R.C. Sproul, Unseen Realities: Heaven, Hell, Angels and Demons. Christian Focus, 2011.

Parts One and Two: Heaven and Hell

At the very outset it has to be said that this book will not please persons who disallow talk of divine intervention or interference in the natural order. Similarly, it will please those who not only assert but insistence on the idea of divine interaction with the present world. Its not a large book, running only 157 pages, but the materials covered will nonetheless be reviewed by me in two parts. Part one of the review will cover parts one and two of the book (on heaven and hell) and part two of the review will cover parts three and four (angels and demons). The premise of the book is stated simply: There is an uncompromised supernaturalism at the heart of the Christian worldview, and we must not let the worlds skepticism with regard to these things affect our belief systems. We must trust and affirm that there is much more to reality than meets the eye (p. 9). If one accepts that premise, one can accept what follows in Sprouls little work. If one rejects that premise, one will hardly follow Sproul a page further. And that, naturally, will be the course most will take. Bultmann would naturally assert that the worldview of the early Church is not itself identical with the Gospel, the Kerygma, and thus not an essential aspect of Christian faith. Sproul would dissent and insist that the worldview of the early Church must as well be the worldview of all Christians through all ages. Sprouls treatment of heaven (and hell, for that matter) is sprinkled with anecdotal material from his life which illustrates the points he makes. And to be fair to him, if one adopts the same stance he does concerning the appropriate worldview Christians should, then his illustrative and exegetical work is quite folksy. Furthermore, and again in fairness to our author (and authors should always be given a fair hearing and perhaps even a sympathetic one, especially if they hold views different from our own), he does, in the third chapter, ask questions which many Christians have asked, are asking, and will ask. To wit, in heavenWill I know my parents? Will I know my wife? Will we be recognizable? How old will we be in heaven? If we die when we are ninety, will we stay aged forever? Will children who die be young forever? (p. 29). His answer to each of these questions? A refreshing I dont know. And unlike many of our academic brethren (and sisterns) he even admits that his views are purely speculative given the fact that the Bible is itself silent on so many of the questions about the afterlife which occupy us: Here is my speculation, which has no foundation whatsoever in anything thats said specifically in Scripture (p. 31).

Has any academician you regularly read and whose learned tomes run into the multiple hundreds of pages ever been so directly honest? Love him or hate him; agree with him or disagree with him, one can hardly accuse Sproul of being intellectually dishonest. When it comes to his discussion of hell he asserts, surely correctly the doctrine has become so controversial in the modern era that it is almost never addressed (p. 51). And We seem to be allergic to any serious discussion of the doctrine of hell (p. 52). Again, agree with him or not, his statements on the matter as quoted above are certainly accurate. Indeed, we are so allergic to the idea of hell that Rob Bell can write a book questioning it and it receive not only a hearing but far-flung discussion! People seem averse to the notion of hell (rightly or wrongly isnt the point) to such an extent that even the most absurd and un-Biblical ideas can and are insisted upon and the worst sort of eisegesis replaces, regularly, honest exegesis. However, Sproul does do a bit of a muck-up in the 7th chapter in which he discusses degrees of punishment. There he insists that there are levels of punishment in hell (as though misery can be quantified) and indeed writes If someone is guilty of five counts of murder and someone else is guilty of but one count of murder, the punishment that God gives in His final courtroom will be perfectly just (p. 75). The problem with this analogy, which he attempts to support via a bit of creative cherry-picking of biblical texts, is that it overlooks the simple fact that God doesnt determine reward or punishment by means of human categories. Had he consulted Mt 20:1ff he would have spared himself the error of asserting degrees of punishment. In part two of the present review well consider his treatment of angels and demons. Topics sure to raise eyebrows.

Jim West, Quartz Hill School of Theology