7 Things People Ask About the Afterlife By Hank Hanegraaff

Hank Hanegraaff wades through the varying near-death accounts and lines them up with what the Bible says in his latest book, After Life: What You Need to Know about Heaven, the Hereafter and Near-Death Experiences. Does hell exist? Does heaven? Do pets go to heaven? Do we float around with wings?

With his signature style, Hanegraaff cuts through the cultural clutter to illuminate what is known about the afterlife, what has been said about the afterlife, and how we can filter the glut of stories and revelations through biblical wisdom and discernment to help you live an abundant life today with confidence of an abundant life to come.

Here are seven of the most asked questions about the afterlife:

Hank Hanegraaff is host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, heard daily thoughout the United States and Canada via radio, satellite radio Sirius-XM 131, and the Internet. He's author of the runaway bestsellers The Prayer of Jesus and The Complete Bible Answer Book - Collector's Edition. He and his wife, Kathy, are parents to twelve children. For more on Hank Hanegraaff click here.

Do all religions lead to heaven?

If you answer in the negative, you may well be ostracized for being narrow-minded and intolerant. Truth, however, is of primary concern. The reality is that it is both incorrect and illogical to maintain that all religions lead to an eternal relationship with God. When you begin to examine world religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, you will immediately recognize that they directly contradict one another. Logically, they can all be wrong but they can’t all be right.

Jesus taught that there was only one way to eternal life. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” said Jesus, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus validated his claim through the immutable fact of his resurrection. The opinions of all other religious leaders are equally valid in that they are equally worthless. They died and are still dead. Only Jesus had the power to lay down his life and to take it up again. Thus, his opinion is infinitely more valid than any other.

Does suicide prevent people from going to heaven?

Suicide is said to be the third leading cause of death among young people ages fifteen to twenty-four. The question of whether suicide is an unforgivable sin comes up with increasing frequency. We can comfort ourselves with this fact. No single act is unforgivable. Peter did the unthinkable, yet Christ forgave him. While saints in a state of despondency and depression have done the unthinkable, no one can say with certainty that they are precluded from inheriting eternal life. However, those who take the sacred name of Christ upon their lips dare not contemplate suicide. Our lives belong to God and he alone has the prerogative to bring them to an end.

Near-death experiences & Afterlife

Those who want reliable information regarding what happens in the afterlife are best served to consult the Bible. Near-death experiences are hardly a way of ascertaining what happens after death in that a near-death experience and an actual death experience are two entirely different propositions. NDEs do not provide definitive knowledge regarding what happens after death in that NDErs by definition have not in actuality experienced biological death.

One should be highly suspicious of near-death experiences in that celestial travelers return with wildly divergent accounts of the afterlife. NDEs are predictably contextualized by the backgrounds and belief systems of those who experience them.