Rob Bell and the Audacity of Love : Love Wins {over hell}

 In the Christian circles I run in there is a newly released book titled Love Wins by Rob Bell, a megachurch pastor in Michigan. I'm not a fan of megachurches, but I am a fan of Rob Bell, though I've never read any of his four other books. He got my attention with the production and content of his short video series called Nooma, specifically the clip called She.

But this is not why I'm bringing up Bell's name. It's his new book with the bold, audacious message that God's love is actually bigger than hell and that Love will win in the end of the story. Not hell.

Oh how dare he.

It's causing a stir,  a HUGE stir in  cyberspace, with the predictable mud slinging and wargames already begun.(oh how fond Christians are of religious discourse and debate!) I have no intention in throwing a bone in that dog fight debate quickly turns to unkindly mean-spirited dogma.

What I will say is that I am thrilled that someone like Rob Bell (who has a tremendous amount of influence) is challenging the traditionally held belief of eternal damnation.

I've challenged this belief, too, and you can read it about my wrestling match with it HERE....and as an obscure blogger in my little, tiny corner of the great big ocean of blogs, the topic of hell is the most commented topic of any other topic I've blogged about in five years and 400 posts. (The second most stirring up topic? Women and equality in the modern Christian church. Go figure.)

Curious? To hear from Rob himself about his new book and the message of love winning over hell's fire,  check out his interview this morning on ABC news.

**If you've read the book and have a review please leave a comment with the link. I'll plan to get a copy soon and get out my own review.