What will happen to me when I die? Most of us will wrestle with this question at some point in our lives. Garlow, an evangelical pastor, looks at what the Bible teaches about the afterlife. Heaven is only a part of that teaching. He also looks at biblical teaching on hell, angels, demons, Satan, ghosts and communication with deceased loved ones, reincarnation and annihilationism. Garlow includes a lot of anecdotal evidence from near-death experiences, encounters with angels and ghosts, etc. The stories of other people’s experiences are the major weakness of the book, as readers must decide how far to trust Garlow’s judgment of the validity of these stories and the truthfulness of their original tellers.

I read an ARC that originally belonged to my father, and it included his marginal notes. I learned as much from my father’s notes as I did from the book. It struck me that this is a trustworthy way to receive communication from my deceased father! ( )

NCLA Review - Every sentient human on the face of the planet has probably wondered about the possibility of life after death. This book is a comprehensive and straightforward exploration of beliefs about heaven, hell, and what happens when people die. Written from an abiding Christian and Biblical perspective, this thought-provoking and insightful book covers various topics related to the afterlife including near-death experiences, angels, ghosts, mediums, and reincarnation. But what does the ultimate source—the word of God as found in the Bible—tell us? This book has some of the answers. Although heavy in spiritual content and implications, it is nevertheless written for the average layperson. Rating: 3 —MF ( )

I had trouble getting into this book. Not my typical non-fiction that I read, but I thought it looked interesting. But as another reviewer stated, this seemed based more on the authors opinions and less on any factual conjecture on the author's part. I realize that the afterlife is something that is difficult if not impossible to factually prove and beliefs are based more on opinion and faith, but I just had the feeling that while this seemed to come somewhat from a Christian's point of view, it lacked some of the conviction or faith that Christians have. I don't want to say this was a bad book, just not the book for me. ( )

I struggled with this book. It is an attempt to extrapolate what the authors claim "we can know about" the afterlife from anecdotes. This just does not work. If it did we have to include other data in the just as likely category - I'm thinking of the anecdotes provided in Cotton's The Hallelujah Revolution regarding the God-machine. Religious experience is a topic I have a lot of interest in. I'm especially interested in the pastoral implications. But this book is overly simplistic. If you are already convinced of a literal Heaven and Hell you will find the stories here will help entrench your beliefs. They will not critically support those beliefs though, nor will they convince the educated skeptic. A much better book on the subject is Jurgen Moltmann's In the End...the Beginning. ( )

I find myself agreeing with the majority of the other reviews. On the one hand I commend the author for being willing to tackle such a challenging topic. I also appreciate that he affirms hell and heaven as real places. Yet I did find some of the exegesis in this book difficult to accept. The discussion of the use of sheol in the Old Testament, for example, doesn't seem to me to hit the nail on the head. There is certainly some useful information in here for a discerning Christian reader, but I fear that an unbeliever seeking answers to questions about heaven, hell, and the afterlife will come away with more confusion than when they started. ( )