CNN’s Eric Marrapodi stumbles upon news circulating in the Christian world about a pastor who is being called a heretic. The pastor of the book Love Wins is being accused for teaching “false doctrine,” said Justin Taylor. Bloggers call him a Universalist. Bell’s promotional video for his book rolled out the red carpet for theological controversy. Taylor’s post quickly racked up a quarter million hits. He mentioned that many things have separated and created distance between Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, but “this isn’t one of them. We’ve historically agreed on many things, the person of Christ, heaven and hell. This isn’t a peripheral academic debate. What Rob Bell is talking about gets to the heart of Christianity.”
The debate has ignited pulpits, blogs, news stations, Facebook, Tweeter, and much outside discussion. Is Bell a heretic? If he is, is he still a Christian? In his promotional video Rob Bell refers to the peaceful indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, and asks, “Ganhi’s in hell? He is? And someone knows this for sure?” Those lines raised eyebrows for Taylor and others. Taylor says, “It is not preaching the gospel as found in the New Testament. The New Testament is pretty clear if someone preaches a false gospel... that we are to reject that and have nothing to do with them.” If what Taylor revealed about Bell is true, then it necessarily follows that Rob Bell is no Christian. Though it necessarily follows, it is inductively strong that he, Rob Bell is a heretic.
It is always sad to see someone fall, especially one who has influence over so many lives. It does not create too much of a shock though. Rob Bell has always asked tough questions and there is nothing wrong with asking tough questions. However, his questions have resulted in some beliefs that are central to the Christian faith. Aspects of Christianity that all denominations corporately agree on, as Taylor expressed earlier. These things are nonnegotiable! They are among the very screwed definable aspects of each and every Christian. It goes without saying, that Bell’s beliefs do not parallel with Scripture. Unfortunately, Rob Bell’s most grievous mistake is that he is conditioning the Bible around his beliefs and not the other way around.
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