OK so maybe I’m dragging this out now but I’ve still to read the book so there’ll be at least one more. Here’s the thing, it matters because doctrine matters and it matters because what we tell people about their eternal destiny is really important and it matters because many people may not be as clear as they need to be about this so reading and thinking about this matters.

However even though (from all I’ve read about what I’m about to read) I think I’ll have some disagreements with Rob Bell I’m not prepared to join the ‘junk him’ brigade and consign him to the evangelical scrap-heap. I’m not yet prepared to say as John Piper (I think unwisely) tweeted, ‘Farewell Rob Bell’.

Listen to this – That little audio demonstrates how good Rob Bell is at communication but he’s also pretty clear about what he believes. Now, he might not mean exactly the same things in all the same ways about all those things as me but I think heaven is not going to be full of people who had identical theology before they got to heaven. And remember no-one knows who is populating heaven bar God and those already there but I think someone who believes in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as the way to the Father is likely to be there.

And assuming Rob still holds to the beliefs he articulates in the sermon The Goat has left the building, well he’d be welcome to preach that in my pulpit even if we disagree about post-mortem chances of salvation.

Here are some more interesting and well worth reading posts about the issue assuming you’ve not grown tired, fed-up or bored of the whole thing:

• Jon Matthias reviews the book favourably and then reflects on how he felt about reading it
• Randy Alcorn offers clear reasons why he disagrees with Bell and Love Wins and then makes it clear that while Bell might believe in Hell it’s not the same sort of Hell he says the Bible talks about.
• Tim Challies takes that thought and realises that the idea of hell does not impact him enough