{"id":6084,"date":"2011-03-18T21:10:33","date_gmt":"2011-03-19T01:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=6084"},"modified":"2026-08-28T13:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T20:58:46","slug":"on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/","title":{"rendered":"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Menno-Lite<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

A newly released book called Love Wins<\/strong> by Rob Bell is (supposedly) causing a huge controversy in Christendom. The issue is over the doctrine of hell, which the emergent Bell hasn\u2019t been very clear about in certain interviews and promotional videos lately. Because it\u2019s no secret that in the past Mennonites have been fond of Rob Bell, and that even more recently, the October 2009 MB Herald issue featured Bell (under Currently in Sermons<\/em>), some of us are wondering how the Mennonites are reacting to the current publicity over Bell\u2019s latest work on his road to universalism.<\/p>\n

As expected, a few postmodern Mennonites are beginning to sound off on this issue, like the odd Mennonite blogger here<\/a> and there<\/a>, an MB Forum discussion here, and even some young Anabaptist radicals. Even Menno Weekly has gotten into the hellish debate. After recommending readers to glean from the opinions of heresy\u2019s front line defender Brian McLaren, their article then states:<\/p>\n

It has been astounding to see the speed with which Bell has been denounced as a heretic and the forceful unwillingness to even raise the questions he poses. For me, this is a red flag. Why are so many vigorously defending a relatively specific doctrine of hell?
\nWhen you look at the Bible, there is no one consistent understanding of hell. For that matter, the concept of an afterlife in much of the Old Testament was non-existent. God blesses and curses you through your descendants, not in an afterlife (see the Ten Commandments). There is no consistent version of hell in the Bible, and what is there most certainly doesn\u2019t look like what most people envision. The image of a red guy with a pitchfork and horns comes from Dante\u2019s Inferno, not the Bible.<\/p>\n

The doctrine of hell is powerful. Combined with a select few leaders who determine who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out, the fear of hell fuels enormous power and control. Even raising the question, as Bell has done, challenges the enormous power that many have enjoyed for centuries. –Rob Bell and what we believe about hell and heaven <\/strong>By Alan Stucky (pastor of Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church in Harper, Kan.) http:\/\/www.mennoweekly.org\/blog\/2011\/3\/7\/rob-bell-and-what-we-believe-about-hell-and-heaven\/<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bringing reason to the this postmodern madness is an enlightening review that Menno-lite<\/em> has come across which definitely shines a bright spot light on the subject. Click here<\/a> to read more.<\/p>\n

Related Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rob Bell Unable to Defend His Own Beliefs in MSNBC Interview \u2013 Squirms, But Gives No Answers <\/a><\/p>\n

Rob Bell Puts God on Trial \u2013 \u201cHath God Really Said?\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

Brian McLaren and Richard Foster\u2019s Editorial Team Agree with Lighthouse Trails \u2013 Contemplative Prayer and Eastern Mysticism Are Same Thing <\/a><\/p>\n

Everything is Not Spiritual <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Menno-Lite A newly released…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":12680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2575,25],"tags":[26,31,126,134,269,347,580],"class_list":["post-6084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mennonites-churches-in-crisis","category-progressive-emerging-church","tag-emerging-church","tag-mysticism","tag-brian-mclaren","tag-universalism","tag-rob-bell","tag-richard-rohr","tag-menno-lite","wpcat-2575-id","wpcat-25-id"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Menno-Lite A newly released...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-19T01:10:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-28T20:58:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"188\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Menno-Lite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Menno-Lite\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Menno-Lite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d\"},\"headline\":\"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-19T01:10:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-28T20:58:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":464,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"emerging church\",\"mysticism\",\"Brian McLaren\",\"universalism\",\"Rob Bell\",\"richard rohr\",\"menno-lite\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Mennonites\",\"EMERGENT \\\"PROGRESSIVE\\\" CHURCH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/\",\"name\":\"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites - From the Lighthouse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-19T01:10:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-28T20:58:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":188},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"From the Lighthouse\",\"description\":\""A Light Shining in the Darkness"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d\",\"name\":\"Menno-Lite\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c6f33d9427e3d2da7e07678d488e89c7ce532cdf34fe3c7109fcd1651f27eaf5?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c6f33d9427e3d2da7e07678d488e89c7ce532cdf34fe3c7109fcd1651f27eaf5?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c6f33d9427e3d2da7e07678d488e89c7ce532cdf34fe3c7109fcd1651f27eaf5?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Menno-Lite\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/menno-lite\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites - From the Lighthouse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites","og_description":"by Menno-Lite A newly released...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/","og_site_name":"From the Lighthouse","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch","article_published_time":"2011-03-19T01:10:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-28T20:58:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":188,"url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Menno-Lite","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LTrails","twitter_site":"@LTrails","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Menno-Lite","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/"},"author":{"name":"Menno-Lite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d"},"headline":"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites","datePublished":"2011-03-19T01:10:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-28T20:58:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/"},"wordCount":464,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg","keywords":["emerging church","mysticism","Brian McLaren","universalism","Rob Bell","richard rohr","menno-lite"],"articleSection":["Mennonites","EMERGENT \"PROGRESSIVE\" CHURCH"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/","name":"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites - From the Lighthouse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg","datePublished":"2011-03-19T01:10:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-28T20:58:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Bell-2-fb2-300x2541-e1787950718612.jpg","width":300,"height":188},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/on-rob-bell-hell-and-mennonites\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/","name":"From the Lighthouse","description":""A Light Shining in the Darkness"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3a6e2b8cf581e9d981e0b2095b092f3d","name":"Menno-Lite","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f33d9427e3d2da7e07678d488e89c7ce532cdf34fe3c7109fcd1651f27eaf5?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f33d9427e3d2da7e07678d488e89c7ce532cdf34fe3c7109fcd1651f27eaf5?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f33d9427e3d2da7e07678d488e89c7ce532cdf34fe3c7109fcd1651f27eaf5?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Menno-Lite"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/author\/menno-lite\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6084"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44451,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6084\/revisions\/44451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}