At first I didn’t want to believe it.  Did you?  I saw the book trailer and found it inconclusive.  I heard the rhetoric, the bandwagon for and against the man from multiple outlets, and still wasn’t sold either way.  Maybe because I loved the Nooma video’s, own a couple of his messages, and thinking he would have too much to lose by such a provocative message, I wanted to believe in the best possible outcome.  But ring the bell, sound the alarm, Rob Bell has opened himself up to deserved criticism for his view of the afterlife that salvation “may” be extended into the life hereafter.

People who are critics of Bell’s views in his latest book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived claiming he takes a universalist view of salvation, are being criticized on the basis of the classic defense “Judge not lest ye be judged. That’s God’s job.”  This was a response posted on Twitter from @kristimcarlson not too long ago.  Rev. and Dr. Serene Jones from Union Theological Seminary conveys a similar sentiment, “I think the people who are going after Rob Bell’s controversy are themselves closer to heresy than Rob Bell is.”  By the way, Jones believes hell is “made up” and that “the question of heaven and hell is not something we should be worrying about”.  For more see here:  http://abcnews.go.com/US/controversial-book-debunk-concept-hell/story?id=13070964

This is a must-see video for those following the discussion surounding the new book "Love Wins Out" by Rob Bell. The interviewer does a phenomenal job of holding Bell's feet to the fire and clarifying exactly what theological and personal assumptions drive his writings. I don't think Bell saw this coming.

This is a must-see video for those following the discussion surounding the new book "Love Wins Out" by Rob Bell. The interviewer does a phenomenal job of holding Bell's feet to the fire and clarifying exactly what theological and personal assumptions drive his writings. I don't think Bell saw this coming.

In 2005, sociologist Christian Smith released a monumental study of the spiritual lives of American youth. The study—called “The National Study of Youth and Religion”—is detailed in the book Soul Searching and is an insightful and eye-opening account of what students ages 13-17 believe about God and religion. A few months ago, Smith released a follow-up book called Souls In Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults (Oxford, 2010) that follows these same students as they transition into adulthood.

Like Soul Searching, this book is a must-read for anyone—parents, youth pastors, and teachers—interested in understanding the mindset of this generation. Smith is a careful, thoughtful, and highly respected sociologist from Notre Dame. He writes Souls in Transition to inform about this generation rather than to persuade to a particular form of ministry. Thus, people from various theological backgrounds will appreciate his work.