Book Review – Who Goes There?
Who Goes There? by Rebecca Price Janney is a tumbling book on how cultures throughout history have viewed heaven and hell. Here’s an excerpt. The book was sent to me by Michael Morrell as part of the Viral Bloggers portion of the OOZE e-zine. This is a report on the book.
Much of the book is the America’s relationship with a Christian theology of heaven and hell. Janney walks us through the earliest days of America, as it was finding its footing, and through grissling wars that forced people to question the fate of loved ones lost in combat. The later chapters are full of quotes and analysis of some of the most culturally famous (or infamous) who passed away in the public spotlight. Janney considers the public reaction in newspapers, or radio and TV broadcasts to be indicative of the broader culture’s position on heaven and hell.
While it was great to walk through America’s history again, I found the book fairly predictable with nothing interesting to really catch or keep my attention. Janney appropriately stays out of the realm of theology and instead reports on the historical events. This makes for a great history lesson, but does little for a practical theologian. Where are we today in our conversation about heaven and hell? How does culture use or misuse the Bible to assume life after death? Surprisingly little is unpacked on contemporary times, and it was disappointing.
While there is little to take away from this book for those wanting to integrate it into their ministry or life, there was one point she made in the last chapter. Quoting C.S. Lewis, she writes, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” If the whole book had been a history on the lives of such people and their understanding of heaven and hell (Martin Luther King Jr., St. Francis of Assisi, etc) I would have devoured this book. I chose this book because I believe that what we believe about our final destination helps our trajectory through this life. I regret to say this book doesn’t do much for me.
There was a pretty neat video Moody Publishers put out to promote the book.
We do have wildly diverse beliefs about heaven and hell. Mostly, we just believe whatever we want to, or let our theology slide when good things are said about ‘bad people.’ “He’s up there looking down on me.”
But why not stop assuming people are one place or another? What good does that do? Why not begin to join Jesus in bringing heaven to earth, and send hell off in a hand basket? Maybe I’ve been in too many conversations of guesswork, trying to figure out who the heretic was – my life will not be defined by judging “who goes where” but rather “where am I helping this world go?”
Sean is discussing.