Is Hell Real? – A Response to Love Wins by Rob Bell

Rob Bell provides a helpful insight into how he views the Scripture: “The ancient sages said the words of the sacred text were black letters on a white page—there’s all that white space, waiting to be filled with our responses and discussions and debates and opinions and longings and desires and wisdom and insights” (Love Wins, x). Here, Bell exalts human opinion and diminishes divine inspiration of the Scriptures. Bell’s low view of Scripture and high view of human opinion (including his) should be taken into view as one reads through the contents of his book. Curiously, he turns to Scripture often to find support for his views even while maintaining his low view of Scripture. He even admits his own lack of certainty regarding his views on hell (Ibid., 115).

According to Bell, hell is not the destiny for those who die without a personal relationship with Christ established through repentance and faith. For him, hell is sort of a metaphysical reality that wars against a person’s soul in this life (and on into the next) until the person freely chooses to make things right with God. This is certainly good news for Adolf Hitler, Paul Pot (Khmer Rouge), Chairman Mao, and many others.Historically, the orthodox view of hell was mentioned in the Athanasian Creed (late 5^th or early 6^th century A.D.): “Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith, except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.”  Edward Pusey (What Is of Faith as to Everlasting Punishment?, 172-290, available for free on books.google.com) lists 84 patristic authors who believed in eternal punishment. Curiously, Rob Bell seems to believe that his views resonate with the first 1000 years of Christianity and of course continue throughout history (Love Wins, 128). 

While many of Scriptures that mention hell appear in a context that leaves some room for uncertainty, one must turn to all pertinent Scriptures to form a more complete understanding of the doctrine of hell. One wonders why Jesus employed the imagery on hell and offered warnings: “But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matt 5:22, NIV 1984). The following discussion makes use of Scriptures that offer definitive statements on hell. The Psalmist asks that the wicked “be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous” (69:28, NIV 1984). In Revelation, John writes, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15, NIV 1984). This Scripture alone represents well the doctrine of hell (orthodoxy).

“He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Rev 21:6-8, NIV 1984).Bell chose to spend most of his time with Jesus’ references on hell presumably based on an elevated view of Jesus’ statements in the gospels. These statements, however, appeared mostly in parables and were difficult to understand by his contemporary audience and even his own disciples. Thankfully, the disciples were transformed during the Pentecost and empowered with great wisdom through the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, they enlightened their fellow believers about the meaning of Christ and His teachings in their writings in the New Testament. Perhaps Bell should have recognized this and spent more of his time studying the words of John in Revelation.

Much of Bell’s argument for non-existence of hell comes from his perception of God as a loving God who could never punish people with the kind of finality and violence represented by a real hell. Bell is right when he says that God wants all people to be saved (Love Wins, 97). He is also right when he admits that humanity has been endowed with a free will (Ibid., 103). But Bell wants people to have an eternity to change their mind. This view, however, must find solid support in Scripture. It has already been shown that the existence of hell has ample support in Scripture. Even so, there are a few other considerations. First, Bell’s loving God sent disaster upon the earth in Noah’s flood, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, killed his own people when they rebelled during their wilderness journeys, and had his people kill babies when they entered Canaan (this is just a few examples). How could such a loving God (Bell’s God) do such things unless His character is more complex? The Bible (see the OT laws and rituals) presents God as a holy God who gets angry with those who sin against Him and requires a sacrifice to be appeased. Why does God demand sacrifices from His people if grace for them is predicated solely upon their own will? Why send Jesus and let Him go through so much horror if God is so loving? Why allow so many prophets, apostles, and martyrs to pay the price for their testimony to the truth and then not punish those who remain unrepentant? Why should the blessed saints (real Christians) share the banqueting table with Hitler and the like? Why indeed?

Bell’s view may be appealing to the masses whose itching ears crave any teaching that allows them to go on their merry way without acknowledging God and His Son and without bringing their lives in line with His will. They may like Bell’s option of a heaven without any demands, heaven without identification with Christ and His people, heaven on one’s own terms, etc. Ultimately, they had better find the heaven that can only be entered through Christ by repentance and faith.