By Lillian Kwon|Christian Post Reporter
Respected theologian Don Carson hadn't planned on discussing hell and universalism at this year's Gospel Coalition conference. But the subject became inevitable when Rob Bell's new book burst onto the scene, debuting at No. 2 on the New York Times' bestseller list.
The research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., is not happy that universalists are diminishing God's holiness, cheapening the cross, and distorting biblical truths.
Though he didn't accuse Bell directly, Carson said the handling of the atonement of Christ by universalists is blasphemous.
"I say it with respect, I say it with brokenness, but it is blasphemous," he said plainly, as he addressed pastors and other conference participants in Chicago.
"You just have to say it. You simply cannot talk about the cross in such slighting, denunciatory, cheapening, belittling ways."
Emphasizing the centrality of the cross, he stated, "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities. God set him forth to be the propitiation for our sins that God might be just and the one who justifies the ungodly."
The talk on Thursday, which was followed by a panel discussion, was precipitated by the newly released Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. In it, Bell, who pastors Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., wrestles with the notion of people being tortured in hell for eternity.
He denounces the teaching that only a select few Christians will spend forever in heaven while the rest are tormented in hell, calling it toxic and contending that it subverts the spread of Jesus' message of love.
Bell has made it clear that he believes hell exists. But he questions the belief that punishment in the afterlife is forever and suggests that there are postmortem opportunities to repent and join God in heaven.
The author has denied being a universalist, saying he doesn't believe God will come in and swoop everyone in whether they want to be in heaven or not.
But evangelicals argue that what Bell presents can only be described as universalism.
On Thursday, Carson defined universalism as the belief that ultimately everyone will be saved, however you understand saved in different religions.
"That means, if there is a hell, it will one day be empty," he explained.
Addressing Bell's denial, Carson stated, "Beware the attempts to muddy the definition of universalism.
"Rob says he is not a universalist if by universalist we mean that God somehow imposes His will on people to force everybody to go to heaven whether they want to or not. He doesn't think God forces His will on anybody. Rather, he thinks that 'love wins.' He keeps working at them ... until He's got them all on His side."
"But," he continued, "universalism does not refer to the mold or degree of force or attractiveness of God's love. It refers to the result. Are there any people who are finally rejected absolutely or eternally or will everyone be saved?"
Turning the discussion to universalists in general, Carson indicated that their view of God's love is distorted or incomplete.
Yes, God is loving, the theologian and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition noted. But the Bible speaks of God's love in different ways and what universalists do is absolutize one aspect of it – namely that God loves everyone the same way.
There is providential love, where God sends His son to die for both the just and the unjust. And there's a yearning love where God "dares to depict Himself as the almighty cuckold" and goes after even the betrayer to ultimately win them. But sometimes God also loves in a particularizing way such as when He loved Jacob but not Esau, as illustrated in the Old Testament. And other times, God's love is conditioned by His followers' obedience.
All this paints a picture of a God who is sovereign and on the other hand, personal.
Unfortunately, universalists only emphasize one aspect while tossing the rest.
"This is horrible exegesis," Carson maintained. "If you absolutize things merely to make the answers turn out the way you want them to, pretty soon you have a horribly diminished view of what the Bible says about God."
The evangelical theologian recognized why some may be teaching about an empty hell and an all loving God.
"We feel pressure from the culture to find universalism attractive," he pointed out.
"There are pressures in our culture to reduce the truth content of Scripture and then simply dismiss people by saying that they're intolerant or narrow-minded ... or bigoted without actually engaging the truth question at all. And that is really sad and in the long haul, horribly dangerous."
Part of what has happened in culture and in the churches is that the God of the Old Testament has been written off.
No comments:
Post a Comment