In a recent video promoting his new book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived,” pastor Rob Bell questioned one person’s certainty that Gandhi was in Hell.

That one statement has sparked a firestorm of controversy.

Via blogs, YouTube, sermons, comments and discussion, Bell’s single question has been attacked, disregarded and razed by people labeling him a heretic and universalist. All because a man who the Chicago Sun Times said was the next Billy Graham, suggested, not said, that Gandhi might be in Heaven.

But does one differentiation of belief really deserve such condemnation?

For the past years we have all watched his Nooma videos at church, at home, and ACU even had a Chapel based on the series and his preachings. Just because Bell has said one thing thousands may disagree with does not make his previous material any less worthwhile, meaningful or truthful.

Bell is entitled to his opinions just as we are entitled to ours. Calling him a heretic is a strong term. Bell has never, to our knowledge, claimed that what he writes and says is scripture. All he claims is that he writes what he believes to be true.

Instead of name-calling and mudslinging, those who wish to disagree with Bell should read his book, then open up their own Bibles and read what it says about the afterlife.

Comparing the two and giving concrete evidence of why you disagree is much more substantial and effective than pointing fingers and screaming.

But we should never take any writers’ interpretations of the Bible at face value. There is no way we can believe everything that is written about any topic, especially religion.

If we should not listen or study the teachings of those who advocate beliefs other than our strict interpretations of the Bible, then many classes we have here on campus need to be cut.

We can say goodbye to philosophy classes and many of the ethical studies classes. English classes’ reading materials will need to be curtailed and we should just trash the political science department. Those are just a few of the areas that aren’t explicitly Christian.

But instead of doing that, we take what is good from the various teachings and try to become better Christians because of it. That is exactly what we should do with Rob Bell.

We are not the judges of who gets into Heaven, and we do not want to be. What we do want is everyone to be open to scripture and make their religion their own – and to do that we often need to read what we might disagree with.

Regardless of what Bell’s book says, we can still value him as a theologian.