Jesus and the Other Place
What the Bible really says about Hell,
and the difference this makes to our evangelism and pastoral care
by Paul Hazelden

Introduction

Hell is not the most obvious topic to write about, but I have been talking with people about it for a long time, and it turns out that faulty beliefs about Hell cause a great deal of pain and damage, and they create a massive barrier when we try to talk about our faith.

My book on the subject has now been published - 'Jesus and the Other Place: What the Bible really says about Hell, and the difference this makes to our evangelism and pastoral care".

For more details and links to where you can buy it, please see the GitHub site:

• Jesus and the Other Place - GitHub microsite
• Buy from Amazon: Paperback or Ebook
• Buy from Barnes & Noble

I was asked to write something short about the book, and came up with this...

I have been talking about my faith for over 50 years now, and listening to the objections which are raised. One of the most common (and, for many Christians, one of the most difficult) is the question of what will happen to people who do not follow Jesus.

Almost everyone is aware that we believe they will be tormented for ever. We offer them a way to avoid this fate, but that doesn't help: it simply confirms to them that our God is a monster. What does help is understanding what the Bible really says on this subject – so I wrote a book about it.

This book seeks to take seriously what Jesus tells us about the fate of those who do not follow him. The message Jesus gives us about the next world can be found throughout the Bible, and is very simple: we are offered two paths, and we can choose between two possible futures – we can receive eternal life, or we can perish.

Traditional mainstream Christian teaching says the unsaved will suffer eternal torment, but this is not the biblical message. The doctrine of eternal torment distorts the gospel message, disrupts our evangelism, and makes honest and sensitive pastoral care for the bereaved even harder than it is already. Even worse, it presents our Heavenly Father as a cruel monster.

Contrary to what many Christians have been taught, the Bible clearly and consistently teaches that those who reject God will perish – they will cease to exist. This is a dreadful fate, but it is not cruel: we are free to spend eternity with him, but we are not forced to be in his presence.

I would be very happy to respond to questions about anything in the book: just follow the link to my website. Thanks!