What If Jesus Was Serious about Heaven?: A Visual Guide to Experiencing God's Kingdom among Us

What If Jesus Was Serious Series

by Skye Jethani

Many Christians think about heaven as a distant place we go after we die. But what if it's a very real kingdom available to us right now, here on earth?

In What If Jesus Was Serious about Heaven? , Skye Jethani unpacks what Jesus really said about heaven and how it can transform our faith today. The fourth in Jethani's popular What If Jesus Was Serious? series, this guide includes the author's hand-drawn illustrations in each chapter.

Jethani explores the importance of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus's ministry, message, and parables. In doing so, he redefines the popular understanding of heaven as a celestial home for the dearly departed and reimagines our role in God's kingdom here on earth. This book shows what Jesus and his first followers knew about heaven that we get wrong and helps us recapture what it means for God's kingdom to be present on earth right now.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Theology, Faith, Spirituality, Christian Living, Religion

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2023

About the author

SKYE JETHANI is an author, speaker, consultant and ordained pastor. He also serves as the co-host of the popular Phil Vischer Podcast, a weekly show that blends astute cultural and theological insights with comical conversation. He has been a sought after consultant for groups facing challenges at the intersection of faith and culture like The Lausanne Movement, The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and the Interfaith Youth Core. Skye has authored three books, The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity, WITH: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God, and Futureville. Skye and his wife Amanda have three children: Zoe, Isaac, and Lucy and reside in Wheaton, IL.

Reviews

[Heidi Chiavaroli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small book with a huge message.

I think I've said this before about Skye's writings, but he has a way of pulling back the cultural lens of Christianity and getting to the heart of scripture. The book was stunning and hope-filled, causing me to think about heaven in an entirely different way.

[Ben Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always with Skye Jethani, there is no culture war nonsense, just good theology in an easy-to-read package for lay people.

The book wrests the idea of heaven from it's pop culture / American evangelical caricature as a cloudy place of rest, reward and escape, and reorients it back into the context in which Jesus and the early apostles spoke of it.

This redefinition carries with it heavy implications for how we should treat others in our communities and tend to the natural world. Jethani deftly navigates through many of these implications while keeping the exploration grounded in its original cultural and scriptural context.

*I received this as a promotional advanced copy from NetGalley, but opinions are my own.

[Faithful Intellect · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review Rating: 10/10

This Book Is:
- A short, easy to read book.
- A visual guide with lots of pictures to explain concepts.
- Aligned with the teachings of Dallas Willard and The Bible Project.
- A compelling argument for a Christ-Centric faith instead of the traditional Heaven-Centric faith.
- Great for family devotional time.

This Book Is Not:
- An in-depth analysis of theological concepts.

My Takeaways:
Heaven-Centric vs Christ-Centric: My top takeaway is the simple terminology Jethani uses to describe his approach compared to the traditional evangelical view. He describes the traditional view as Heaven- centric. The gospel is not about going to Heaven when you die. Having a Christ-centric view is more compelling.

Heaven and Earth vs Heaven and Hell: The words Heaven and Hell do not occur together in the Bible, but we often view them as connected when we think about God’s plan. We usually think people either go to Heaven or Hell when they die. Jethani argues that we should actually think more about Heaven and Earth than Heaven and Hell. God’s plan is to bring Heaven and Earth back together. This culminates with Jesus and is available to us here and now.

Consumerism vs The Cross: The gospel has been entwined with many competing values that contaminate the actual good news of Jesus. Politics is probably the top of that list, but consumerism is also high. The prosperity gospel exists in both obvious and subtle forms. Many Americans have a capitalist mindset that values accumulating things and our security comes from our wealth. We believe that God wants to bless us, but we think of blessing in material terms. The truth is that God does want to bless us, but the way of Jesus is the way of the cross.

Click here to read the full review at Faithful Intellect.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read, that makes me want to have great discussions! Please read this and let’s talk (I have copies!!) heaven is our HOPE in this world

[Jake Pettit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still trying to recover from the shock that I grew up in Sunday School without being taught these simple truths about Heaven.

The heart of this book, what Jethani calls the Biblical "road map of Heaven" that Evangelical Christianity has sidelined and ignored, is Jesus' promise is that the Kingdom of Heaven is coming.... to Earth. The Bible describes, with intense and persistent focus, the coming redemption of the physical world; not a life-boat escape to a disembodied Heaven.

