Boek

• Titel: Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
• Publikasiedatum: 15 Maart 2011
• Outeur: Rob Bell
• Webblad: robbell.com/…/love-wins

Artikels

• Bell kry skel tot byna in die hel (2 Apr 2011)

Die outeur oor die boek

First, I believe that Jesus’ story is first and foremost about the love of God for every single one of us. It is a stunning, beautiful, expansive love, and it is for everybody, everywhere.

There are a growing number of us who have become acutely aware that Jesus’s story has been hijacked by a number of other stories, stories Jesus isn’t interested in telling, because they have nothing to do with what he came to do. The plot has been lost, and it’s time to reclaim it.

A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spend forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better. It’s been clearly communicated to many that this belief is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’s message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear.

I’ve written this book because the kind of faith Jesus invites us into doesn’t skirt the big questions about topics like God and Jesus and salvation and judgment and heaven and hell, but takes us deep into the heart of them.

Kyk ook Love Wins. by Rob Bell (Youtube):

Several years ago we had an art show at our church and people brought in all kinds of sculptures, and paintings, and we put them on display. And there was this one piece that had a quote from Gandhi in it; and lots of people found this piece compeling. They’d stop and sort of stare at it, and take it in, and reflect on it—but not everybody found it that compelling. Somewhere in the course of the art show somebody attached a hand-written note to the piece, and on the note they had written: “Reality Check—He’s In Hell.”

Gandhi’s in hell? He is? And someone knows this, for sure; and felt the need to let the rest of us know? Will only a few, select, people make it to heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell? And, if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe; or what you say, or what you do, or who you know—or something that happens in your heart? Or do you need to be initiated, or baptized, or take a class, or converted, or being born again—how does one become one of these few?

And then there is the question behind the questions, the real question: What is God like? Because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message—the center of the Gospel of Jesus—is that God is going to send you to hell, unless you believe in Jesus. And so, what gets, subtlely, sort of caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that; that we would need to be rescued from this God? How could that God ever be good; how could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news.

This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies; and they say: “Why would I ever want to be part of that?” See, what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about Who God is, and what God is like. What you discover in the Bible is so surprising, unexpected, and beautiful, that whatever we’ve been told or taught, the good news is actually better than that; better than we could ever imagine.

The good news is, that love wins.

Kort resensies

Brilliant brilliant! The damage “hell” has done to the human psyche goes much deeper than most people will acknowledge, in fear of the “god” who backs it…. Finally voices are crying out like John – “No one has seen the Father – except Him who is from the bosom of the Father… He has come to declare Him”! Love is not complicated… a child understands it… But who can love a “god” who punishes their own offspring for eternity in eternal fire?

******

Excellent read! But be prepared to have many long held views (for those of you that are Christians) challenged. I am certainly having a re-think. I found the style and grace with which the book is written both inspiring and challenging. Thank you for writing them.

******

This book changed my life. After 30 years of attending evangelical churches and bible studies where turn or burn and penal substitution is some how conveyed as compatible with a loving father, Rob Bell gives a researched and thoughtful alternative to this harsh and illogical outlook in this easy to read and inspirational book. Thanks Rob you have given me back my faith.

Aanhalings

“’n Verstommende hoeveelheid mense is geleer dat slegs ’n uitgesoekte groep Christene vir ewig in ’n vreedsame, gelukkige plek genaamd die hemel sal bly, terwyl die res van die mensdom die ewigheid in lyding en straf in die hel sal deurbring met geen hoop dat dinge kan verbeter nie. Dit is so duidelik aan baie mense oorgedra dat dit ’n sentrale deel van die Christelike geloof geraak het en om dit te verwerp byna is soos om Jesus te verwerp. Dit is verkeerd en giftig. Uiteindelik ondergrawe dit Jesus se boodskap van liefde, vrede, vergifnis en vreugde wat ons wêreld desperaat nodig het om te hoor.” (Eie vertaling).

“To say it again, eternal life is less about a kind of time that starts when we die, and more about a quality and vitality of life now in connection to God. Eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts now. It’s not about a life that begins at death; it’s about experiencing the kind of life now that can endure and survive even death.”

“Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while the people most concerned with the hells on earth right now seem the least concerned about hell after death.”