Rob Bell Comes Back to the Spotlight with the Help of Oprah

By Kyle Glatz --
08 Dec 2014 --

Rob Bell was on the fast track for spiritual success. He was young and able to connect to the modern youth in a way that had not been seen for years.

He helped with the revival of Evangelical Christianity; all signs appeared to point upwards, and then he was gone. Now, many people are wondering where Rob Bell went after he fell off of the radar. After all, his theology looked poised to rock the religious world out of its stagnation through support of the youth.

Deep Religious Roots

Rob Bell was only in his mid-thirties when he was able to take over a mega-church in Michigan. He published several books that explored his radical form of theology, emphasizing the message of God’s infinite love. However, there was something missing from his message according to his fellow pastors. Traditional beliefs in the Christian church, especially in the fundamentalist sects, have always held that Hell is a real place that is full of suffering for those who do not embrace the message of the Bible. Rob Bell felt that as someone who believed so deeply in the unwavering love of God could not espouse the belief that there was a place conceived for eternal torment on His behalf.

Increasing Radicalization

Rob Bell wrote his book Love Wins and expressed his beliefs that Hell could not be a real place, and that is when he began to lose favor with the Church. While he was once considered the next big thing in evangelical preaching and writing, he quickly found himself an outsider among fellow pastors and even some of his former flock. Now labeled a heretic for his actions, Bell decided that he could more deeply explore his beliefs in the loving nature of God. This has led to what many have called a radicalization of his ideology.

Rob Bell’s latest works have seen him embrace concepts of love such as gay marriage that have completely separated him from many within the church.

A Brighter Future

However, Rob Bell has made some friends along the way, including the powerful and influential Oprah Winfrey. As a result of their friendship and her belief in his brand of God’s love, The Rob Bell Show is set to premier on Oprah’s network on December 21, 2014. He plans on spending episodes of the show exploring modern day issues with faith, love, and especially marriage. This has caused both excitement and dissent on public forums across the internet. With such a divisive yet revered character, it seems as though he will have a large audience to make his debut.