Jethani shows how that Biblical truth, plus several others, impacts not only Christians' view of Heaven, but our view of our work here on Earth.

This book changed my worldview--changed a small but bedrock part of how I read the Bible--and I can't believe I didn't see it before. Highly, highly recommend for Christians who grew up in any non-denominational or Evangelical tradition.

[Erin Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! My eschatology was forever changed by reading NT Wright's Suprised by Hope. This book provides similar teaching in a very easy-to-read/use format. Each chapter takes one topic, explores it, and gives the Scriptural references to explore more. It would be great for family devotionals or a Bible study. I would like to read more by this author. I already love listening to him on the Holy Post Podcast.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to win a book giveaway from one of my favorite publishers, Brazos Press, just before we landed in the holidays.

Unsurprisingly, I had already read three of the five books received. I was thrilled, however, to get all three of the books in print.

That left me with two books I'd yet to read including this one - What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? A Visual Guide to Experiencing God's Kingdom Among Us.

The book is written by Skye Jethani, an award-winning author, former pastor, and speaker. He is cohost of the Holy Post podcast (with over 600,000 downloads per month). He's written numerous books including the "What If Jesus Was Serious" series of which this is, of course, a part.

With "What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven?," Jethani explores what Jesus really said about heaven and how it can transform our faith. The book includes rather delightful hand-drawn illustrations in each chapter and a scriptural reference to guide the discussions.

Many Christians think about heaven as this distant "other place" we go to after we die. Jethani explores the kingdom of heaven in Jesus's ministry, message, and parables. In doing so, he clearly and concisely redefines the popular understanding of heaven and reimagines it.

Many Christians think about heaven as a distant place we go after we die. But what if it's a very real kingdom available to us right now, here on earth?

While it could be tempting to do so, Jethani avoids dipping into culture wars in favor of pretty straightforward exegesis of scripture. This five-part book is a surprisingly straightforward collection, relatively easy to read even for theological novices and yet also thorough and well-researched. As Christians, we've likely all thought about these issues and Jethani gives us a way to think about them, explore them, research them, and gain a better understanding.

The fourth in Jethani's "What If Jesus Was Serious?" series, this excellent collection is a terrific resource new and longtime Christians.

[Cindy Davis- Cindy's Book Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skye Jethani has become an "auto" read author. I have read all his books in the What If Jesus Was Serious series. What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? is best read slowly, allowing time to ponder each section.

"Unfortunately, merely reading the Bible-while always a good practice may not be enough to repair our warped view of heaven. This is because when we encounter the word heaven in Scriptures, we insert our culturally created mental map. We rarely slow down long enough to ask whether our map of heaven and the Bible's are the same."

The book is divided into five sections, with multiple subsections related to the heading of that part. Each subsection is between 2-3 pages with Scripture verses at the end to enforce the points the author made in that particular section. Each of the five sections is related to specific passages of Scripture. It is easy to read and understand.

One of the reasons I love these books by Jethani is because he gives us much to consider. He lays out his points, backed with scripture. He had done the research for us (with notes in the back so we could check that research). I always learn something new from Jethani and wonder about some of the points he makes in the book.

While not a challenging read, it is a thought-provoking one for sure. I highly recommend this one and all the others in the series. They all stand alone.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jethani demonstrates how contemporary cultural assumptions obscure the biblical vision of heaven, fostering misinterpretations. For example, contrary to the widespread belief that heaven is a separate, ethereal domain for believers fleeing a destroyed Earth, Jethani shows that the scriptures, when understood in their original context, portray God's intention to restore our current Earth and establish his presence among his people. I wasn't crazy about the devotional style of the book, but others may like that.

[Carol Hallenbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skye Jethani pulls no punches as he outlines biblically how modern Christians have convoluted the gospel message regarding the Kingdom of Heaven. Each two-page chapter is written in clear and simple language-- including cartoons and Bible passages for further study. 100% recommend.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this simple but profound series by Skye Jethani. The reorientation of our ideas of heaven have deep implications.

[Sheryl Melvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed and enhanced my understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven. Logically laid out, cited, and eminently readable.

