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What’s the Truth About Heaven and Hell?

by Douglas A. Jacoby, Harvest House Publishers, © 2013,
239 pages, $13.99 (paperback), ISBN-13: 978-07369-5172-2

What's the Truth about Heaven and Hell cover We regard Douglas Jacoby as one of the bright lights in the field of apologetics in the twenty-first century. His educational background includes degrees in history, theological studies, and a doctor of ministry degree in ministry and education. He has attended Duke, Oxford, the University of London, Harvard Divinity School, and Drew University. He speaks regularly around the world on apologetic issues.

This book is an in-depth study of what the Bible teaches and what various religions and theologians have taught about heaven and hell. In this age of postmodernism, it is popular to deny the existence of hell and to make heaven symbolic. This book explores this issue — emphasizing what the Bible actually teaches. It is divided into six chapters with two appendices on the imagery in Isaiah and Alcorn.

Jacoby defends the existence of heaven and hell and explores the challenges often given to oppose their existence. He presents the three basic views of hell — infinite torment, eventual annihilation, and universalism. He shows that annihilation has strong biblical support. He also provides wonderful material on judging and explores related topics such as purgatory, out-of-body experiences, ghosts, and the reality of Hades. This is an excellent, well-written book with very useful summary sections at the end of each chapter. We recommend it very highly.