In his video, Francis Chan also considers how we sometimes dismiss the reality of hell. Supposed Christians and blatant unbelievers might say, “Oh, well I don’t understand how God could do such a thing like condemning people to hell for eternity.” However, that is precisely the point: we do not understand God. And it is because of that incomplete understanding of God that leads us to misconstrue His actions, intents and purposes. God is not like man. Man naturally tries to cover his sins, and sweep the sins of others under the rug. God does not. Unfortunately, some men don’t seem to realize this.
Case in point: Rob Bell, in his recent book Love Wins, says: "It's been clearly communicated to many that this belief (in hell as conscious, eternal torment) is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy that our world desperately needs to hear." Essentially, Bell is claiming that it is possible to reject the doctrine of hell as conscious, eternal torment and still accept Jesus’ teachings. This is where Bell is fundamentally and heretically wrong. Jesus Himself talked about hell, and described it as a place of conscious and eternal torment (Mark 9:43, 48; Luke 16:19-31).
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