[SundaytoSaturday .com · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Before diving into his 41 devotionals on heaven author Skye Jethani discusses his fondness of maps and the fact that each one of us carries a mental map that "orient(s) and guide(s) us, offer(s) perspectives, and provide(s) a framework for understanding our place in a complicated world." Our mental maps "define what is real, what is important, and where things reside in relation to each other." But what if one of our mental maps is wrong?

"If our maps are wrong, they are certain to misguide and misorient us," Jethani writes in his fourth devotional book What if Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? "If it is incorrect, it will send other aspects of our faith and life off course as well."

Jethani argues that many, perhaps the majority of, American Christians have an incorrect mental map of heaven--what he calls a heaven-centric view Christianity. This view centers on getting to heaven as one of the main goals, if not the main goal, of Christianity. This view shapes our theology, how we interact with our neighbors, how we view and treat the Earth, how we engage with politics---basically our entire lives. But, what if heaven is not the center of Christianity?

This might sound like heresy, but Jethani humbly asks the reader to consider another mental map of heaven, a mental map that is centered on Jesus. Jethani contends that when we have a Jesus-centric view of Christianity parts of the Bible that don't make sense suddenly fall into place. How we interact with our neighbors, how we engage with politics, and how we treat the Earth all change.

"If we are going to be faithful to God, we must ask if our mental map of heaven is grounded in the revelation of Scripture or if it's mostly the product of cultural cliches and sentimental traditions? We must be willing to surrender the flawed map we like for the more accurate map we need."

Throughout his devotional Jethani addresses parts of Scripture and what they mean in light of a Jesus-centric view. He tackles the so-called divide between the earth and heaven, what defines a miracle, if heaven is place in the sky, and much more. He helpfully explains the cultural context of several passages in the Bible while placing them in the overall narrative of the Biblical story. For the visual learners he has poignant doodles at the beginning of each chapter that touch on the theme of the devotional.

Simply put, Jesus is here and he is coming. Heaven is here and it is coming. Amen and amen.

KEY QUOTE: "What we believe about the future determines what we believe matters in the present. This is why a heaven-centric view of the Christian life is so damaging. It severely limits what we believe Jesus cares about and, therefore, narrows the mission and works his followers engage in...Once we discover that heaven is not our eternal home, and that we will reign with God on earth, then we must rethink many of our assumptions about the future."

MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate content for the church.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What If Jesus Was Serious about Heaven?
A Visual Guide to Experiencing God's Kingdom among Us
by Skye Jethani

This book is written in an easy-to-read style. I enjoyed the short, punchy chapters with clear headings and Bible verses to ‘read more’. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the Kingdom of Heaven and heaven on earth. Skye Jethani adeptly unpicks some of the common misconceptions in Biblical understanding.

My only reservation is that there were times when it felt that there might be more than one side to the point being made and the simple short-chapter format didn’t leave a lot of room for a deeper discussion.

I understand that there are illustrations that go with the book, although these weren’t available with the review copy on Amazon Kindle.

Overall, I enjoyed the points made in this book. The book is thoughtful, offering fresh insights into a tricky topic.

[Nathan Chud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jethani did a wonderful job taking complex, controversial topics and succinctly and effectively interpreting them for a casual reader. The images were both entertaining and helpful, and his tone was accessible and challenging. I will be exploring his other "What if Jesus was Serious..." books.

