What happens to you after you die? Is there an eternal afterlife, some form of life after death? If there is an afterlife, what will that look like? Do heaven and hell really exist? These are good questions that most people have seriously considered at some point in their lives. Theists, those who a god or gods, generally believe some afterlife awaits people when they die. Non-theists, those who don’t believe in a god or gods, may believe in an afterlife without a deity or no afterlife at all. Many religions believe that a person’s status in the afterlife is a reward or punishment for their conduct during life on earth.
What Do the People Say about Heaven and Hell?
In 2015, the world population was approximately 7.3 billion. According to a Pew Research Center demographic analysis in 2015, the five largest religious groups were Christian (2.3 billion people), Islam (1.8 billion), irreligious or atheist (1.2 billion), Hindu (1.1 billion), and Buddhist (0.5 billion).1 This study indicates over 56 percent of the world’s population (Christian and Islam) believe in an eternal heaven and hell. Adding Hindu and Buddhist, who believe in an afterlife, but not a heaven and hell per se; over 80 percent of the world’s population believes in some form of life after death. The irreligious or atheists, representing almost 17 percent, don’t believe in an afterlife or heaven or hell because they don’t believe in God, who created heaven and hell.
These statistics, while informative regarding world-wide religious trends or beliefs, do not get to the heart of the matter. Three important personal questions are:
- Do heaven and hell really exist?
- Why do you believe what you do regarding this matter?
- What are you going to about it?
What Does Jesus Say about Heaven and Hell?
None of us can know, from first-hand (eye-witness) evidence, how the earth was formed, how humanity began, or if God created a heaven or a hell; because none of us were there to witness it. So, no matter what position you take on these topics, they are based upon faith. We’ll delve deeper into the matter of evidence a little later.
For those who believe God’s Word, the Bible, is flawless (2 Samuel 22:31) (Psalm 18:30) (Proverbs 30:5) truth (John 17:17); heaven and hell do exist, beyond a reasonable doubt. Let’s look at the words of Jesus from one just book, the Gospel of Matthew. He spoke repeatedly about:
- The kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:17; 5:3; 5:10 5:12; 5:16; 5:19; 10:7).
- The Father in heaven (Matthew 5:48; 6:1; 6:9; 6:14; 6:26; 6:32; 12:50; 16:17).
- Hell (Matthew 5:29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15; 23:33).
Two Eternal Destinations
Jesus also spoke plainly to the people about two eternal destinations. He speaks of the day of judgment, categorizing the entire human race as either sheep, which are placed on his right, or goats, which are placed on his left. The sheep, which are the righteous, will inherit the kingdom prepared for them since the creation of the world. The goats, who are cursed, will go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus summarizes this singular event by saying the cursed will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew 25:31-46).
The description of hell in the previous paragraph is exceedingly horrible while the description of heaven is exceedingly joyful. I am convinced both of these places are real and every human will go spend eternity in one or the other. As my dear mother used to say, “Every dark cloud has a silver lining.” Fortunately for humanity, each of us is allowed to choose where we spend eternity. God devised a plan allowing us that choice because it is his heart’s desire that every human would choose eternal joy in heaven (2 Peter 3:9) (1 Timothy 2:3-4) (John 3:16, 6:40) (Matthew 18:14) (Titus 2:11) (Ezekiel 18:23) (Hosea 7:13).
How Do You Determine What Evidence is Credible?
Some may say, “I can’t base my daily life and decision-making on something which can’t be proven.” My response to them would be, most of the important decisions you have already made are based on faith, not first-hand (eye-witness) evidence.” Why would I say such a thing? Let me explain. In a court of law, two types of evidence, direct and indirect, are produced in an attempt to gain a favorable verdict. Direct evidence is first-hand, eye-witness evidence such as when a person sees or hears something that directly relates to the issue being litigated. Indirect evidence is any other relevant evidence that is not first-hand. Now, let’s apply the “facts” to a very important matter in the lives of most people.
Direct Evidence
- What is your mother’s name? (Let’s say the correct response is Sally).
- Have you ever been DNA tested to prove “Sally” is your mother? (No).
- Then, how do you know Sally is your mother? (This question is not designed to be offensive. You know who your mother is, but bear with me for a minute).
- At the moment of your birth, did you have the ability to see and recognize your mother, from whom you were just delivered? (No. Your eyes weren’t open. Even if they were, your earliest childhood memories you can recall didn’t occur until you were three to five years old).
Indirect Evidence
Since you are unable, as an eye-witness, to identify “Sally” as the woman who give birth to you, is there significant indirect evidence available to you? (The correct response is yes, there is an abundance of indirect evidence).
- Sally, who gave you birth, says you are her child.
- Your father, who saw your birth or saw you shortly after your birth with your mother, says you are her child.
- Your birth certificate states “Sally” is your mother.
- Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives all say they know “Sally” is your mother.
- There are a million photographs and/or videos of you growing up with your mother.
- Your mother treated you when you were sick, bathed, fed, and clothed you for decades; all the while claiming to be your mother. These are just a few of hundreds of possible pieces of indirect evidence tending to prove that “Sally” is your mother).
Without direct evidence of your own, you have faith or believe that “Sally” is your mother. Your faith or belief is not wrong. The mountain of indirect evidence available to you proves beyond a reasonable doubt that “Sally” is your mother. If you were asked, “What one person in your life is most responsible for what you think, how you act, and what you believe?” Most people would probably respond, “My mother.” We live a life of faith daily and, at least during our childhood years, we adopt the faith of our mother.
What Do You Say about Heaven and Hell?
I have made many wrong decisions and adopted many erroneous beliefs in my life, as a child and as an adult. I changed those errant beliefs after determining they were based upon flawed information or incorrect assumptions on my part. While I was attending school, elementary through twelfth grade, I was taught the earth was billions of years old. This was presented to me as fact, not theory. I was also taught about Darwin’s writings on evolution, which was presented as theory, as opposed to fact. Once I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I tried to reconcile these two concepts; an earth billions of years old and Darwin’s theory of evolution, with the claims of the Bible.
I spent many, many hours reading books and articles and watching videos on these two subjects. After what I concluded to be a fairly exhaustive study of radiometric (radioactive) dating, carbon dating, I determined the scientific claims of our earth and the origin of humans could not be reconciled with the Bible. I also determined the scientific claims contained far more “gaps” in the evidence than the biblical account. Therefore, I have concluded the Bible account is correct.
Each of us chooses what we will believe about an afterlife, heaven, hell, or a lack thereof. For each of us, this decision is based upon faith. Such a vital decision should be based upon what we deem to be reliable, credible evidence.
So, allow me to pose the three important personal questions again.
- Do heaven and hell really exist?
- Why do you believe what you do regarding this matter?
- So, after analyzing the best evidence available to you, what are your responses to these two questions?
Notes
1 Conrad Hackett and David McClendon, “Christians remain world’s largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe,” Pew Research Center, April 5, 2017, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/.
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