Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

LOVE WINS: A BOOK ABOUT HEAVEN,       HELL, and the FUTURE of  EVERY PERSON WHO EVER LIVED    By       Rob Bell   Reviewed by       Geoffrey W. Sutton I have observed that a lot of the adult children of parents in my age group have left conservative churches or left the Christian faith altogether. Some tell me their children identify as spiritual. I get that. My wife and I left conservative churches years ago. Rob Bell is in touch with the bright young people of the 21st century. I understand that conservatives will not agree with his message. And scholars will find his writings too simplistic. Nevertheless, I think Bell is meeting a spiritual need. Following is my summary of his book, Love Wins (Bell, 2011).      Bell is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids Michigan and a graduate of the conservative evangelical Wheaton College and Fuller Theologi...

SEX GOD EXPLORING THE ENDLESS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SEXUALITY AND SPIRITUALITY     By Rob Bell Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton What Rob Bell Says about Sexuality and Christian Spirituality  When I was writing A House Divided , I read Bell’s book, Sex God , as part of my quest to see what various evangelical Christians have said on the subject. Bell, a graduate of Wheaton College and Fuller Theological Seminary, founded the evangelical Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. His bestselling books have sometimes promoted controversy within Christian cultures because of his nontraditional views on classic teachings about such doctrines as salvation. He has been associated with the emerging church movement. In my book, I cite Bell as an example of the views of progressive Christians in contrast to those of conservative Christians. As with most of Bell’s writings, Sex God is an easy-to-read poetry-like collection of essays aimed...