Notes:
- According to the Bible, heaven is not a single place or a proper name, and we should not speak about heaven as a singular location... The ancient cultures that shaped the Bible, and to which Jesus belonged, understood "the heavens" to be a vast realm surrounding the earth / the dwelling place of God.
- "The damage done to our practical faith in Christ and in his government at hand by confusing heaven with a place in distant outer-space, or even beyond space, is incalculable. Of course, God is there too. Byt instead of heaven and God also being always present with us, as Jesus shows them to be, we invariably take them to be located far away and, most likely, at a much later time - not here and not now." (Dallas Willard)
- The main storyline in the Bible is about heaven and earth interacting with each other. The words heaven and hell never occur together anywhere in the Bible. The primary emphasis of Scripture is not whether people will reside in heaven or hell after they die, but how heaven will be united with earth.
- Our cultural assumption is that life in heaven is available only after death. But the centerpiece of Jesus's message was that life in heaven is accessible to us now.
- In the eight gospel sermons recorded in the book of Acts, the apostles never mention anything about an afterlife in heaven or hell. While so many modern gospel messages are about being rescued from an earth that is doomed, Peter's gospel sermon is about the earth being restored and redeemed. It is a gospel of restoration, not merely rescue. For Jesus's apostles, the great hope of the gospel is not that we can escape to heaven but that Christ will return from heaven, restore the earth, and unite heaven and earth one and for all.
- Our theology of creation will determine our theology of redemption... whenever Scripture talks about God's work of "redemption," it is describing the recovery and restoration of that original created order.
- The uncomfortable fact is that Jesus offered little practical instruction in his sermons. Jesus was not a straight talker. Instead, his stories were designed to challenge his listeners' assumptions and surprise them with unexpected, even offensive, revelations about God and his kingdom,. Sometimes Jesus even intended to confuse his audience. Most often, his parable began with something his audience was familiar with, and then he surprised them with a twist that turned their assumptions upside down.
- The Jewish point of dual invitations and careful preparations is not to keep as many people out of the banquet as possible but to ensure everyone can join the party. Jesus is emphasizing a kingdom of inclusion rather than exclusion. In Jesus's parable in Luke 14, the disrespect of the already-invited and already-committed guests has brought great shame upon the host - a cultural violation we can barely comprehend in our modern context.
- Christian faith is different. While affirming the existence of an all-powerful, all-loving Creator, it also acknowledges the real presence of evil in the world.. Jesus fully acknowledges and sympathizes with our experience of evil while also offering us hope for the day when it will be overcome by good.
- We should not confuse heaven's power with human power... history shows that when humans arrogantly assume we possess this divine vocation, when we believe we can make a perfect world, rather than solving the problem of evil we become part of it.
- Contrary to the modern view that defines a miracle as an event that violates the natural order, in the Gospels, a miracle is an event that restores the proper order - the order God always intended.
- Heaven confronts our view of scarcity... Pharoe introduces the principal of scarcity into the world economy. For the first time in the Bible, someone says, "There's not enough. Let's get everything." At the root of our country's dysfunction, there's an us and a then, and what's good for them is bad for us. The empires of the world are driven by scarcity. They convince us to be afraid, to feel threatened by others.
- Throughout the Bible, abundance is always linked to the presence of God. In the modern culture, we often view the miracles of abundance through our cultural lens of consumerism - a capitalist mindset of having and wanting more stuff. It's the lie behind the lie that God always wants us to be safe and comfortable, that suffering is abnormal, and that every setback or struggle in our lives is due to a lack of faith.
- Jesus was often busy, but he was never hurried (Ortberg).
- Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil (Carl Jung).
- Obviously, Jesus's miracles happened because he was connected to God, but we overlook how many miracles happened because he was deeply aware of the people around him.
- If the first miraculous feeding screamed "Israel!" the second miraculous feeding shouted "Gentiles!"
- John 14, like the Gospel itself, isn't about heaven; it's about living in never-ending union with God.
- Jesus's leaving and his preparing a place for us are not two events that will happen sequentially (leave first and then prepare a place), but the same events happening simultaneously. Jesus will not prepare a place for his disciples with God after his death and resurrection but through his death and resurrection.
- Unlike the nature of the Trinity or Jesus, no church's council was ever convened to clarify the nature of the cross... Like a gem whose facets reflect light differently as it turns, our vision of the cross changes as we see it from the different perspectives recorded in Scripture. No single view negates all the others. When the facets of the cross and embraced together, we begin to marvel at the beauty and mystery of what God has done through Christ on it.
- Powers and authorities are spiritual forces that become hostile, taking root in individuals, ideologies, and institutions, with the goal of deception, division, and depersonalization.
- The way of God's kingdom will always be the way of the cross... through humiliation, shame, and death... we are called to receive power in weakness, not power in our strength or in ourselves.
- Just as Jesus's resurrection exhibits both discontinuity (his body was changed) and continuity (it was the same body), so our future bodies and the future creation will be marked by dramatic transformation and remarkable sameness.
- John offers a vision of the future where God's perfect rule extends over all things. On this point, the Bible is consistent and clear - in the age to come, there will only be one kingdom, not two.
- Richard Mouw: when the kings come marching in, they bring the best of their nations - even the cultural goods that had been deployed against God and his people. The final version of the city is one filled, not just with God's glory and presence, not just with his own stunningly beautiful architectural designs, not just with the redeemed persons from every cultural background - but with redeemed human culture too.

