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What's the Truth About Heaven and Hell?: Sorting Out the Confusion About the Afterlife
Recent books about heaven and hell have aroused the interest of committed Christians and curious seekers alike. But the wide range of viewpoints has also created confusion and left many people wondering what they are to believe. This user-friendly guide presents the most popular views on heaven, hell, purgatory, judgment, and related topics, followed by brief, easy-to-follow analysis. Readers will be equipped to make their own well-informed decisions about questions like This summary of the latest Evangelical teaching and traditional mainstream scholarship provides readers with tools to assess each position in the light of Scripture.
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
15 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Jacoby
67 books33 followersDouglas Jacoby
Since 2003, Douglas has been a freelance teacher and consultant. With degrees from Drew, Harvard, and Duke, Douglas has written 25 books, recorded 300 podcasts, and spoken in 500 cities in 111 nations around the world. He leads tours annually to sites of biblical interest (like Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem). He is also professor of theology at Lincoln Christian University.
His website, douglasjacoby.com (free), has nearly 10,000 pages of Christian resources. Website membership, affording unrestricted access to the site, including weekly podcasts, funds his travels in the developing world. The Jacobys have three adult children. They reside in the Atlanta area.
Since 2003, Douglas has been a freelance teacher and consultant. With degrees from Drew, Harvard, and Duke, Douglas has written 25 books, recorded 300 podcasts, and spoken in 500 cities in 111 nations around the world. He leads tours annually to sites of biblical interest (like Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem). He is also professor of theology at Lincoln Christian University.
His website, douglasjacoby.com (free), has nearly 10,000 pages of Christian resources. Website membership, affording unrestricted access to the site, including weekly podcasts, funds his travels in the developing world. The Jacobys have three adult children. They reside in the Atlanta area.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 13, 2013
I find myself puzzled by the other review of this book on this site; regardless, let me offer an alternative view on Jacoby's most recent work, 'What's the Truth...'
Jacoby is nothing if he isn't thorough, interacting with a lot of different scholars and populist treatments of what is often a very sensationalized (and lucrative for publishers) topic. Whilst Jacoby is clear on where he stands, he covers all the bases with due respect and humility, sometimes conceding that there isn't enough to make a final judgment on some matters.
What I appreciated was the reminder that the early church had differing views on what happens next (specifically in terms of eternal torment, universalism, conditionalism/annihilation), and ones views on the matter were not seen a reason to break fellowship (a welcome reminder to the sadly fractious state of things today). Jacoby also includes a version of a podcast he had previously published on the subject of tolerance, judging, and exclusivism, another teaching that is desperately needed and appreciated.
Jacoby rounds off with a challenge to live as Jesus would have is live: a life in tune with God and God's will, to not just 'call' Jesus Lord but to seriously 'make'him Lord.
If you want to be challenged, if you want to do some critical thinking, if you want to see an evaluation of thoughts and trends on heaven, hell, purgatory, Hades and the like, and want to be given enough information to make up your own mind, then this book is an excellent start.
Jacoby is nothing if he isn't thorough, interacting with a lot of different scholars and populist treatments of what is often a very sensationalized (and lucrative for publishers) topic. Whilst Jacoby is clear on where he stands, he covers all the bases with due respect and humility, sometimes conceding that there isn't enough to make a final judgment on some matters.
What I appreciated was the reminder that the early church had differing views on what happens next (specifically in terms of eternal torment, universalism, conditionalism/annihilation), and ones views on the matter were not seen a reason to break fellowship (a welcome reminder to the sadly fractious state of things today). Jacoby also includes a version of a podcast he had previously published on the subject of tolerance, judging, and exclusivism, another teaching that is desperately needed and appreciated.
Jacoby rounds off with a challenge to live as Jesus would have is live: a life in tune with God and God's will, to not just 'call' Jesus Lord but to seriously 'make'him Lord.
If you want to be challenged, if you want to do some critical thinking, if you want to see an evaluation of thoughts and trends on heaven, hell, purgatory, Hades and the like, and want to be given enough information to make up your own mind, then this book is an excellent start.
May 30, 2013
If you have read many of my reviews, you know I rarely give negative reviews. I may take issue with curse words being in a Christian fiction novel, which still boggles my mind, but I never give a completely negative book review. However, this one will be.
