After Life: A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death's Door

Wer sich je mit der Bibel,ihrer Lehre und auch dem Leben nach dem Tod auseinander gesetzt hat, sollte dieses Buch gelesen haben. Mit grossem wWissen in allen drei Bereichen teilt der Autor seine Erkenntnisse - und die sind immens - mit und gibt Gedankenanstösse, die in jedem christlichen Leben eienne Bereicherung darstellen. EDmpfehlenswert für Jeden, der "Mehr" wissen möchte.

AfterLife: A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death's Door A great read & right in line with the Scriptures

I enjoyed this second book of Dr. Smith's that I have read thus far. As a relatively new Christian who has been hungrily reading the Bible, using multiple translations to get at the truth, his insights are very close to those I've adopted. I have a big problem with traditions of men being preached vs. what the Bible actually says. Unfortunately, many Christians hold what they hear from the pulpit in higher esteem than what the Bible actually says! Dr.Smith answers questions like: -Where are the dead? -If people are in heaven now, why is there a judgment? -Ditto for people supposedly in hell now? -What's with two resurrections? -Will there be a rapture? For instance, the fact that Jesus Himself said "no one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven" (meaning Himself, of course) means that people who have died are, as Paul says, ASLEEP, until the day when everyone will be resurrected, good and bad, for the white throne judgment of Jesus Christ. The departed are in Sheol, as Dr. Smith makes clear from the Bible. There is apparently a separation in Sheol, between the evil and the righteous, but this is very much a waiting place. No one is waiting for anyone in heaven. The Bible makes clear that Heaven is the realm of God, His angels, our rewards, the Book of Life, and our future "dwelling places" wich are replacements for our current temporary "tents". As for where souls go after death, the author clarifies that, as well. I am not convinced that souls who've rejected the gospel will ultimately be destroyed or annihilated, but that does seem to be what the Bible implies. The biggest problem with people's general interpretation of the after-life is due to some poor renderings in translation in the King James version. Dr. Smith covers a lot of ground here and makes good arguments for all his points. While I don't agree completely with his "take", I was encouraged to see an educated and biblically based aproach of this kind. Dr. Smith has taught at Pepperdine and Lipscomb Universities and is very adept at making sense out of scripture. Not everyone will agree with his explanations, but e provides a lot of food for thought.

This was an eye-opening look at what the Bible says about what will happen when we die. Isn't it surprising that ministers never preach on this? They tell us how horrible hell is and how wonderful heaven will be, but they do not get down to the nitty-gritty and specifics of what the scriptures actually say. Satan has done an excellent job polluting our minds with man-made ideas about the afterlife that the scriptures do not support. He will do anything to keep us from going to the home he got kicked out of--heaven. F. LaGard Smith has done a superb job of using his legal background by asking tough questions and then revealing what the scriptures (Old and New Testament) say (or don't say) about death, heaven, hell, Sheol and Hades, rapture, purgatory, etc. to refute Satan and his wily ways. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants the truth about the afterlife.

F. Lagarde Smith has written a highly readable and thought-provoking investigation into the Biblical viewpoint of death. It is a challenging work in that Smith arrives at some well-documented conclusions that are definitely not mainstream. For instance, in Chapter 1 he proposes that Adam's sin did not usher in physical death to mankind but strictly caused our spiritual death. He goes to great lengths to strengthen his conclusion that God's plan has always been that man "return to dust". This is clearly not the commonly held viewpoint of death (as Smith acknowledges), but it certainly is thought provoking. I recommend to any mature reader with a decent background of Biblical study.