[Hallelujah Brews Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What If Jesus Was Serious about Heaven?" by Skye Jethani

I first heard of this book when listening to The Holy Post podcast. The author, Skye Jethani, is a co-host on the podcast. He ended up talking about his new book, and I thought I would give it a read. 

I haven't read the "What If Jesus" series before, so I didn't expect so many small essays on the topic. It read a bit like a devotional or 40-day Bible study. Skye is an excellent speaker and writer, but I found the brief chapters too succinct for my taste. I would much rather read a full-fledged book where his points are more fully fleshed out. 

I think this is a fine book to help us re-think about the kingdom of heaven, particularly if you have the idea that eternity is spent as disembodied spirits singing praise songs forever. I appreciated that Skye set a firm foundation for a physical resurrection. I liked his section on new/renewed earth as our eventual home and our responsibility to be caretakers of earth. I learned that Jesus and the apostles never use the words kingdom and church interchangeably, which I think is an important distinction that I did not fully appreciate. 

Some quotes I liked from this book:

When we come to embrace Jesus's map of heaven, we will discover that it works so much better than the one we've inherited from popular Christian culture.

The Gospel writers, who were not shaped by an individualistic culture, saw the cross as the hinge upon which all of history and creation turned. It wasn't simply "how Jesus saved me," but how his kingdom came to triumph over the whole world.

[Josh Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skye Jethani’s “What if Jesus was Serious?” books are sort of like blog posts being printed out and bound in book form. And I mean that as a compliment. In fact, I wonder if the genesis of this idea came from seeing the success of Randall Munroe’s What If?, an adaptation of his webcomic, XKCD, for the printed page. What Munroe does for science, Jethani does for theology, albeit (as the title suggests) with a little more seriousness (though not devoid of humor, either).

The latest book in the series is What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? Heaven is one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized concepts within Christianity. Pop culture presents it as a place in the clouds where everyone has wings and a halo. Some strains of Christianity portray it as this place for disembodied, saved souls who are awaiting the end of days. Other strains refer to it more generally as just the location of God’s being. But if heaven is something different? What if heaven is God’s Kingdom and God’s Kingdom is among us right now?

That’s how Jethani begins, by redrawing our map of heaven. Changing from a heaven-centric faith where “this is where you go when you die” to a Christ-centric faith where “this is how you live now.”

What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? is structured into five parts, each addressing different aspects of heaven and its implications for Christian faith. He talks about how the Kingdom of Heaven has come near in Jesus, explores the parables to examine what Jesus said this Kingdom was like, goes into the Lord’s Prayer to speak about doing God’s will on earth. Jethani is able to make the case vividly and clearly that heaven is not just a future reality, it’s one living in the present right now.

Within each chapter are little sub-topics. Each little essay is 3-4 pages, begins with an illustration, and ends with recommended reading from the Bible. While this book isn’t explicitly aimed at kids, as someone who spent significant time as a youth pastor, I see these books as a perfect resource for that middle and high school age. Jethani isn’t comprehensive, but he’s clear and conversational. It’s a wonderful introduction to the topic.

Jethani's accessible writing style, combined with his insightful theological exploration, makes this book a valuable read for anyone interested in understanding the Christian concept of heaven more deeply. While it may leave some readers desiring more comprehensive coverage of certain topics, its thought-provoking content and unique presentation make it something to check out. The highlight of this book is that’s a book for non-readers. Theology can be daunting. Working your way out of poor pop theology is hard. What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? makes the work easy and accessible.

[Jake Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm convinced that an unbiblical view of heaven is one of the most pressing issues in the church today. Skye Jethani provides an accessible (it reminds me of an easier-to-read version of "Surprised by Hope") overview of what the Bible actually teaches about heaven (and what it doesn't).

Jethani corrects the mistaken assumption that followers of Jesus will spend eternity in a disembodied celestial city singing worship songs to God. Instead, he shows that the telos of creation is the coming of heaven to earth, the complete re-integration of God's realm (heaven) and humanity's realm (earth) as was intended in Eden.

