God not having all people "be saved" in the end.Chapter 5 is mainly about the God-ordained phenomenon of death and life and how it fits into the Gospel.Chapter 6 is mainly about the way Jesus "saves" people. This is really interesting and was the most helpful chapter for me.Chapter 7Rob gives a really interesting interpretation of the parable of the prodigal son. This was intriguing and compelling. I will leave it to you to read it due to its richness.The only thing that I believe was a great deal of speculation was that he says that Heaven and hell in the age to come will be "near" each other. In other words, people can go between either one due to their acceptance of Jesus. Again, rings of purgatory and choosing Jesus after death seem to sing out here.OverallI enjoyed the ride this book took me on, and I encourage you to read it! Be challenged! Be critical but also be open!*** ADDED: 5/16/2011 *****I gave it 4/5 stars because of the influence it had on me, not necessarily my opinion of the "truthfulness" of Rob Bell's assertions in the book. It influenced me by showing me that there are different ideas out there than the traditional beliefs about Hell. However, I do not consider them as true myself, I still leave them on the "table of my mind" for discussion, examination, analyzation and critique.

Let me start with saying this:I do not claim to be unbiased, I do not claim to have all the answers and I am not going to tell you everything he says that I agree with or disagree with, as that is not the point. Read that book yourself. Make up your own mind.A good starting point is to point out my worldview and my bias towards Rob and the "post modern church".I love Rob Bell, I think he has a way of explaining things and looking at scripture in a way that makes it alive. One thing I can't accept is when people say that he doesn't use the bible and makes up things to fit what he says. One of Rob's strengths is that he is always using the bible, different interpretations and historical context, in fact I would go as far as to say that Rob Bell uses the bible and stories from the bible more then an extremely large portion of authors I have read.We need to come to the understanding that just because a person comes to a different conclusion to us after reading the same book (in this case we are talking about the bible, but we could be talking about any other book) does not mean that they are making things up or not taking the book as seriously as we do. When we start believing that our interpretations are as "God breathed" as the words of Jesus (and if we are honest, most of us, including myself from time to time, do this) we are stepping on very thin ice. Think about that for a second. We all come from different backgrounds, we all have different life experiences, we all went to different churches where different things were taught AND INTERPRETED and when we read the bible all of those things influence how we interpret things, weather we want them to or not. We have to accept that there is a very large possibility that what we have believed our whole lives can be wrong, or at least often need more questioning.Which gets me to my next point, a lot of people don't like Rob because he asks a lot of questions, often without giving answers to said questions, and when people ask him direct questions he often asks them a question back or doesn't give them direct answers. This makes people very angry, and I mean VERY ANGRY, I mean how dare a person of such authority not give straightforward answers and just confuse his followers even more. HERETIC! And my answer to this is, I know this other guy who did that, and people got really really angry with him. They would ask him direct questions and instead of just answering them this guy would tell them some random story, which even the people closest to him often didn't understand. The also called this guy a heretic and at about the middle of that story they got so sick of his heresies that they ended up nailing him to a cross. Interesting to say the least. Why on earth would he do that? I mean how much easier would it have been for him to just come down, give us a rulebook and then leave? Maybe because he wants them to wrestle with their faith, discuss with others, debate and come to a conclusion after a period of questioning, not because someone said it but because they have actually thought about it. I honestly believe that spirituality is supposed to be a journey and not a destination. I can see some of you with fire coming out of your ears because you think I am saying Rob Bell is like Jesus, but that's the wrong interpretation. I am saying his teaching style is how Jesus taught.I am a page into this and I haven't even said one word about the book, which I am sure is annoying for some, I mean you came to read what I thought about the book right? But all of these things are vitally important to understanding my thought process. One more note and then we can jump into what I thought about the book. The book velvet Elvis saved my faith. I was so sick and tired of trying to figure out everything and I was terrified to let people know what I was actually thinking, which on most days was "do I actually believe this", but I knew I wasn't supposed to ask that, right? That book opened my eyes to the fact that God has no issue with us asking questions and wrestling with our faith, in fact it seems that he wants us to. (I mean no one wants the middle ages again right?) Rob Bell says " Let's be very clear: We do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescuses us from death, sin and destruction. God is the rescuer. This is crucial for our peace, because we shape our God, and then our God shapes us. Inquisitions, persecutions, trails, book burnings, blacklisting- when religious people become violent, it is because they have been shaped by their God, who is violent. We see this destructive shaping alive and well in the toxic, venomous nature of certain discussions and debates on the internet. For some, the highest form of allegiance to their God is to attack, defame, and slander others who don't articulate matters of faith as they do." And to finish off this portion and to move onto the actual book, lets finish off with a couple words from the mouth of Jesus: " I did not come to judge the world but to save the world." How different would this world be if we weren't interested in judging everyone that doesn't have the same thoughts as us. Seems like Jesus wasn't interested in doing that?So finally, that is what I believe and my beginning point before picking up the book.I know a lot of you want to know if he says that there is no hell or that everyone will go to heaven. HE DOES NOT, and in fact he makes it very clear that he does not think that. He also does not say that you can get to heaven without declaring Jesus is Lord. Although I have heard and watched a lot of discussions where they make it seem like he is saying that, but they are taking what he says out of context. You can make anyone say anything if you look hard enough. I heard an interview with the guy from way of the master (I know I know) saying that he wants to, and I quote "ring Rob Bells neck for telling people there is no hell" and to that I say before going on the radio and talking about a book, how about you read it first? I mean I would think that's a pretty obvious thing.Now I am by no means saying that I agree with everything in the book. But I am also not saying that I disagree. He makes some interesting points about a bunch of things that I am really not sure about. BUT everything he says in this book has been said many times before, and I have heard it from many other people, and heard the argument many times while in college, and he can back it up with scripture and show many other people who say the same thing. Does this mean he is right? No. Obviously not. Does this mean he is wrong? No. Obviously not. St John of Meyer said it like this: "We have to learn to hold our theology lightly. To be as honest as we can in our searching of the scriptures, and our journey to know God more, acknowledging that we are still only clutching at straws in the dark. And we need to be as gracious to our fellow pilgrims who are just trying to do the same." What I can say is that it is very obvious that Rob is being intentional about "clutching at straws" in the best way he can.Let me put it in a way that a lot of my conservative friends can understand: If you do not call CS Louis a heretic, you CAN NOT call Rob Bell one.So what is the book about? What is Rob really trying to bring across? Good question Ryan, thank you Ryan. This is his point, Christians for so long have used life after death to scare people into believing what they believe. I was involved in a discussion with a friend of mine I take very seriously who used to believe in God, but couldn't do it anymore for this exact reason, this is what he said:"This is why Christianity preaches the doctrine of sin, heaven and hell etc. It's ALL about fear."It's all about fear. This is what we have taught people. "Believe exactly what I say, or you will burn in hell forever, and that will be horrible, so you better just believe me" This is why people walk away from Christianity or would never even think about considering it.We have focused so much on life after death, especially making sure you don't go to hell that we have totally forgotten to teach about and live life before death. Are we bringing heaven on earth or hell on earth? And do we only bring heaven on earth to the people we think are "in"? We are called to show the love of Jesus and his grace and forgiveness and to do away with using fear TO EVERYONE. Because Jesus DID NOT go around using his main teaching method or his main point that you have to agree with him or burn in hell. Christianity isn't a religion about being able to get into a club and get passed the bouncer while everyone else sits outside, but we have made it into that haven't we?Here is what Rob says: "A discussion about how to "just get into heaven" has no place in the life of a disciple of Jesus, because it's missing the point of it all."So this is the point: Love wins, loving people around us regardless of what they believe and how they act, because as Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." That's ahead of me. That's ahead of you.Does this mean that God does not judge people according to their decisions in this life, and does this mean that what we do in this life is of little to no consequence? Of course not. Of course God is going to judge the men who raped my friend, is he going to do it the way I think he should? Probably not. Does that bother me? Yes, and no. I'm not going to act like God and say what that judgment should be. Does my decisions to love people on this earth actually matter? Of course. But, Jesus died not just for the in crowd, but for the men who raped my friend, whether I want to accept that or not. "At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5I have intentionally not said exactly what is said in the book, or gone into much detail, because I really want people to come up to their own conclusions, not my conclutions or anyone else's. The next time someone tells me they haven't finished reading a book in years but then ten minutes later starts telling me about how heretical Rob Bell is, I'm probably going to explode. But if you do decide to read this book, which I really hope you do, I need you to know that you need to come into it with an open mind, and realize that although you may be under the impression that you are right, you might actually be wrong. And so might Rob. But if your point is to find things that are "heretical" don't waste your time reading it, just go look on the web you will find it. If you are interested in wrestling and be willing to think about things and speak with other people about it and be willing to accept that there are different thought processes about things and that until we get to heaven no one will be able to prove any of this, then this is one of the best books I can ever recommended to you.Finally, a thought from the book irresistible revolution:'"You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too."I love you all, regardless of if you agree with me or not.May the peace and love of God be with you.

