Bell's Hell

Well, we might as well get on the bandwagon. Everyone right now is discussing, rebutting or hating on Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Bell should be proud—whether or not his view is heard, he opened up a discussion that has been under the surface for a long time. Is hell real? Does most of the world go to hell? What is hell like?

Bell himself doesn’t answer most of these questions. Heck, he barely answers any questions at all. He asks some provocative questions and gives some interesting suggestions, but he doesn’t come down on a single definitive doctrine. What he does come down on, solidly, is biblical and important to think about, so the book in general is a success. However, the discussion around Bell’s book says more about the views of others than Bell ever expresses about himself.
What does Bell say about hell? He says that hell is a real place, first of all. He states clearly that the translation “forever” is a difficult one, as it literally means “for a long age”, but this is the same problem for “eternal life” as for “eternal punishment”, so his discussion isn’t very comforting. What he does emphasize is that hell is here, now as well as in the future and that Jesus is concerned about both. That’s an important point.

Bell also points out that we don’t want people who do evil in “heaven”. We don’t want murderers, rapists, the greedy or judgmental in a perfect kingdom. The question is whether these people are redeemed in some way or just punished. What is to be done with them? Bell opens the idea of a second chance to surrender of God after death. He doesn’t say it’s definite, just that it is a possibility. Again, no solid doctrine here.

In general, I find Bell’s version of hell to be pretty vague—very vague as opposed to the book of Revelation—and I don’t have a problem with that. I think he deals with the world we live in realistically and with spiritual insight, but I don’t feel like he has anything new or insightful to say about punishment after death. Which is a shame, really. Good for him to get the conversation started, though.