Love Wins, the recent book by popular pastor and author Rob Bell, has brought the topic of Universalism to the forefront of Christian discussion. As a disclaimer, I have not read Bell’s book (it isn’t available in India as far as I know). I have, however, read several reviews, both negative and positive. Some reviewers believe Bell is presenting a Universalist viewpoint. Others believe his in no way promotes Universalism, but just promotes God’s love. Most, however, recognize that Bell does not make his position clear. They point out that Bell—rather than presenting a clearly defined position—is content to merely raise questions in an attempt to be thought-provoking.
Rather than review a book I haven’t read, I want to respond to an idea Bell puts forward in his preface, namely that the notional of eternal punishment is toxic and subverts Jesus’ message of love, peace forgiveness, and joy. In his preface, Bell writes:
A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better. It’s been clearly communicated to many that this belief is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear.
I can understand how the idea that all non-Christians are doomed to spend eternity in judgment would be offensive to a non-Christian. On the surface it seems harsh and cruel that God would allow so many people to suffer for eternity. How could we expect people to follow a God like that?
The main problem with this view is that it has no understanding of sin and grace. To understand these we must understand several aspects of God’s character. People who believe it is unfair of God to allow so many people to face eternal judgment often appeal—as Bell does—to God’s love. However, they do not put God’s love in the context of God’s equally important qualities of holiness and justice. Emphasizing any aspects of God’s character over others often leads to a misunderstanding of who He is and how He should act.
God’s holiness asserts that he remains pure and undefiled by sin. That means that sin or anyone who is sinful must be separated from Him. For examples, look at Isaiah’s response to his vision of God (Isaiah 6:1–5) or Peter’s response to his first encounter with Jesus (Luke 5:7). Coming face-to-face with the holiness of God, they recognized their own sinfulness and knew that they were not able to stand before Him. God’s holiness reveals our inadequacy. We may see people doing “good” from our perspective, but from the perspective of God’s holiness they aren’t even close.
The justice of God is equally important in understanding this issue. God’s justice or righteousness demands that people receive what they deserve in a just manner. For people to receive what they do not deserve would violate the justice of God. Since He is holy, then He is well within His rights and character to eternally punish anyone who violates His holiness with sin. Since we are all sinners, then God’s righteous anger and punishment is what we all deserve.
This is where God’s grace comes in and what makes it so amazing. Understanding God’s holiness and justice should give us a much fuller and richer understanding of His grace. The idea that many people are condemned to eternal punishment should not be difficult to accept when in the context of God’s holiness and righteousness and our sinfulness. The idea that any of us would not be eternally condemned is a far more radical notion. The idea that God—through His love and forgiveness—would find a way to bring any of us into a relationship with Him without violating His holiness or justice is astounding. The question should not be, “How can a loving God allow people to be eternally punished?” It should be, “How is it possible that a righteous and holy God can forgive me and bring me into relationship with Him?” The answer of course lies in God’s amazing grace and love that He showed for us when Christ died for us.
I agree with Bell that the world desperately needs to hear Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy. However, what power does that message have if we fail to recognize our sinfulness in the face of God’s holiness and justice? What does God’s love or forgiveness mean if viewed without His holiness and justice? Only by understanding God’s holiness and justice can we truly understand just how much His grace and love really mean.
I don’t expect non-Christians to understand eternal punishment because they don’t recognize their own sinfulness in the face of God’s holiness. Of course it sounds offensive to them, because from their perspective they have done nothing to deserve such an extreme punishment. Without recognizing God’s holiness and justice, we can’t really appreciate salvation. To truly understand God’s love, we must understand His grace and what His salvation has accomplished. We need to understand each of the aspects of God’s character to fully understand the amazing gift of salvation.
