What can be said in the face of evil like this? Let’s start with the obvious in a tragedy like this. There are no easy answers. There are no pat solutions. It is not going to be the case that we enact a new law on gun control and the problem goes away. It is not going to be the case that we ban violent video games and the problem goes away. It is not the case that we do X, Y, … [Read more...]
Love Wins Critique (Part 4)
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 Major Problems with Love Wins As stated in my introduction, I will be unable to address every one of the problems found in Love Wins. However I will address three major errors I found around Bell’s notion of God’s will, his interpretation of the word “eternal” and his understanding about hell being “here and now.” I would refer to the reader to the … [Read more...]
Hell and the Character of God
A few years ago, the United States played a major role in bringing democracy to a small Middle Eastern country owned by a very wealthy oil sheikh named Aamir Karim. Instead of a dictatorship, the country was to be ruled by a prime minister elected by the people. … [Read more...]
Some Thoughts on Hell
Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today - John Lennon (1) John Lennon asked us to imagine there’s no heaven. I’ve tried, but all I come up with is hell. Many things occur on this planet that demand judgment and punishment, but many go unpunished. If there is no certainty of punishment, there is … [Read more...]
Problem Of Evil: Possibly Not A Convincing Case For Atheism
An English philosopher Michael Palmer boldly contended that there could be no amount of theological ingenuity to resolve “an irreducible incompatibility between scientific evidence [viz., “the theory of naturally selection that Darwin presents is one of unparalleled barbarity, impersonal and haphazard in form and subject only to the vagaries of environment”] and religious … [Read more...]
Love Wins Critique (Part 3)
This is part 3 in a series of blogs regarding Bell’s recent book, Love Wins, where I summarize the doctrine of hell and its history. Part #1 - Part #2 My own Problem with Hell It is worth mentioning that the doctrine of hell is not something that I hold with victorious spirit – such as expressing gladness that others (even bin Laden) are going there. If there was one … [Read more...]
Love Wins Critique (Part 2)
This is part 2 in a series of blogs regarding Bell's recent book, Love Wins, where I summarize his view in the book and evaluate whether he advocates universalism. Part #1 What is Bell’s View in Love Wins? Bell begins the book claiming that many have hijacked the story of Jesus and that is now time to reclaim it (p. vii-viii). It is later clear that he means those who hold … [Read more...]
Love Wins Critique (Part 1)
The doctrine of hell is “one of the chief grounds on which Christianity is attacked as barbarous and the goodness of God is impugned.”[i] Rob Bell wishes to address this problem in his latest book, Love Wins,[ii] by providing an alternate way at looking at hell. This post was written to critique Rob Bell’s recent book - especially in light of the stance of this site against … [Read more...]
Book Review: The Reason for God by Tim Keller
The Reason for God, by Tim Keller, is an outstanding response to the biggest questions of our day. Tim Keller is the highly regarded pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, a church with weekly attendance around 5,000. Redeemer has planted dozens of other churches and is generally considered to be one of the most influential churches in America. From the first … [Read more...]
Case For Rational Atheism
“Negative atheism in the broad sense is then the absence of belief in any god or Gods, not just the absence of belief in a personal theistic God,” contended Michael Martin in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, “and negative atheism in the narrow sense is the absence of belief in a theistic God.” He went on: Positive atheism in the broad sense is, in turn, disbelief in all … [Read more...]