This book will challenge you to think differently about Christian faith, heaven, hell and the person of Jesus. It challenges much of the accepted teachings of many churches and gives fresh incites and perceptions. I understand it has been quite controversial in some evangelical and fundamental circles but it asks, and attempts to answer, those most difficult questions and apparent inconsistencies in the nature of God from the picture portrayed by such believers. I know my own faith and ideas won't be the same again but I was already thinking along similar lines independently to this. Rob Bell puts it all so much better than I ever could. This book is a real watershed in Christian writing. And so easy to read and follow, the time flew as I leafed through it, very accessible with profound ideas, you don't have to be a scholar or theologian to understand exactly what is being said. I don't agree with all of Bell's conclusions, but by raising the issues it kick-started me on a new journey.

Not many Christians raise the issues Rob Bell discusses in this book. Even if you disagree with him, the conversations he brings up are incredibly important and often sadly lacking in the evangelical Christian bubble. Rob forces you to step outside of your ideological box and makes you grapple with some of the most fundamental concepts in the Christian faith. If you don't want to engage with ideas you disagree with then you have to question how solid the foundations of your worldview really are.

Theologically risky but it at least opened to me the possibility of other answers to the vexed issue of hell.

Brave and stimulating......best thing that I have read in years. Well done Rob.So good to spring clean our Christian complacency.

Rob Bell stellt dem Leser fragen, die er selber nicht beantwortet. Dabei sind einige der Fragen, weder hilfreich noch angebracht. Zugegebenermaßen gab es auch einzelne Fragen und Gedanken, die ich auch als gut und hilfreich empfand.Das Buch ist allerdings nur sehr einseitig "argumentiert", falls man es überhaupt eine Argumentation nennen kann.Die Optik und Haptik des Buches ist allerdings sehr gut.Trotzdem reicht es nicht für einen zweiten Stern.