Over half of Americans believe in a literal heaven, in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. Ehrman shows that eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament, and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught. He recounts the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early followers. Ehrman shows that competing views were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. -- adapted from jacket

Get ready for life after death. Combining three books that together have sold nearly 1 million copies, Heaven and the Afterlife gives you Erwin Lutzer’s best reflections on eternity and what it means for you today. The trilogyincludes: One Minute After You Die. A simple and moving explanation of what the Bible teaches about death, this book makes you consider a sobering truth: one minute after you die, your life will not be over. Rather, it will be just beginning—in a place of unimaginable bliss or indescribable gloom. Are you ready for that moment? How You Can Be Sure You Will Spend Eternity with Godsummarizes the Bible’s teaching on salvation, answering questions like, “What role do I play in my own salvation? Can I lose my salvation if I commit a serious sin? What if I doubt that I’m saved?” Your Eternal Reward. This book explores the often-overlooked Scriptures about reward and judgment for Christians, answering questions like, “How will believers be judged? Do rewards for faithfulness vary? If heaven is perfect, why do rewards even matter?” Together these books will help you live faithfully today, readying you for that final hour when you meet your Maker.

Containing a mine of information on the Sabbath Question. Every passage of Scripture having any connection with the Sabbath in the Old or the New Testament is critically examined. The various steps by which the change from the seventh day to the first day was made and the final exaltation of the Sabbath are given in detail. The complete testimony of the Fathers immediately succeeding the time of the Apostles is presented, and the comparative merits of the two days are clearly revealed. An index enables the reader to readily find any passage of Scripture or the statment of any historian. - I. Introduction. II. The Creation of Man. III. Objecting Examined. IV. Bible use of the Terms Immortal and Immortality. V. The Words Soul and Spirit. VI. Concerning the Human Spirit. VII. Concerning the Human Soul. VIII. The Death of Adam. IX. Condition of Man in Death. X. Objections Answered. XI. The Resurrection of the Dead. XII. The Judgment to Come. XIII. The Life Everlasting. XIV. The Wages of Sin. XV. Objections Answered. XVI. God's Dealings with His Creations. XVII. The Claims of Philosophy. XVIII. Historical View of the Doctrine of Immortality. XIX. Influence of the Doctrine. Appendix. Index of Authors Referred to. Index of Texts of Scripture. General Index

The series of works by Dr. Ryder Smith on various Bible doctrines is well known and widely used. Shortly before his death he completed the typescript of the last of them,The Bible Doctrine of the Hereafter, a volume which in its general approach resembles its predecessors and in its qualities of careful scholarship and balanced judgment is worthy of a place beside them. What does the Bible say about the future of mankind and of the individual? the question cannot be adequately answered in simple terms; and to Understand The wide range of Biblical teaching it is necessary to go outside the Bible To The vitally important literature of the inter-testamental period. Dr. Ryder Smith surveys the evidence of the Old and New Testaments And The Apocrypha; and in his discussion of New Testament teaching he takes account of the extracanonical Apocalyptic literature, showing both the historical background And The distinctive character of the New Testament message. This is a substantial work, which will be of great value To The serious student.

Is death the end of our story, or do we go on? If life does continue after death, where and how will we live? What happens to us after we die is not only a matter of speculation, but also a matter of debate. This is particularly true within the church, and though some would like to believe that the issue has long been settled, it most certainly remains open for discussion. In The Death Myth, author and theologian Brian M. Rossiter investigates what the Bible actually says about the afterlife, and he carefully explains how an honest reflection on the traditional Christian view of death will show that this view is often misguided. This traditional view—that the deceased persist and live on as conscious immaterial souls—is a doctrine that while tenable may not cohere with scriptural truths about the nature of the soul and body, the timing of the resurrection, and the meaning of salvation. While many Christians believe that the human soul departs to either a place of bliss or a place of torment after death, few have truly evaluated the biblical teachings on the subject. More than that, the implications of our beliefs on the issue are rarely acknowledged. Can the soul live apart from the body? Do immaterial realms for the dead exist? Can ghosts or spirits communicate with the living? When these matters are deeply investigated, the conclusions may force us to reconsider everything we thought we knew about life after death and the very nature of our existence.