The five people you meet in heaven

The gospel as it really isn't

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
By Mitch Albom
Timewarner. 208 pages. £6.99
ISBN 0 7515 3682 2

This is a novel which is being pushed in the 3-for-2 promotion in some high street bookshops. It is not a Christian book, but the title will intrigue customers.

It imagines the story of what happens in the afterlife to Eddie, a man in his 80s who is killed trying to save a little girl in a fairground accident.

Arriving in heaven he meets, one at a time, five people who help him to understand his life and teach him various lessons. It is a story custom-made for the world's current therapy culture. The book offers a kind of redemption through counselling and understanding. 'You are at peace when you make peace with yourself.' No mention is made of the need for peace with God. 'Life has to end, but love doesn't.' The frustrations and troubles which we face in life make up for our sins. Salvation is by works, therefore, not by faith in Christ.

The book reflects the ongoing sentimental attachment which secular people still have for the idea of a life beyond this one. That is an interesting phenomenon in itself. No doubt it reflects the kind of outlook which many people would like to think is true. It will have the effect of giving hope and comfort to many readers. But if what the Lord Jesus taught is true, then it is false hope.

JEB

John Benton

© Evangelicals Now - December 2004
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Main Articles

• Glory to God in the HIGHeST.
  A pub transformed into a Christian Community Centre in Dunstable
• Joys and struggles
  An interview with Phil Wells of Calvary Evangelical Church in Brighton
• Longing, joy and the existence of God
  Adapted from the notes of a lecture given by Martin Warnelid at L'Abri
• In a stable condition
  An evangelistic look at Philippians 2.1-18
• A regular turkey!
  Reflections on the family meal table
• Monthly media and arts column
  The final countdown
• Monthly youth leaders column
  Golden rules
• 'Seeing salvation now'
  A guide to an exhibition of Christian art in Huddersfield
• Letter from America
  Bushwhacked!
• The Music Exchange
  Christmas stocking
• The Third Degree
  Evangelising fellow students
• Who'd be a children's evangelist?

Other articles

• China: leaders distance themselves from 'the heavenly man'
• My story - An extract from the new autobiography, in which he tells how he came to Christ
• Beating Time: Do we know it's Christmas?
• The politics of faith, essays on the morality of key current affairs - Media bias? - Peter Glover gives his view on the issue
• Wimbledon
• Watching the web - An update on websites of interest
• Inside I'm dancing
• My story: from Welsh mining village to worldwide ministry
• A biblical view of law and justice
• Christology in cultural perspective
• Rad lad livin' - sort your walk!
• Taming the tiger
• A cry from the streets
• Fruit that will last
• Leaders who will last
• Pure joy
• How to be a secure woman
• Holiness and sexuality - homosexuality in a biblical context
• First steps
• The five people you meet in heaven
• Making sense of the New Testament
• The purpose driven life
• Reading your Bible - a starter's guide