Friday, April 15, 2011

True Confessions: I Read and Finished 'Love Wins'

I've just finished 'Love Wins,' by Rob Bell. Five minutes ago. I am glad to be able to tell you I liked it.

I liked the simple, crisp language--like the Gospel of John in Greek. Simple, but profound.

I liked the questions that were asked.

I liked that Rob was willing to ask the hard questions about God and the Gospel and evangelicalism and love and hell and judgment that many people are asking outside the church but few within the church (the evangelical church, at least) are willing to voice.

I liked the typesetting and the arrangement of the words on the page. Kind of like the writing here.

I liked that at the very end, Rob described how, as a child, he had asked Jesus into his heart, and his life was forever changed. Ah, familiar language to warm an evangelical's heart.

There was much I liked.

But I have to come clean and admit there was a lot more that I didn't like. I'm not going to address the biblical and theological issues in any depth here. Others more capable than I have done that and you can chase down those links in some of my earlier posts, if you're inclined.

What I will say here is that I'm really sad. I honestly don't mean that in any condescending, patronizing way. My sadness stems from the gutting of the gospel that is the essence of this book.

To be continued...