One of the best parts of the book is the author's explanation of the kingdom (the kingdom is not synonymous with the church). He describes how the kingdom is not something only to be experienced at Jesus's return; rather, Jesus's incarnation means that the kingdom has arrived and his followers both experience what his kingdom has to offer and are responsible for partnering with God through the indwelling Spirit in advancing the kingdom project forward.

I believe that a correction to our understanding of heaven will transform how we live as members of Jesus's kingdom today. A proper eschatological framework means that everything we do matters (creating art, correcting injustice, stewarding the earth, curing diseases, etc.), not just activities that fall into the "ministry" category. This is a much-needed book and one I will be recommending far and wide.

[Alanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Skye Jethani's insights into the true nature of heaven to be both thought provoking, and accessible. This is the first of his "What if Jesus was Serious" books that I have had opportunity to read, but it made me want to read more and I have already ordered the rest of the series, and even preordered this one. The advanced electronic copy that I had opportunity to review did not have his illustrations, so I would be very interested to see a copy with those included as I hear they only add to the book.

Skye shows us that if we interpret Jesus sayings about the Kingdom of Heaven in their cultural context, we should be looking not to a place in the sky where we will be singing in a choir for eternity, as it often indicated by church culture today, but to a renewal of our current earth where God will live among us. As someone who is not a theologian, I appreciated that this book was written with lay people in mind. It was easy to understand, but also made me think and evaluate what I have believed on this subject, and where I might need to rethink some things.

An enjoyable and very well written book.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking book about the Kingdom of Heaven, as taught by Christ. The author argues that we have misconstrued Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. We have limited his concept to the next life and have become " so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good." Instead, he contends that the Kingdom of Heaven is something that is very earthly and practical.
The book is divided into 5 sections: The Kingdom of Heaven has come near; The Kingdom of Heaven is like...; Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done on earth; I am going to prepare a place for you; and The Kingdom of the World has become the Kingdom of our Lord. Each section has subparts that begin: "If Jesus was serious...." The subparts are 2-4 pages long, which makes the book very readable as a devotional.
The recurring thesis of this book is that the Kingdom of Heaven exists here on earth. It exists now, in this life, and will be accomplished here on earth in the future. Our emphasis should not be getting away from this world and going to heaven, but reigning with Jesus here and now, and preparing for the new creation that will be a restored earth, not a celestial city.

[Tonya Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘What if Jesus was Serious about Heaven?’ written by Skye Jethani is a thought-provoking book. Skye has written the ‘What if Jesus was Serious’ series, of which this is the first one I have read. I understand that the actual written books include illustrations making it a very easy-to-read and easy-to-use format.

It truly caused me to pause and think about “Experiencing God’s Kingdom among Us.” Jethani raises questions related to the vision of heaven, what we may assume Jesus said about heaven and allows us to rethink and reexamine the vision of heaven from scripture and not with cultural assumptions.

I would like to study this book more and check-out Jethani’s other “What if Jesus was Serious’ series. I would enjoy speaking about this book in a bible study.

Thank you #NetGalley and #BakerAcademics&BrazosPress (#BakerAcademics #BrazosPress) for the opportunity to read this early version in exchange for a review. All opinions and thoughts are those of my own. #Whatifjesuswasserious #NetGalley

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anytime a book/podcast/documentary/whatever makes me consider why I believe what I believe, it’s automatically an excellent/book/podcast/documentary/whatever – even if I don’t end up agreeing whole heartedly.

This book gave me a TONNE of gristly bits on which to chew.

I loved the initial question posed, “What if the mental maps we use to navigate Scripture – specifically, our ideas of Heaven – aren’t accurate?”

By breaking concepts down into small chunks and backing his ideas with Scripture and cultural context, the author asks us to take off what amounts to our Biblical Beer Goggles.

The Kingdom of Heaven is both HERE and NOT-HERE. Both NOW and NOT-NOW.

I very much enjoyed tweaking – and in some cases, completely re-drawing – a few of my mental maps.

This is my first in the “What if Jesus was Serious?” series, and it won’t be my last.

Thanks to NetGalley and Brazos Press for this contempletive ARC.

