Here are my chapter by chapter reviews of Bells book Love Wins.
Chapter 1: So far Bell is asking all the right questions. The questions we have all asked or wanted to ask, or perhaps been told not to ask depending on our particular church culture. They are uncomfortable questions, that will fill you with dread, if your faith is built on being absolute certain about your fundamentals. Maybe the questions are so uncomfortable because we are afraid it might be true…
Chapter 2: Heaven. Bell describes heaven as Eden restored, Present elsewhere and future here. Bell describes a heaven that both comforts and confronts. A message of transformation to make us ready to handle heaven.
Chapter 3 – Hell. While Bell mostly describes hell on earth here and now, he in no way denies the reality of hell in the now or in the age to come. He does however redefine the word eternal to mean an age or an intensity of experience.
Chapter 4 – Does God get what he wants? Scripture tells us that God wants everyone to be saved, does God get what he wants or do we get what we want? Bell gives us an optional universalism. Everyone can be saved and will be given as many chances as it takes to make it happen. But in the end it is our choice.
Chapter 5 – Dying to live. Bell gives an overview of the different metaphors used for what happened on the cross, emphasising that the cross is not a small personal victory but a cosmic event that can never be just about sin and forgiveness but about the redemption and restoration of the whole cosmos. We need to enter into the death of the cross to find the resurrection life with Christ.
Chapter 6 – There are Rocks everywhere. Bell goes on to paint a picture of Jesus as the incarnation of the divine word, a Jesus that has been active and present in our world since creation and that is still active and present, alive and well everywhere even outside of the Christian church, even within other belief system. Jesus is the only way to God and Jesus is everywhere!
Chapter 7 – The good news is better than that. Bell asks the question if the difference between heaven and hell could be the difference between trusting our own interpretation of events or trusting God’s retelling of our story. He does so by looking at the parable of the prodigal son. Bell states that it is all about trust, trusting Gods retelling of our story but ultimately trusting God.
Chapter 8 – The end is here. Your choices matter and Love wins!
Nice summery!