Love Wins Chapter 2

So I actually read this chapter a couple weeks ago but I was really struggling with it. I wanted to postpone blogging until I had a better grasp of it.

I feel a lot more confident about my position now so here it is: I felt like this chapter was Bell using two terms interchangeably that weren't meant to be used interchangeably! Eternal life and heaven have a lot in common; but to use them in place of one another seems to be shaky ground.

The title of the chapter is: Heaven! This chapter doesn't really touch heaven too much though. He starts off with the story about the Rich Young Ruler questioning Jesus about how to obtain eternal life? (Matthew 19)

I think Rob is dead on when he says that eternal life is not just life that goes on forever; but a quality of life that is to be lived now. "Eternal life is less about a kind of time that starts when we die, and more about a quality and vitality of life lived now in connection to God." (59) I think you catch glimpses of that in Jesus conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 and the Samaritan woman in John 4.

Rob does bring up that fact that this Young Ruler was not instructed to Accept that he's a sinner, Believe in Jesus, Confess him as his savior, and Demonstrate his obedience. This bothered me for the last week! He's right it doesn't say that this man must trust God for his salvation; but it does! He's trusting his own wealth; not God...but to say that it doesn't say anything about Jesus is not really reading the whole of this conversation. THIS observation becomes really scary when Rob (apparently) takes this conversation as the rule. On page 52 he makes this statement: "Heaven, it turns out, is full of the unexpected."

To illustrate his point, he offers this example: "Think about the single mom, trying to raise kids, work multiple jobs, and wrangle child support out of the kids' father, who used to beat her. She's faithful, true, and utterly devoted to her children...She never goes out, never takes a vacation, never has enough money to buy anything for herself. She gets a few hours of sleep and then repeats the cycle of cooking, work, laundry, bills, more work, until she falls into bed late at night, exhausted. With what she has been given she has been faithful. She is a woman of character and substance...She can be trusted. Is she the last who Jesus says will be first?"

The question I have is this: "What about Jesus?" Circumstances don't get you in! Works don't get us in the party!" In the illustration, he never mentions Jesus changing her life and her decision to trust Him. This may be reading too much into it...but never the less it can become a slippery slope.

Frustratingly...this chapter really raised a lot more questions than it did answers! I am still getting used to his writing style! He doesn't so much have an outline when he writes, but I think he just lets the argument progress...It was a real struggle to outline this chapter. His view of heaven is rather cloudy it seems and he seems awful reluctant to come down on a correct translation of the greek; a certain view of Old Testament passages; and a certain picture of heaven. I think he is using the argument between "transcendence" and "this worldliness" of heaven to hide behind. Heaven is a deep topic; one in which I don't have a ton of research on outside of Alcorn's book and a couple other articles. The fact is: Jesus brought God's Kingdom to this earth. I agree with Bell on this point...but I don't really know where he is drawing the line.

We will see what he does with Hell?