[Luke Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the answer to my confusion of several years about the focus of the Christian Gospel. Often we here the climax of the Gospel being we can enter Heaven, but this is not preached by the disciples nor Jesus: "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." The magnificence of the Gospel is Christus Victor, Jesus's work defeating death, sin, and evil on the cross, which is woven into the story of God redeeming all things to him. The punchline is not we can escape Earth and go to Heaven, but that God is bringing the Kingdom (not us transcending to) to Earth in his graceful redemption of creation. To me, this solves many disharmonies in religious and personal ways. The Gospel is much richer when we accept it as being more than reformed atonement theology. In my limited sample size, I have heard only 2 people talk of the gospel in this way, and I started this journey confronting one of those people because I had concern he was not preaching the Gospel... Everyone needs to read this.

[LAMONT D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like his style of writing. His book titled "With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God" really got me interested in his writings. His very short chapters with the pithy drawings at the beginning of each one is a visual help to his point for each chapter. He always recommends Bible verses for further reading. His points are valid. I am not sure I would go as far as he does in downplaying what others say about the new heaven and new earth. We really don't know for sure. He probably makes a valid point on the so-called heaven tourism books that may mislead folks on what the Bible does say about heaven. And I would agree that for many it is a very hard concept to grasp and with his take that the kingdom of God is at hand and was ushered in by Jesus through his bodily death and resurrection here on earth is where we should start the conversation.

[Jonathan Crabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am teaching a sunday school class on Heaven this fall / winter, and when I saw that Jethani had written a book on heaven, I jumped at the chance to read this one. In my opinion, Jethani has done an admirable job in the 2020s of balancing faith and current cultural movement, so I was interesting to see his take. Having read [[Randy Alcorn]] book on heaven, I did not know how much more new ground this book would cover. While there wasn't a lot of new material beyond what I have read before, Jethani did provide some good ancient culture context and his focus around the kingdom of heave was good.

Overall solid, readable book on the topic of heaven. For most Christians, this would be a good starting place to read and understand the topic further.

[Ryan George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I preordered three copies of Skye Jethani’s most recent book after (1) hearing him interviewed about its provocative content and (2) reading the first three books of this fantastic series. Before I even read it, I knew I wanted guys in my Bible study to wrestle with me through this content. In this volume, Jethani confronts the heaven-centric view of the gospel that has supplanted a Christ-centric belief system, especially in western culture. You’ll find orange highlighter strokes throughout my copy of this book, as Jethani stepped on my toes—not with obscure passages of Scripture but with the words of Jesus. I don’t know that I agree with all of the assertions of this book, but my views of the mission of the church and the destiny that awaits us is more malleable now.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all of Skye's other books, I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Skye's writing is always accessible and easy-to-read, but also profound. It provides a provoking, but in my mind, biblically accurate picture of the Kingdom of Heaven in Jesus' teaching. If I had any critique, I wish that Skye had treated some questions I feel the book neglects - for example, what does happen to Christians when they die? And what happens to non-believers? I don't think that we can neglect one on behalf of the other, and while I understand what Skye is trying to do, I think both are needed for a fully biblical approach!

[Matthew Spear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much like the rest of this series, What if Jesus Was Serious About Heaven is, in theological terms, a banger. I love this series because it touches on important and, at time, very difficult subjects with delicacy and honesty. Heaven is an oft-misunderstood subject, and one that I failed to grasp well into my adulthood. And in this book, Skye reminds readers that Heaven is an important subject not because of some escapist, scorched-earth, utopian ideal, but instead because it is a reminder of the ways that Jesus plans to redeem creation and invites us to continue the story of generative reconciliation.

[Rebecca Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the one hand, this book is a quick and easy read. The writing is straightforward and simple, accompanied by fun doodles to help you grasp the meaning. It took me less than a week to finish it. On the other hand, this book is dense with meaning and worth going through slowly. Skye Jethani challenges us to set aside the version of heaven we've been taught by tradition for the far great Kingdom of Heaven promised by Jesus. More importantly, he encourages us to trade heaven-centric views, for Christ-centric ones.

[Pat Damiani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite thought provoking and I really like the main premise of the book, which is that the kingdom of heaven has a present as well as future aspect. I also think the author does a good job of describing how our eternal existence will be a physical one in which we have physical bodies.

However the author also tends to take Scripture symbolically even when that is not appropriate in my opinion. The book also seems to dismiss hell as a real physical place of eternal torment.