Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Is Rob Bell truly a Christian, or is he one of those dangerous deceivers Scripture warns us about repeatedly (Acts 20:29; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Colossians 2:8; 2 Peter 2:1; etc.)?
It's a fair—and necessary—question. Christ’s famous warning about wolves in sheep’s clothing is given to us as an imperative: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16). Our Lord clearly expects His true disciples to be able to spot spiritual imposters and wolves in sheep’s clothing—especially those who are purveyors of deadly false doctrines.
Rob Bell certainly fits that category. He relentlessly casts doubt on the authority and reliability of Scripture. He denies the Bible’s perspicuity, disavows its hard truths, and ridicules some of the most important features of the gospel.
Granted, Bell (who was raised in the evangelical movement and is an alumnus of Wheaton College) still insists on callinghimself “evangelical.” He reiterated that claim recently in a March 14 interview with Lisa Miller, where he stated, “Do I think that I’m evangelical and orthodox to the bone? Yes.”
A careful examination of Bell’s teaching suggests, however, that his profession of faith is not credible. His claim that he is “evangelical and orthodox to the bone” is, to put it bluntly, a lie. Bell’s teaching gives no evidence of any real evangelical conviction. If “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44), we cannot blithely embrace Rob Bell as a “brother” just because he says he wants to be accepted as an evangelical.
If, as Jesus said, His sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27), then we ought to look with the utmost suspicion on anyone who doubts and denies as much of Jesus’ teaching as Rob Bell does, and yet claims to be a follower of Christ.
Scripture is crystal-clear about this: “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing” (1 Timothy 6:3-4).
Historic evangelicalism has always affirmed the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of Scripture, while declaring (as Jesus and the apostles did) that the only way of salvation for fallen humanity is through the atoning work of Christ, and the only instrument of justification is faith in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the gospel.
Rob Bell believes none of those things. His skepticism about so many key biblical truths, his penchant for sowing doubt in his hearers, and his obvious contempt for the principles of divine justice as taught in Scripture all give evidence that he is precisely the kind of unbelieving false teacher Scripture warns us about.
Bell is an inveterate syncretist who loves to blend “progressive” and politically correct dogmas with eastern mysticism, humanistic jargon, and Christian terminology. His teaching is full of barren ideas borrowed directly from old liberalism, sometimes rephrased in postmodern jargon but still reeking of stale Socinianism.
What Bell is peddling is nothing like New Testament Christianity. It is a man-centered religion totally devoid of both clarity and biblical authority.
Given those facts, you might think any true evangelical would reject Bell and his teaching outright. But evidently many in the American evangelical movement think they are obliged simply to accept at face value Bell’s claim of orthodoxy. No less than Mart DeHaan, voice of Radio Bible Class, decried Bell’s critics, portraying them as the divisive ones for pointing out the unsoundness of Bell’s teaching. DeHaan wrote,
I’m left wondering… are we allowing love (and truth) to win now… by using threats of group pressure and blackballing of brothers like Rob, and those who openly or secretly stand with him? Is that really the best way to maintain a strong and healthy orthodoxy? [emphasis added]
The biblical answer to DeHaan’s question is clear and fairly simple: The best way to maintain a strong and healthy orthodoxy is to “[hold] fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching . . . to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers . . . who must be silenced” (Titus 1:9-11).
We have a duty not only to expose, refute, and silence Rob Bell’s errors, but also to urge people under his influence to run as fast and as far as they can from him, lest they be gathered into the eternal hell he denies. It won’t do to sit by idly while someone who denies the danger of hell mass-produces sons of hell (cf. Matthew 23:15).
In a series of posts this week, we will demonstrate from Rob Bell’s own published works that he has long been hostile to virtually every vital gospel truth; we will consider some of the questions he has raised about what the Bible has to say about hell; and we will compare and contrast what Bell is saying about hell with what Jesus said about it.
Buckle in and get ready to be challenged. These are admittedly some of the hardest truths in the New Testament, but there’s no reason anyone holding authentic evangelical convictions should find the subject confusing or controversial.
John MacArthur
Pastor-Teacher
Pastor-Teacher
**Cited from www.gty.org
2 comments:
John MacArthur holds to the age-of-accountability idea; so you can say that he too is a universalist: he believes that all people go to heaven--if they die before they are 12. Is that a biblical affirmation or is it a church-contrived "mercy affirmation"? John Stott's (and significant others') annihilationism is also a mercy affirmation that is not explicit in Scripture (though hinted at in statements about the death of both body and soul).
I would like to hear these big-name critics come out with clear statements about their own beliefs and opinions on universalism, age-of-accountability, and annihilationism. If they don't, they are wimping out. If they take the biblical statements straight, they will have to affirm this:
"All people must hear the gospel and accept Christ to go to heaven and avoid hell. Therefore, every person who has ever lived or will live (regardless of age or manner of living or relative innocence) who does not make a clear decision for Christ will burn forever in conscious torment."
Will any of them dare to say this? It's easy to pick Rob apart on his exegesis, but that's not the big issue. The big issue is "heaven and hell and the fate of every person who ever lived."
While I know that Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible is considered too ecumenical by many conservatives, I think that this statement about hell in the dictionary is interesting:
Jesus did not proclaim a doctrine of hell nor describe damnation, and spoke only marginally of hell. His proclamation of the kingdom of God invited one to choose salvation or doom, yet Jesus did not preach dualism. Many contrasting metaphors for hell indicate God's wrath and punishment. The notion of eternity indicates a final punishment, but not necessarily one that extends for all times. Ideas of complete destruction and infinite punishment over against universal love, mercy, and reconciliation exist throughout Scripture and Church history. Ultimately damnation is not an absolute and remains contingent on God's will and grace.
That would tend to support Rob's conclusions (regardless of the breezy, fuzzy, and/or ADHD manner in which he arrives there!).
In Revelation 1:18, Jesus says, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Eugene Peterson paraphrases it like this: "I am First, I am Last, I'm Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever. See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death's doors, they open and lock Hell's gates" (The Message).
I think that's ample affirmation that in the end, Jesus decides. I am glad that He does and the theologians don't!
To the Anonymous Poster,
You are mistaken about MacArthur believing in age of accountability at age 12 here is him explaining what he believes (http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A264). Notice he does say that Scripture doesn't mention but that he believes, it is taken in faith and taking into account the knowledge of who God is.
Ultimately God is sovereign in who he elects, and if he elects a child who is aborted then He is right to do that, or a mentally retarded adult with the mind of a 2 year old if God elects them then they are in heaven. Either way God is Good in what he does.
As to your claim that "Jesus did not proclaim a doctrine of hell nor describe damnation, and spoke only marginally of hell" I have to tell you respectfully you need to read your Bible, Jesus taught more about hell than anybody else. Try Matthew 25:41-46. Or the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. There are many more from the Lord not to mention the rest of Scripture which is all God-breathed and just as authoritative as the words of Jesus himself.
You are bending over backwards with your reasoning to try and deny Hell, just as the heretic Rob Bell does and it is contrived and absurd to deny these truths.
I agree with your final statement that it is God who ultimately decides, and if God elects to cast many into eternal torment and damnation He is totally right and justified to do so. I don't think any Theologian will say they decide, they are simply telling what they have learned about God since that is what they do is strive to know God.
This is a great article that MacArthur wrote and it is about time that some Leaders exposed Rob Bell for what he is and what he followers are doing as God tells us would happen in 1 Timothy 4:3
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."
Soli Deo Gloria
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