Understanding A New Kind Of Christianity
A New Kind of Christianity is a movement and philosophical framework started by Rob Bell around 2011. It is not a denomination, a church plan, or a software tool. It is a way of re-examining core Christian beliefs through a lens that tries to separate what Bell calls the "message" of Jesus from the cultural and institutional packaging that accumulated over centuries. The central claim is fairly simple. Bell argues that much of what people assume to be essential Christianity — particularly around hell, exclusivism, and political alignment — was imported from later theology and Greco-Roman philosophy rather than drawn directly from the biblical texts. He wants to return to what he sees as the original intent of Jesus's teachings.
What A New Kind Of Christianity Actually Proposes
The framework rests on several key positions that differentiate it from traditional evangelical Christianity. First, it rejects the idea that hell is a place of eternal conscious torment. Bell draws on the original Greek term Gehenna and argues it refers to destruction or judgment, not infinite suffering. Second, it challenges the notion that faith in Jesus alone guarantees salvation while everyone else is damned. The movement suggests that God's grace extends far beyond visible church membership. Third, and perhaps most controversially, A New Kind of Christianity questions the reliability of the Bible as a perfect, inerrant document. Bell does not dismiss Scripture entirely. He reads it as a library of human writings shaped by their historical contexts, containing both profound spiritual insight and obvious cultural limitations. This approach puts him in direct conflict with conservative evangelical standards of biblical authority. I spent considerable time studying the movement after Bell published his book and launched the accompanying documentary. The practical effect of engaging with these ideas is that it forces a person to confront assumptions they never realized they were holding. I had many conversations with people who became genuinely distressed because their entire understanding of salvation depended on propositions that A New Kind of Christianity treats as later additions rather than foundational truths.
How the Movement Functions in Practice
A New Kind of Christianity does not operate as an organization with membership or doctrine. There is no signup process. You do not join a church under this label. The closest thing to a structure is the A New Kind of Christianity website, which hosts essays, discussion guides, and Bell's public talks. People engage with it individually or in small groups that choose to use the material for study. The primary entry point for most people is Bell's 2011 book titled A New Kind of Christianity: Twelve Foundational Ideas. The twelve points are deliberately broad rather than specific. They include ideas like God is love, the kingdom of God is at hand, and Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life but not the only way. The book is more of an invitation to rethink than a systematic theology. When I worked with people exploring this material, the hardest adjustment was usually around the concept of judgment. Traditional teaching frames judgment as a legal verdict rendered at death or the end of time. A New Kind of Christianity reframes judgment as something that begins now — a process of exposure where the truth of one's life and choices becomes fully visible. This is a subtle but important shift that changes how people approach moral decisions and their understanding of God's character.
Get the Full Details
A Specific Problem I Encountered
One edge case that came up repeatedly involved people who wanted to use A New Kind of Christianity materials in a church setting but faced pushback from leadership. The problem is that many pastoral staff and elders view Bell's work as theologically dangerous regardless of how carefully it is presented. I had a situation where a small group wanted to run Bell's discussion guide through its eleven sessions. The church permitted it conditionally, but the conditions effectively neutered the discussion. People were told not to question core doctrines during the sessions. This created a disconnect because the material is designed precisely to encourage that kind of questioning. The workaround I recommended was straightforward. Instead of running it as an official church group, the participants formed an independent study circle that met outside the church building. They agreed to read Bell alongside critics like D.A. Carson, who wrote a detailed rebuttal titled What Is the Mission of the Tribulation Church? engaging with similar themes. This approach let people hear both sides without institutional interference and also without the pressure of internal church politics. It took about six weeks to set up properly but saved the discussion from becoming either a performance or a conflict.
Common Misunderstandings About A New Kind Of Christianity
There are several persistent myths surrounding this movement that tend to confuse people who are encountering it for the first time. The most common is the claim that A New Kind of Christianity teaches that all religions are the same. This is not accurate. Bell does argue that salvation is not limited to Christians, but he still maintains that Jesus is uniquely significant. The distinction matters and people often miss it. Another widespread misunderstanding is that the movement is anti-bible. Again, this is incorrect. Bell affirms the authority of Scripture but defines authority differently than inerrantists do. For him, the Bible is authoritative because it reveals God clearly enough to transform lives, not because every statement it contains is factually perfect. This is a functional view of authority rather than a propositional one, and the difference has real implications for how someone reads difficult passages. A less discussed but equally important point is that A New Kind of Christianity has largely faded from public visibility since about 2014. Bell moved on to other projects including his later book Versions of Belief and various podcast appearances. The movement itself never gained the institutional traction some observers expected. This decline is worth noting because it means there is very little current community infrastructure for someone who wants to engage deeply with these ideas. Most of what exists online is archived content from the early 2010s.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Framework
The main strength of A New Kind of Christianity is that it gives people permission to ask questions that traditional environments often suppress. For someone who has lost faith because they felt they had to choose between intellectual honesty and religious commitment, this framework can be genuinely liberating. The emphasis on God's love as the central lens through which to interpret everything else is also pastorally useful in contexts where fear-based preaching has caused real harm. The weaknesses are equally real. The framework lacks systematic rigor. Bell's twelve points are suggestive rather than argued in depth. There is no peer-reviewed theology behind the movement, no seminary training requirement for anyone who identifies with it, and no accountability structure. This is not inherently bad, but it does mean that someone looking for a substantive replacement for traditional doctrine will find themselves adrift quickly. Another limitation is that the movement tends to overcorrect in the direction of inclusivism. The reaction against exclusive salvation claims sometimes swings toward a position where the specific claims of Christianity become difficult to articulate. If everything is true in some sense, then nothing is particularly distinctive. This is a philosophical problem that Bell himself acknowledged but never fully resolved.
For people who want a more theologically robust alternative, I would suggest looking at progressive orthodox traditions like the Episcopal Church's broad church wing or certain branches of mainline Protestantism that have developed careful theological frameworks for holding together biblical authority and inclusive soteriology. These traditions may not match the accessibility of Bell's presentation, but they offer more durable structure for long-term engagement.
Practical Steps for Engaging With the Material
If you want to explore A New Kind of Christianity, start by reading the book. It is short and readable. Then read the criticisms. D.A. Carson's response and various reviews from orthodox theologians will give you the counterbalance that the original material does not provide. After that, if the ideas resonate with you, look for a community that shares your theological direction rather than trying to make this movement itself function as one. The process of working through these questions usually takes three to four months for someone reading carefully and discussing with others. Rushing it tends to produce either superficial agreement or reactive rejection. Both outcomes miss what the material is actually trying to do, which is create space for a more honest conversation about what Christianity means.
