From Dr. Robert W. Kellemen —

Pastor, seminary professor, speaker, and writer Randy Alcorn has written a monumental opus on Heaven, humbly titled Heaven. I often have taught that our views of Heaven are too heavenly and not earthy enough. Alcorn’s entire book communicates the same message.

His theme is continuity—all that is beautiful about life on Earth continues in the New Heaven and the New Earth. All that is horrible about life on Earth is healed in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Notice the phrase “New Heaven and New Earth.” When you do, consider Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” What is Heaven? Some ethereal, non-physical place where spirit beings sit on clouds playing harps eon after eon after eon after boring eon? Hardly!

In Alcorn’s biblically-accurate hands, Heaven becomes what God designed the Garden of Eden to be—a physical place of beauty, a relational place of harmony, and a purposeful place of meaningful, creative work without weeds.

Read Alcorn’s Heaven. It could and should change how you live on Earth now. It could and should change how you view how you will live for all eternity. This is clearly the best book on Heaven that I have ever read.

This review was written by Dr. Robert W. Kellemen, author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, and Soul Physicians.

From Larry Waters—

According to Alcorn, author of over twenty books and founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM), the subject of heaven rates as one of the least accurately discussed subjects in the whole of Christendom. Alcorn is astounded that the majority of Christians possess faulty, nonbiblical assumptions about heaven. In part one, “A Theology of Heaven,” Alcorn, however, discusses these and other questions: Is heaven beyond one’s imagination? Can a person know he is going to heaven? What is the nature of the intermediate heaven? Is the intermediate heaven a physical place? What is life like in the intermediate heaven? Why is earth’s redemption essential to God’s plan? Why is resurrection so important? Will the old earth be destroyed or renewed? Will the new earth be familiar? What will it mean for God to dwell among His own people? How will believers worship God? What does God’s eternal kingdom involve? Will believers actually rule with Christ?

Part two follows with chapters on these and other questions: Will the new earth be an Edenic paradise? Will there be space and time? Will the new earth have sun, moon, oceans, and weather? Will people eat and drink on the new earth? What will Christians know and learn? Will there be marriage, families, and friendships in heaven? Will infants and children be in heaven? Will animals inhabit the new earth?

Part three addresses the adventure of heaven and believers anticipating it as their home. The two appendixes are insightful: “Christoplatonism’s False Assumptions” and “Literal and Figurative Interpretation.” “Christoplatonism” is a term coined by Alcorn to refer to a blend of Platonism with Christianity that “blunts the distinction of Christianity from Eastern religions” especially in relation to the afterlife.

Alcorn’s convictions about heaven are tempered by his willingness to be corrected if his conclusions prove incorrect. When speculating or assuming, he clearly states that he is doing so. Being biblically correct is his utmost priority.

Heaven can be an extremely helpful ministry tool for grieving Christians, people facing terminal illness, counselors offering biblical hope, Christian study groups, and unbelievers. The book is extensively footnoted and has a well-selected bibliography.

This review originally appeared on Bibliotheca Sacra the website of Dallas Theological Seminary.

From Chris—

If you spend a good deal of your time wondering about what will happen to you and your soul the very moment that you die, Randy Alcorn can offer you a detailed explanation for all your inquiries in his book Heaven.

Alcorn gathers all the knowledge he has collected while dedicating his time in serving the Christian community. A pastor for almost fifteen years, a seminary professor, a very active preacher, a founder of a non-profit religious foundation, and now an author for Christian literature and spiritual guidance.

Alcorn’s own milestones speak more than just about the recognitions that he had received, for all his works point to his never-ending quest for truth. And in his latest journey, he pours all his time in studying and researching about the most curious “place” in the world of Christianity.

Alcorn writes Heaven with a perfect balance of ease and emphasis. He talks about the idea of Heaven as a theological concept, basing his points on Scriptures and the actual texts of the Bible. He explains, with authority and humility, what Heaven is from the true Christian point-of-view.

Alcorn communicates with his readers, asking them to drop the false connotations they have picked up from pop culture broadcasts. Heaven is not a place where the departed ones float endlessly. And Heaven is definitely not a gathering area where human-turned-angels spend their every minute playing a golden harp.

Alcorn’s Heaven offers a thorough study of what our most-awaited holy place is like. Alcorn walks his readers through a series of questions—the very same words that each of us asks. Whether they be the common curiosities brought on by what we usual see in various medias, such as “Can we really watch everything that happens on Earth when we are in Heaven?” Or it could be the seemingly weird, yet equally curious, questions like “Will we still be able to eat or drink in Heaven?” or “Will we still be attentive of time?”

Alcorn provides satisfying answers to all these questions, and all are backed up by proper contextual evidences. Alcorn even ventures by breaking the confusion that we have come to believe with a simple message: Heaven is not the place we will forever thrive in once we leave our physical world, it is merely a “stop over” where we will have to wait until God reshapes the Earth and brings us all back to it.

If there is one book you should trust in your own hunger to understand heaven in all its entirety, Randy Alcorn’s Heaven can make you realize how much you really know and how much more you didn’t know about the plan of God for our real home.

