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First off thanks to Rocky for recommending “Love Wins” and also to everyone who commented on this thread – there’s a lot of good stuff!…I have to say I have not read such a thought-provoking book in a long time. And the oddly surprising thing about it was that I’m very familiar with the passages Bell gets into and I’ve even speculated along the lines of a few things he brought up. I’m just a casual Bible student and not in the same league as Bell being a deep-thinking and articulate pastor and author – so there’s something definitely uncanny when I come across someone who much more fluently and coherently expresses some things that have crossed my mind. One of the biggest things to hit me from the book was how relatable God is as our loving heavenly father. As a loving parent I would never give up on my kids – no matter what. Even if they became the most notorious criminals in the world – of course I would want them to pay their debt to society and hope for their rehabilitation while in prison – but regardless they’re still my kids – there’s something of me in them – I will always love them and care about their well-being. Bell’s book got me asking myself “Is God any less than that?”… It seems pretty clear to me from chapter 3 on Hell that with all the Old Testament passages, God’s intention has always been redemption, healing and restoration. The thing that really blew my mind was in chapter 4, when Bell points out Revelation 21:25 which says the gates to the eternal city will never be closed. People are free to come and go. That does not address the question will everybody be saved? But it does suggest God’s unfathomable love in designing a new world of freedom. God is love – and that is something you can’t demand from another – because true love gives freedom – so even in the next life we are free to choose whatever we want. The gates always remain open. If someone wants in - they can come in. If someone wants out - they can leave. If someone doesn’t want in - they can stay out. And to be realistic about freedom - as cool as heaven might sound – it stands to reason that some folks who willfully choose to live in a personal hell of their own design in this life may very well desire more of the same in the next. Maybe that’s what Revelation 22: 14 & 15 is talking about – of those outside the city – I don’t know – just speculating here. Another chapter that really excited was chapter 6 – There Are Rocks Everywhere. It made me think there is some kind of permeant quality about Jesus Christ – that he has penetrated every cultural, even if the Gospel has not reached there yet. Bell talks about missionaries who have traveled to the farthest reaches of the globe and people there hearing of Jesus for the first time. They respond “That’s his name? We’ve been talking about him for years.” Bell references John 14 - where Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I was flabbergasted to read Bell’s comments on that: “What he doesn’t say is how, or why, or in what manner the mechanism functions that gets people to God through him. He doesn’t even state that those coming to the Father through him will even know that they are coming exclusively through him. He simply claims that whatever God is doing in the world to know and redeem and love and restore the world is happening through him.” That makes me want to rethink what I know of other religions and cultures. It kinda makes sense to me that if God is so loving and wants to give everyone a chance, then he wouldn’t set up some exclusive venue with limited access. Romans 2 does seem to suggest that the requirements of the law are written on everyone’s heart, our consciences providing testimony and God will judge everyone through Jesus Christ. “Everyone” means everyone. Over the years my wife and I have had many discussions to try and expand our horizons beyond some of the narrow concepts we’ve been taught – she'll probably read “Love Wins” too, since I've talked about some of the book with her. And lastly, I’ve mentioned on a few other threads my fascination with superstring theory and extra dimensions. Bell uses it as a springboard to suggest Jesus’ talk of the kingdom of God as being an all-pervasive dimension of being, that was here, at hand, right now. Basically that was Jesus’ answer when the Pharisees asked him when the kingdom was coming - see Luke 17: 20 & 21 . Something like this always makes me wonder about the nature of the spiritual realm. I usually think of it as something distinctly not me…really another dimension and perhaps a place far away from me. But in superstring theory multidimensional particles could be compacted and folded up inside each other – and as far as we know nonexistent compared to our experience of only 3 dimensions and the passage of time… …And I guess if one could control how multidimensional particles are compressed and rolled up – then it would be possible to change the properties or characteristics of something. Makes me think of the city bending scene in the dream sequences of the movie Inception and the manipulation of reality scene in the movie Dr. Strange ...And probably the movie that comes closest to describing a world within a world is the scene of a futuristic city popping up in the middle of an open field in the movie Midnight Special (happens at about 2:15 minutes into the You Tube clip). Indeed some passages like II Peter 3:10 and Revelation 6: 12 - 17 that talk about the heavens disappearing with a roar, the elements destroyed by fire and the sky being split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up fires my imagination of what might happen on a cosmic scale… ...The majority of books I’ve read and scripture that I’ve studied have always reminded me of a transcendent God. Bell’s book got me to think about the immanence of God in the comprehensive and eternal work of Jesus Christ in all people in all situations. Something Bell said about God’s love near the end of the book seemed to circle back to superstring theory (the “stuff” of extra-dimensions curled up into a compact space) – but His love is not static or diminutive in any way – “the indestructible love of God is an unfolding, dynamic reality and that every single one of us is endlessly being invited to trust, accept, believe, embrace, and experience it.”