Adrian Holloway - The Shock of Your Life

The first time I opened the Bible to read it for myself, I promise you I heard a little voice say, Youve just become the saddest teenager in Britain! Who reads the Bible? Get a life. I was 16 years old.

If youre more likely to fly to the moon than read the Bible then this book is for you.

Youre about to read a dramatized summary of what the Bible says will happen to you when you die. In each chapter, Ive made up a story around ten points which appear in bold type . Most of the information in bold type is agreed by Christians everywhere to be the plain basic teaching of the Bible.

Be warned though this book is an attempt to get you to read the Bible for yourself. And youll notice, where the Bible is quoted directly, that a reference is given in a footnote. This consists of the name of the original book in the Bible (which youll find listed on the Contents page at the front of the Bible), followed by the chapter number in that book, followed by the verse number in that chapter. So Hebrews 9:27 means the book of Hebrews, chapter 9, verse 27.

I hope you find reading this book a rewarding experience one way or another, you are in it.

Adrian Holloway

horrified the non-christian

How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:14)

For heavens sake, Daniel, come on, were not going to be late! Thats how my mum woke me up on 10th July 2012. Weird to think how normal a day it was. Mum was giving me a lift to college and I was always late getting up. Its the mind-numbing predictability of it all that still gets me. Ive since thought that Mum probably said exactly the same thing the previous year at exactly the same time in the morning. Youd think the day you die would have some sort of spooky build-up with spooky music, but I got dressed watching breakfast TV.

Seventeen years old, doing English, History and Media Studies. Perhaps someone at the local paper is writing up the story right now. I bet theyll publish an old school photo of me which I really hate. Ive got bad hair in it, a wonky tie, and look like low-life scum. The stark caption underneath will read Daniel (17): with the inevitable adjective tragic. I hope someone at my funeral says my ambition was to be a writer. Anyway, Ill settle for a mention on the early evening news.

How did I die? In the back of the car, sitting next to my sister who was reading a Simpsons book, while I half-listened to some sad local radio phone-in my mum wanted on. Ten minutes into the journey sometime after 8.30 in the morning I was dead. We were hit by a lorry on a dual carriageway. I can draw you a map if you like.

The next thing I knew Im not exaggerating the next thing I knew I was on this sort of conveyer belt hurtling forward. It was really quick. And I got a buzz out of it even though I was dead! This was a revelation in itself! Anyway, it felt like I was back playing Grand Theft Auto V on Xbox 360 the night before, except that instead of thrashing through an urban jungle, I was on a hospital trolley steaming down a corridor, slamming through swing doors. I wasnt in any pain at this point, by the way.

Heres the freaky bit I dont know whether that was me in the hospital or not. All I know is that the next thing I was conscious of was standing in a bright yellow room! This was really real. I had my normal body with no injuries, the clothes I was wearing in the car when we crashed and there before me was... him!

I dont know why I feel so embarrassed to describe him. He looked cool. He was at least seven feet tall, suntanned and dressed in a single white robe. It sounds a bit gay but he looked really impressive. He wasnt really smiling, but I sensed he was a smiley person. I could imagine him in real life as a... sort of kind headmaster. But was this real life?

He told me to stand up.

Daniel, he said.

For the first time in my life, in death in fact, I felt like I was in a film. I also wanted to laugh. You know my name?