This review originally appeared on Christian Book Reviews: http://www.believersbookreview.com/  On June 30, 2010.

From Sean Murphy —

Randy Alcorn has spent a number of years studying what the Bible has to say about Heaven. In this book, he refutes the idea that Heaven is a spiritual realm where we will be like disembodied ghosts floating around some alternate reality. Instead, Alcorn artfully paints a picture of a place where we will have resurrected bodies much like the ones we have now, except free from all disease and pain. He tells of a world in which we will be reunited with loved ones who died in the Lord, go on fantastic adventures, enjoy relationships with Christ and with one another, eat, drink, laugh and love—all without the presence of sin. If you seek to live a Christian life with an “eternal perspective” this book is a must.

This review originally appeared on Responder Life Articles and Media Center, http://media.responderlife.com/ on November 30, 2009.

From Publisher’s Weekly —

According to Alcorn (The Treasure Principle, Deadline, Safely Home), the subject of Heaven rates as one of the least accurately discussed subjects in the whole of Christendom. Even seminarians fail to give appropriate time and attention to Heaven as described throughout the Bible because other themes take pre-eminence both chronologically and preferentially. Alcorn is likewise astounded that the majority of Christians who do take time to consider Heaven often possess faulty, nonbiblical assumptions, one of the most common being the misconception of Heaven as a place of unending church services.

The author, who is also the founder of the nonprofit organization Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM), has spent years studying what the Bible says about Heaven, and in this compelling and comprehensive resource, he offers every conceivable question about Heaven, or the “New Earth,” as Christian believer’s ultimate destination. Alcorn answers the expected queries on heavenly life as well as quirkier ones: Will Christians drink coffee in heaven? Will there be homeownership, and What about sex? Will our pets be in Heaven? Evangelical scholars and laypersons alike will appreciate Alcorn’s expansive—though perhaps long-winded—musings on this neglected subject, a real boon in a time when many people are eager to understand what happens after death.

This review originally appeared on Publisher’s Weekly.

From Nathan Busenitz —

Randy Alcorn offers a biblical tour of the place we call Heaven. His 516-page treatise challenges our faulty perceptions of the afterlife with the God-given promises of Scripture. He exhorts Christians to replace their contemporary confusion with biblical clarity, calling them to live in light of their future home. One day, we will be with Christ in the place He has prepared for us (John 14:2). Time after time, the Scriptures remind us to keep an eternal mindset and to think on things above. The doctrine of Heaven, then, should not be relegated to the tangential and unimportant. Rather, it should be preached, taught, studied, and loved. In calling us to this end, Randy Alcorn has done American evangelicalism a wonderful service.

This review originally appeared on Grace Community Church's website, by Nathan Busenitz, Shepherds' Fellowship Director.

From Sukalaya Kenworthy—

Do you think of Heaven as a place where disembodied spirits float in the clouds, listening to harp music for eternity? Many people stereotype life in Heaven as a church service that never ends. In his thought-provoking new book, Randy Alcorn dispels all misconceptions about a believer’s eternal destination and presents a compelling case for one of the least-talked-about subjects in Christianity. Alcorn based his entire book on biblical study, research, and extensive reading on the subject of Heaven. The book is divided into three sections: “A Theology of Heaven,” “Questions and Answers about Heaven,” and “Living in Light of Heaven”.
    In “A Theology of Heaven,” Alcorn explains that contrary to a popular belief, Heaven is a real, physical place where bodily resurrected people live and engage in various meaningful creative activities. Heaven will not be a foreign place for us but we will recognize it as home: “Too often we’ve been taught that Heaven is a non-physical realm, which cannot have real gardens, cities, kingdoms, buildings…So we fail to take seriously what Scripture tells us about Heaven as a familiar, physical, tangible place.”
    The book captures surprising aspects of Heaven that I have never considered before. To start with, Alcorn points out the difference between the present Heaven and the ultimate, eternal Heaven. The present Heaven is where we enter when we die, but it is not our final destination. After the resurrection, according to Alcorn, we will relocate to the eternal Heaven or the New Earth in which God intended for us. This beautiful and joyous New Earth will be a perfect place where all creation will be redeemed and restored, and “where God will dwell with his people on the New Earth.”
    Part two of Heaven contains eye-opening information that will satisfy the reader’s curiosity. Alcorn presents common questions people ask about Heaven and answers them with clarity and wit. Some of the questions are the ones that I wanted to know but could not find definite answers anywhere: “What will we do in Heaven?” “Will we rest and sleep?” “Will we literally eat and drink?” “Will we have our own homes?” and “Will we see our pets again?” Others are queries that are a bit strange but good to know: “Will we drink coffee in Heaven?” “Will we find books in Heaven” “Will we all have beautiful bodies?” and “What languages will we speak?”
    Another strong point about this book is its easy-to-follow format. Different charts and notes are helpful in understanding the book’s content. Alcorn uses everyday language that is easy to understand even for the reader who might not be familiar with biblical terms or theology.
    Heaven is a well-written, thorough, refreshing book that will change the way you think of eternity. It will make you appreciate your life now but at the same time long for the future. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in exploring this fascinating subject. 

 Kansas City Public Library book reviews, www.kclibrary.org