Got Questions Ministries is excited to announce the November 11, 2025 release of our new book The 100 Most Asked Questions about Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife: Scriptures Answers to What Happens after You Die.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife
· Answers to the biggest questions people are actually asking about heaven, hell, and the afterlife
· Based on the most frequent queries sent to GotQuestions.org
· Answers are grounded in a biblical worldview and drawn from Scripture
False teachings about heaven, hell, and what happens when we die abound in culture--and even in the church. For more than two decades, S. Michael Houdmann and GotQuestions.org have cut through the confusion, answering even the hardest of questions with clarity, grace, and love.
With more than sixteen million visitors each month, GotQuestions.org is a trusted, biblically grounded resource online. This book answers one hundred of the most frequently asked questions on heaven, hell, and eternity in a compassionate, accessible, and straightforward manner, covering queries like
· What happens after you die?
· Do heaven and hell even exist?
· Why does a loving God send people to hell?
· Is Satan in charge of hell? Do his demons punish people for eternity there?
· What will we do in heaven for eternity--won't I get bored?
People have real questions. And those answers have real-world consequences. Here's the biblical truth we all need to understand God's Word about heaven, hell, and the afterlife--and apply it to our lives today.
What's new on the GotQuestions.org Podcast?
Episode 279 - How can I answer tough questions from children about sexuality and gender?
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Question: “What happens after death?”
Answer:
Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that, when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven, because their sins were forgiven when they received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18, 36). For believers, death means being “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6–8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50–54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that, while the souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately at death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.” At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and reunited with the soul/spirit. This reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the state of existence for believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21—22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to the destiny of believers, it seems that unbelievers also go to a temporary holding place to await their final resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22–23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after death. Revelation 20:11–15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to the final “hell” (the lake of fire) immediately after death; rather, they are sent to a temporary realm of fiery judgment and anguish. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24).
After death, a person resides in either a place of comfort or a place of torment. These realms act as a temporary “heaven” and a temporary “hell” until the resurrection. At that point, the soul is reunited with the body, but no one’s eternal destiny will change. The first resurrection is for the “blessed and holy” (Revelation 20:6)—everyone who is in Christ—and those who are part of the first resurrection will enter the millennial kingdom and, ultimately, the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). The other resurrection happens after Christ’s millennial kingdom, and it involves a judgment on the wicked and unbelieving “according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:13). These, whose names are not in the book of life, will be sent to the lake of fire to experience the “second death” (Revelation 20:14–15). The new earth and the lake of fire—these two destinations are final and eternal. People go to one or the other, based entirely on whether they have trusted Jesus Christ for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).
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For Further Study
The 100 Most Asked Questions about Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife: Scripture's Answers to What Happens after You Die
More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free!
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What’s new on GotQuestions.org?
What does it mean to fall short of God’s grace (Hebrews 12:15)?
What does it mean to be established in the faith (Colossians 2:7)?
What does it mean to not neglect the gift that is in you (1 Timothy 4:14)?
What does “difficult is the way which leads to life” mean (Matthew 7:14)?
What does “these all died in faith” mean (Hebrews 11:13)?
What does “you observe days and months and seasons and years” mean (Galatians 4:10)?
What does “Christ who is our life” mean (Colossians 3:4)?
What does it mean that Christ was offered once (Hebrews 9:28)?
What does it mean that the body is dead because of sin (Romans 8:10)?
Why must we believe and not doubt (James 1:6)?
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