Jesus and the Other Place by Paul Hazelden
For many Christians, the fate of unbelievers is an article of faith. While we rarely talk about it, many Christians accept the traditional teaching that, following the final judgment, unbelievers will suffer eternal conscious torment in Hell. Belief in eternal torment has caused serious distress and pastoral difficulties to many compassionate people over the years. The surprising thing is that this teaching is found nowhere in the Bible. It features in many creeds and statements of faith, and it can be seen in pictures from the Middle Ages and after, but the message of the Bible is very different.
This is not just a problem for Christians: I have been talking about my faith for over 50 years now, and listening to the objections which are raised. One of the most common (and, for many Christians, one of the most difficult) is the question of what will happen to people who do not follow Jesus.
Almost everyone outside the church understands we believe that, unless they change, they will be tormented for ever. We offer them a way to avoid this fate, but that doesn't help: it simply confirms to them that our God is a monster. What does help is understanding what the Bible really says on this subject – so I wrote a book about it.
This book seeks to take seriously what Jesus tells us about the fate of those who do not follow him. The message Jesus gives us about the next world can be found throughout the Bible, and is very simple: we are offered two paths, and we can choose between two possible futures – we can receive eternal life, or we can perish.
The doctrine of eternal torment distorts the gospel message, disrupts our evangelism, and makes honest and sensitive pastoral care for the bereaved even harder than it is already. Even worse, it presents our Heavenly Father as a cruel monster.
Contrary to what many Christians have been taught, the Bible clearly and consistently teaches that those who reject God will perish – they will cease to exist. This is a dreadful fate, but it is not cruel: we are free to spend eternity with him, but we are not forced to be in his presence.
You can read more about the book
here, where you will find a feedback form - I would be very happy to respond to questions about anything in the book. Or you can buy a copy: it's available in
Paperback and
Hardback, as an
Ebook and
Audiobook.
Happy reading!
Posted: February 2026