I think that's where Rob is a little disingenuous. He didn't think that was the case, but I do think there is some value in some of the things that he writes. I told Rob that some of the stuff that he writes needs to be heard, and the people who need to hear it won't hear it because of the tone and some of the other things that he writes. Some of the things that he dislikes about the evangelical church today are things I have a real problem with as well. There was a lot that was good in that book. It's forced us all to think more deeply, go back to Scripture, and read more carefully. That's the one thing that I've said is good about the book. Your reaction to Love Wins was my experience as well and, I suspect, the reaction of a lot of its readers.
What a rush! What an amazing blessing! Who'd want to take the time to write about something that's so, so awful? So painful? That was the conflict for me. It's easy to write for God and about God, because what a thrill to remind the church that the Holy Spirit of God is in you. It's weird to write something that you really don't like. And so when I didn't it find it, it made me even more sick to my stomach.
The other side was that I was really hoping to discover some things I hadn't discovered before-or maybe this was an opportunity to soften my stance on hell. I'm not looking forward to all the backlash and everything else." I really don't think I'll enjoy this at all. I really believe the Lord wanted me to do this, but there is a wrestling on that point because I thought, "Gosh, that's just not me. Several times in the middle of the night I couldn't even sleep. Some of it was concern, but some was doubt: Am I sure of what I believe? Let me go back and study. And yet reading Love Wins set a lot of things spinning in my mind. I've never felt a need to really respond to someone else's writing. In several places in your book, it's clear that you are conflicted about even addressing this topic. (Chan's coauthor, Preston Sprinkle, is associate professor of biblical studies at Chan's Eternity Bible College.) Christianity Today senior managing editor Mark Galli is the author of another of the response books, God Wins, and interviewed Chan last week. Francis Chan, whose books Crazy Love and Forgotten God are still on bestseller lists, is a somewhat surprising addition to the pack with Erasing Hell. Few books have generated as much theological conversation as Rob Bell's Love Wins-and fewer still have sparked several response books within months of their appearance.
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