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. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book at all. It began with too many "imagine this and imagine that's". I had hoped it would be more factual and while it did include Bible verses here and there..it seemed more based on the author's opinions. He presented quite a few first person stories and while that may be just what some readers may want, I had hoped for some depth. ( )

I am not sure what I think of this book. I am reading it slowly, trying to keep an open mind. The author has some impressive credentials, so I thought that I might agree with his opinions and his theology. I definately don't agree with everything so far. It appears to be a book that is full of experience with little biblical basis. ( )

This survey of what religious writers and scripture have to say about what happens when we die has the potential to be enlightening and interesting, but, for me, was a surprisingly dull read. Perhaps it was the layout of material that put me off from reading it; I found sections to be repetitive and too brief. As a Christian, I am very intrigued by this entire subject, and I commend the author for pulling together a book about it; however, it is only that - a pulling together of information mostly already published elsewhere. My overall impression is that the book was kind of skimpy on substance. ( )

I really wanted to like this book. As a Christian, Heaven/the afterlife forms a relatively substantial part of my core beliefs. Until the last year or two, I hardly ever thought about it. (I am, after all, just barely in college!) Then I was recommended "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn and it changed my views. I had previously thought of Heaven as a boring place with angels and fluffy clouds and all. Making it "earthlike" but perfect was wonderful news indeed, and I could actually start to look forward to it! Then I saw this book available as a giveaway and was glad to get it to see what it would add.

But I was disappointed. I haven't finished the book, and probably won't for a long while. The way I read many things at once, if I'm not actively forcing it to stay on the top of my pile it takes a long time, and I'm "demoting" this. I really did want to like it, but, six chapters into it, I'm shocked at how unBiblical it really seems to be, especially coming out of a publisher as generally good as Bethany House.

I mentioned I have read through the first five chapters, and part of the sixth. In those I have read of several near-death experiences (NDEs), encounters with the dead, ghosts, etc. Garlow has analyzed what we can draw from NDEs and Americans' general views on death. What is conspicuously absent, however, is anything uniquely Christian about the content. Sure, he occasionally throws in a verse, but anyone can do that. Sometimes they're not even good. For example, "The implication is that loved ones ... wait on the other side ... Why should it be any other way for God's children? God has promised: 'Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.'" The passage is used way out of its context in Hebrews and being content in our day to day lives! It certainly doesn't fit when dealing with non-divine relatives.

Meanwhile, some of his content is on theologically shaky ground. I do not believe that God typically gives us contact with the dead. Sure, he is capable, and I know he continues to work in this world in supernatural ways. But, generally speaking, I am aware of no support for ghosts in the Bible! The NDEs he likes to use are no better. Most of them are very positive experiences! The Bible is chock full of passages which say very clearly that most people are *not* going to Heaven! If the NDE is really supernatural, we should have far more bad ones than good. The fact that we don't is highly suspicious, and I don't think we should be speculating too much off them. And it's also unbiblical to use them, as he does, to show that God's presence is in Hell in any meaningful way (beyond the mere fact that he's omnipresent).

I better stop rambling and summarize. What I have read of this book is not Biblically based. It starts with the mysterious things we see in popular culture and tries to squeeze the Bible into them. It needs to start directly from the clearer passages of the Bible itself and then use that to explain culture, not vice versa. The theology I see hinted behind the scenes worries me, and I think I have better things to do than this book. Perhaps it will get better (looks more theological later on) as I go deeper over the next years, but I have my doubts. I would instead recommend the book I mentioned earlier, "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn, as a more Scriptural alternative. ( )