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Heaven and Hell

Written by: Bart D. Ehrman
Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Bart D. Ehrman - preface
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Publisher's Summary

A New York Times best-selling historian of early Christianity takes on two of the most gripping questions of human existence: Where did the ideas of heaven and hell come from, and why do they endure?

What happens when we die? A recent Pew Research poll showed that 72 percent of Americans believe in a literal heaven and 58 percent believe in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. But eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught.

So where did these ideas come from?

In this “eloquent understanding of how death is viewed through many spiritual traditions” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), Bart Ehrman 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. He discusses ancient guided tours of heaven and hell, in which a living person observes the sublime blessings of heaven for those who are saved and the horrifying torments of hell for those who are damned. Some of these accounts take the form of near death experiences, the oldest on record, with intriguing similarities to those reported today.

One of Ehrman’s startling conclusions is that there never was a single Greek, Jewish, or Christian understanding of the afterlife, but numerous competing views. Moreover, these views did not come from nowhere; they were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. Only later, in the early Christian centuries, did they develop into notions of eternal bliss or damnation widely accepted today.

In this “elegant history” (The New Yorker), Ehrman helps us reflect on where our ideas of the afterlife come from. With his “richly layered-narrative” (The Boston Globe) he assures us that even if there may be something to hope for when we die, there certainly is nothing to fear.

©2020 Bart D. Ehrman (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about Heaven and Hell

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Everyone should read this book

Some ignored reality here. All the facts you could ever hope to find. A must read for anyone

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Monotonous narrator, interesting story

I found the authors voice during the introduction much more captivating than the paid professional who took over the rest of the book. As someone else said it seems odd that the book stops around the 5th century, with only cursory descriptions of medieval developments of purgatory. But I suppose since one is reading a scholar of early Christianity it makes sense they would stick to their area of expertise. Some chapters were less interesting than others and shared overlapping passages/ ideas from other works by Bart, but overall it was quite interesting and is written very well.

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Some chapters are an extremely good resource

The narration was wonderful. There are a few chapters in this book that I didn't find that interesting or useful, but there are a few later chapters that makes the book worthwhile. It's definitely worth the read/listen but I'd just skip chapters if you don't find them interesting. Most chapters are pretty much self contained so you can just jump around without much issue. It is well written and easy to understand.

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  • J.
  • 2021-10-13

Interesting but limited

This is an excellent academic overview of the origins of ancient concepts of heaven and hell, however it feels like “part 1” since the author inexplicably stops around the 4th century CE. Were there no developments in this area after this time? What about changing attitudes and ideas through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, etc? It’s clear that the author is incredibly well versed in the ideas of antiquity, ancient Judaism, and the origin era of Christianity—and he brings excellent ideas and hypotheses from these times—however his analysis is severely limited by the lack of scope. In the end it ended up being a bit of a slog and not as enlightening as I would have hoped.

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Poor narration

Really boring narration (monotone). Interesting story and summary of the story of heaven and hell.

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Excellent Book

Complex ideas for the lay person, as Bart Ehrman is know for. I feel very enlightened after reading this, as it has answered many of the questions I've had throughout my life.

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