I disagreed with the author a lot. I think its a dangerous thing to go through the Bible and deciding on what parts of it can be interpreted literal, and what parts cannot. It is more dangerous to put your views in a book. The author spends quite a bit of time doing just that. He says that 1/3 of the Bible is poetry then gives several examples of passages and verses that we should not take as literal, and I didn't agree with a lot of the examples he gave.
An example: I am not trying to start a debate on this verse, but Matthew 5:32 says "But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery. (NLT) The author said this verse cannot be taken as literal...... Uh, if you start throwing out statements Jesus Himself made like that, where are you going to stop? That one was the worst example he gave, but I had a hard time taking anything with a grain of salt that he said after that.
He gives several views of hell, and seems to go with the idea of annihilation, and gives the idea of burning in hell forever is from tradition. My Bible says it will be forever...... where does the tradition idea come from? The author doesn't believe the miliennium is literal...... I could go on and list other examples, but let me just say I didn't like the book, I didn't like or agree with the author's views, and cannot recommend this book. I hate to give a bad review, but I cannot in good conscience do otherwise with this title.
I disagreed with the author a lot. I think its a dangerous thing to go through the Bible and deciding on what parts of it can be interpreted literal, and what parts cannot. It is more dangerous to put your views in a book. The author spends quite a bit of time doing just that. He says that 1/3 of the Bible is poetry then gives several examples of passages and verses that we should not take as literal, and I didn't agree with a lot of the examples he gave.
An example: I am not trying to start a debate on this verse, but Matthew 5:32 says "But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery. (NLT) The author said this verse cannot be taken as literal...... Uh, if you start throwing out statements Jesus Himself made like that, where are you going to stop? That one was the worst example he gave, but I had a hard time taking anything with a grain of salt that he said after that.
He gives several views of hell, and seems to go with the idea of annihilation, and gives the idea of burning in hell forever is from tradition. My Bible says it will be forever...... where does the tradition idea come from? The author doesn't believe the miliennium is literal...... I could go on and list other examples, but let me just say I didn't like the book, I didn't like or agree with the author's views, and cannot recommend this book. I hate to give a bad review, but I cannot in good conscience do otherwise with this title.
May 9, 2016
This book is packed full of references and really needs to be read as a study book. I have the paper copy and read it through quite quickly but in order to get the full value of it, I would need to read it again and look up all the references both in the Bible and from other authors.
I like Jacoby's take on a number of area, especially in the comparison between heaven and hell. If we understand God as being infinite - no beginning and no end, we can truly understand the eternalness (forever and forever, without end) of heaven; however there are many biblical references to hell as 'being no more', being as dust, as the chaff which the winds blows away, being as Sodom and Gomorrah (they no longer exist).
I had felt before I read this book, and still see or think of hell as eternal in that there is no turning back - it is final. Once the choice is made and death comes, the final choice has been made. I don't see hell as a punishment in blazing fire 'without end', but a definite and final exclusion from spending everlasting life with God and Jesus. Jacoby has done substantial research in writing this book.
I like Jacoby's take on a number of area, especially in the comparison between heaven and hell. If we understand God as being infinite - no beginning and no end, we can truly understand the eternalness (forever and forever, without end) of heaven; however there are many biblical references to hell as 'being no more', being as dust, as the chaff which the winds blows away, being as Sodom and Gomorrah (they no longer exist).
I had felt before I read this book, and still see or think of hell as eternal in that there is no turning back - it is final. Once the choice is made and death comes, the final choice has been made. I don't see hell as a punishment in blazing fire 'without end', but a definite and final exclusion from spending everlasting life with God and Jesus. Jacoby has done substantial research in writing this book.
January 12, 2014
I actually read this as a companion to a book my church is studying. I far prefer this one. Jacoby tells us the various theories held by Christians, the history of each theory, the support for each theory and reminds us that we can agree to disagree. The information offered is present in a precise, clear format and calls readers to think for themselves.
July 31, 2023
Well written and easily understandable. Chock full of scriptural references. This book has helped clear up many questions for me. Beware, it exposes myths believed by our cultural Christianity.
February 17, 2015
A bit of a hard read but very informative.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews