Monday, March 7, 2011

Doubt as a badge honor...

The latest flap over Rob Bell's views of hell and salvation have raised once again the post-modern infatuation with doubt and uncertainty. Even as post-modernism has largely been consigned to the intellectual trash bin, the emergent kids still think it is cutting edge. "We're into questions, not answers." "We're into the journey, not the destination." Ho hum.

Kevin DeYoung has posted a quote from one of my favorite writers of pastoral reflection, David Hansen. The quote is from Hansen's wonderful book The Art of Pastoring:
There is an important place in the ministry for honest questioning over doctrinal issues. But I’m not proud of my tossing and turning over hell. Some pastors wear their agnosticism about hell as a badge of honor. I’ve tried it. I’ve acted as if struggling to believe our Lord’s words were a virtue. But I always found that when I became proud of my doubts, they suddenly become the sin of unbelief. For me, finally, waffling over hell became the sin of unbelief (p. 78).
Two books that give the biblical answer to "Christian inclusivism":
Jesus: The Only Way to God: Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved? by John Piper

Faith Comes By Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism by Morgan & Peterson

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