I’m a bit surprised that the McFall article didn’t generate response.  It is so dramatically different (opposed) to the typical evangelical mantra on Daniel 9:24-27 that I thought it would generate discussion. Maybe it didn’t because it is so coherently reasoned and (dare I say) “suspiciously biblical” in its position and internal consistency. That said, it doesn’t actually dictate one’s eschatological position. All it does is destroy the “Left Behind” approach to one passage, Daniel 9:24-27, and anything else attached to it (necessarily or not).

At any rate, I thought I’d ask you all what you’d like to read about and talk about next. In the near future, I’m going to say something about universal salvation. You may recall that, perhaps a year ago (?) I offered to create a reading group online to read Gregory MacDonald’s (pseudonym) book, The Evangelical Universalist. We started, but it didn’t last long due to inactivity. Given the shameless marketing going on over Rob Bell’s new book, “Love Wins” (wonder why he didn’t title it “God Wins” … hmmm), I thought it would be worthwhile to say something here at the Naked Bible on this topic — but I’d still like to take suggestions for future topics. Otherwise you might just get my free flow of though, which can be frightening at times.

In the short term, don’t waste your time on Bell’s book. No, I haven’t read it. The reason I say that is because Bell isn’t a theologian and ought not to be treated like one. He is basically about marketing and not much else. If you want to read something of high quality (though for me, still ultimately unpersuasive) on “universal salvation,” read The Evangelical Universalist. Its author (who recently revealed his identity as Dr. Robin Parry) is a trained scholar and careful thinker. His book is coherently written, so fluency in academese is not required.  Why read someone parroting the thoughts of a real theologian when you can read the real theologian?