This piece follows up on Rob Bell, Universalism and Nigerians. Benji Magness, “Teaching Pastor at Country Bible Church in Kaufman, Texas,” brings us this very in-depth critique from a month ago, which concerns the message he heard from Rob Bell when, along with two other pastors, Benji attended Bell’s “the gods aren’t angry” tour “at Nokia Live.”

Benji tells us, “My good friend Rob typed up a response to Rob Bell’s message”:

I attended with two senior pastors who are my dearest friends from seminary. They are tracking with the Emerging Church movement and have sharp minds to discern truth from untruth. After Rob Bell spoke, we processed his talk in community and came to the same conclusion.

I really appreciate Bell’s writings (like Velvet Elvis), and I think he has several great concepts and insight around 1st century culture and correlating it to the gospels. But after Friday night, our community of three came to the conclusion that Bell denies a substitutionary atonement model of Christ’s death, and is a functioning Universalist…

“All things have been reconciled to God… All things are reconciled to God”. [Rob Bell] repeats this over and over. He doesn’t give you any reference to this idea or the rest of the verse’s idea and concept. The concept comes out of Col. 1:20. Everything in the way he repeated this statement communicated that everyone has been reconciled to God. In his delivery and tone communicated that all things (all people) have been reconciled to God.

There is no indication that any profession of Christian faith or belief is needed in order to bring about reconciliation with an individual. But, reconciliation has come because God is love and God provides. There was no communication that Christ’s death had anything to do with reconciliation or that any type of profession or belief was needed to bring about this reconciliation. This idea would be considered among theologians as a Universalist View of Salvation. (Online source)

Apprising Ministries finds this very interesting. These dear friends from seminary, with two of these pastors—possessing sharp minds to discern truth—are in the Emergent Church, and yet they too picked up what so many others of us outside the emerging church have. Rob Bell does indeed appear to be teaching some form of universalism.

See also:

ROB BELL SAYS GOD HAS ALREADY MADE PEACE WITH ALL MEN (REVISED)

ROB BELL SAYS “ALL-EE IN FREE…ALMOST”

ROB BELL AGREES WITH NEW AGE GURU MARIANNE WILLIAMSON *UPDATE*