Bruce Bickel(Preface) - Answering the Toughest Questions about Heaven and Hell

2017 by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz

Published by Bethany House Publishers

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ISBN 978-1-4412-3080-5

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations identified ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011

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Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Page Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Is There an Afterlife? 2. What Happens When You Die? 3. Are Heaven and Hell for Real? 4. Can I Believe What the Bible Says About the End of the World? 5. Do All Roads Lead to Heaven? 6. If God Is Loving, How Could He Send Anyone to Hell? 7. Is Hell a Divine Torture Chamber? 8. How Do You Get into Heaven? 9. What Will Heaven Be Like? 10. How Can I Be Sure About Heaven? Appendix 1: Will There Be Animals in Heaven? Appendix 2: Can My Loved Ones in Heaven See Me? Appendix 3: Will There Be Rewards in Heaven? Appendix 4: Are Near-Death Experiences for Real? Notes About the Authors Back Ad Back Cover Acknowledgments

Bruce and Stan want to thank Christopher Greer for the work he contributed to this book. In addition to conducting countless personal interviews and designing the surveys, he helped outline and write several chapters.

Bruce, Stan, and Chris want to acknowledge the hundreds of young adultsespecially those from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Californiawho took the time to articulate their most important questions about heaven and hell. The questions you asked show that you really want to know.

Introduction

Most people enjoy thinking about heaven, even if they dont have good reasons for believing in its existence. Who doesnt want to believe in a place beyond this world where everything will be beautiful and perfect, where there will be no more sorrow or pain or death? The popularity of books about heavenespecially the so-called heaven tourism books written about or by people who supposedly died and went to heaven, only to come back again to tell their storyshows that people are naturally curious about heaven.

Not surprisingly, people dont talk much about hell, unless its one person telling another person to go there. Even in our churches, the once common fire and brimstone message warning people to repent so they wont spend eternity in hell is almost nonexistent. If anything, people prefer to believe that a loving God would never condemn people to a lifetime of torture and agony.

We get that. The idea of God sending people to hell is vexing and complicated. It certainly isnt something you would lead with if you wanted to tell someone why you are a Christian. And if you are still investigating this whole faith in God thing, you probably wouldnt start with hell. So why are we talking about heaven and hell in the same book? Wouldnt it be better to focus on the good part of eternity rather than the bad?

That would be a fine strategy if there were no such place as hell, or if we believed that God would never send anybody there. But what if hell does exist, and what if God has made it pretty clear that there are consequences for not believing and accepting his plan for eternal life in heaven?

These are just two of the many questions we consider in this book about heaven and hell. As we did in our previous book, Answering the Toughest Questions About God and the Bible, we relied on Christopher Greer, a pastor who ministers primarily to young adults, to capture the questions people are asking about God, in particular heaven and hell. Although the questions werent easy to answer, we think the respondents hit the mark. After all, the toughest questions are usually the best.

We have a feeling these would be the kinds of questions you would ask about heaven and hell if we had a chance to speak with you face-to-face. Since we probably wont have the opportunity to ever meet you in person, we hope we have created a space in this book for you to wrestle with these incredibly important issues. Whether you read this book on your own or meet together with a small group, our desire is that you get to know God better and appreciate him more because of what he has planned for you beyond the life you now live.

Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz
Is There an Afterlife?

Introduction

Robert was dying of cancer. His granddaughter, Erin, hoped and prayed that he would turn to God for the first time, put his life in Jesus hands, and be ready for eternal life. She longed to know she would see her grandfather again someday.

Erin recently began a relationship with God through Jesus, and she grew more and more curious about life after death. Her grandfather was never so interested in God or the afterlife. As an atheist, he believed there was no God and that lifethe moments packed between our first and last breathis all there is. For Robert, life was restricted to the immediate, the here and now, the physical and material. When death comes, the movie is finished, the credits role, and then all fades to black. Nothing awaits us. There is no sequel. And the rest of the world goes on.

When Robert died, Erins cousin (who is agnostic about God) tried to comfort her. She said, Erin, Grandpa Robert lived well, and we can be thankful that now there is nothing for him. No more pain, no more anything. He would be glad we have our memories to look back on. Erin agreed that living a good life was very important, but her cousins words were far from comforting. Erin could not help but believe there was more to life than this.

As she grieved her beloved grandfathers death, she wrestled with what might or might not lie ahead. Is there life after this one? Is this lifethis physical world and our experiences in itall there is? Or are her newfound belief and her gut-level intuition correct in concluding there is plenty more life to be had after this one?

When it comes to Erins question, Is there life after this? Christianity answers a resounding yes! In fact, the promise of life after death is one of Christianitys key doctrines. For better or worse, one way Christians have tried to begin conversations with others about faith in Jesus is by asking a basic (though somewhat jarring) question: If you died today, do you know where you would go? Weve always wanted someone to pose that question to one of us so we could coolly reply, To the morgue.

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