Rob Bell - Love Wins - Pt.3 (is eternal really eternal?)

On page 51-52, Bell discusses Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about The Sheep and The Goats. In the next paragraph, he introduces Matthew 7 (verse 23 specifically) where Christ says "Depart from Me, you law-breakers"(literally: you who work lawlessness). But Bell doesn't continue with a very important part of Matthew 25 which includes verses 41 and 46. It's as if he almost avoids these verses because it will deal a death-blow to his argument about there being no hell or that hell is not eternal.

DISCLAIMER: I know I've said that I will try to keep my posts short but I just couldn't with this one. I tried....

(Matthew 25:31-46) The story is about when the Son of Man (Christ) comes in His glory. Christ will be sitting on His throne and all the nations will be before Him. He will then separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; sheep on His right and goats on His left. It's a beautiful story that teaches us that when we show love and generosity and compassion to the least of our brothers and sisters, we are doing this as if for Christ Himself. Just think about that for a moment! You volunteer, donate, console, basically get out of our comfort zones so that someone else can be comforted. As a Christian, we are not only doing it for that person or group of people, but we are also doing it for our King!

Verse 41, as well as verse 46, is where I want you to pay particular attention to. As I mentioned, Bell tries to convince us, or at the very least, make us think about the fact that there is no hell and God would never separate us, allowing some to inherit the kingdom and others to not. But Christ is explicitly clear when He says to those on His left:

Verse 41: "Depart from Me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!" (Notice the exclamation mark - I'd say Jesus was pretty serious here).

Verse 42: "For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn't take Me in; I was naked and you didn't clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn't take care of Me."

Verse 46: "And they will go away into eternal punishment..."

Notice the the phrases "eternal fire" & "eternal punishment". The word "eternal" in both cases is from the Greek word αιονιοσ (pronounced ahee-o'-nee-os). This word means without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be without beginning and without end, never to cease, everlasting, perpetual. Can it be any clearer than that? Let's take it a step further and read how other translations state verse 46:

NET 25:46 "And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
NIV 25:46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
NASB 25:46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
ESV 25:46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
NLT 25:46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
MSG 25:46 "Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."
NKJV 25:46 "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
NRSV 25:46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
KJV 25:46 "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Are there any questions?