I have never intended to jump on this bandwagon in written form but so many of the people who attend Element have asked me to comment that I guess I will...I am talking about Rob Bell and his new book Love Wins. Many people believe that Rob Bell is now teaching a form of Universalism (Universalism teaches that all people will be saved/redeemed regardless of what they have done or what they believe, from Hitler, to Stalin, to you and me).

I got the book last night, have read the majority of it, and have two opinions about what people think of Rob Bell. One, is those who think he is a heretic; well, he is NOT as unorthodox as they would like to portray him. Two, is those who love him, well, he is NOT as orthodox as they would like to portray him.

Rob Bell, as best I can explain it, is like the area of a water melon where it turns from pink and yummy to white and rind(y). You don't really know where the watermelon stops and the rind begins. A little rind changes the flavor a bit, but a lot of the rind is terrible. That is the problem with Rob Bell, you don't know where he is watermelon and where he is rind.

In the book he sets up arguments that all evangelicals would, hopefully, reject, and then spends much time saying why they are wrong (in a witty sort of way). Other times he makes assumptions about what people think or feel and then shows how and why they are ludicrous....this is all very much like the rind of the watermelon.

There are other times when he is talking about Jesus’ view of the world, various Greek verbs, the redemption and hope for the world and these are right on...very watermelon like.

These two sides seems to pop in and out of each other so much that the orthodox parts no longer seem so orthodox and the unorthodox parts seems less unorthodox. It is dangerous on one hand but could be very helpful in talking to others about volatile issues on the other. It is so hard to explain that my explanation sounds like it doesn't explain anything.

I could list the multiple theological issues I have with the book (and there are many), I could list the multiple other things that I love his explanation of (there are a few), but that again can lead to why the book could be dangerous.

In the end, if you have a good head of theology on your shoulders, know what you believe, this could be an interesting book for you to read. If you have a hard time determining what you hold as truth and find yourself easily swayed by crafty arguments, I would stay away from it.

Whatever you think about Rob Bell, he is a marketing genius. All the hoopla about the book has made the pre-release sales skyrocket to half a million...

...that is some pretty smart marketing for watermelons.