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Review by Gavin Ortlund
The Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell, by Paul Helm. Banner of Truth, 1989. 152 pages.
Paul Helm was a teaching fellow at Regent College near Vancouver, and is widely known for his publications on the theology of John Calvin. His The Last Things is the final instalment to a series of brief theological treatises, all published by Banner of Truth, which began with The Beginnings: Word and Spirit in Conversion (1986) and continued in The Callings: The Gospel in the World (1987). The Last Things is a brief, accessible and practical treatment of the four subjects listed in its subtitle (in chapters 2-5, respectively), set in the broader theological context of our responsibility before God as his creatures (chapter 1) and concluding with a more practical discussion concerning how the believer’s life on earth is a foretaste of the glories of heaven (chapter 6).
The Last Things is marked by both sound exposition of Scripture and thoughtful application of Scripture to contemporary doubts and questions. Throughout the book Helm demonstrates how biblical teaching interfaces with current trends of thought about the afterlife in Western society, such as the denial of personal responsibility, the sentimentalisation of death and discomfort with any notion of divine retributive justice. In addition, Helm shows great pastoral sensitivity to commonly asked questions in the church, regarding, for example, whether heaven may be boring (95), whether Christians should ever desire death (54-55), whether it is permissible to hope for the salvation of the severely mentally handicapped and those who die in infancy (121) how to preach about hell both soberly and earnestly (125) and how the doctrine of hell squares with divine justice (110-117). In short, this book will prove helpful to a wide variety of different readers. The chapters on heaven and hell are particularly insightful and may be profitably read apart from the rest of the book by readers who desire a brief treatment of those topics.
Introduction ix
I RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD 1
Limits 4
Scripture and Responsibility 6
Alarm and Comfort 10
God’s gift of Time 14
Regaining the Balance 18
II DEATH AND DYING 21
The Inevitability of Death 23
The Day of one’s Death 26
The Finality of Death 30
Dying and the Test of Faith 33
Death and Bodily Resurrection 38
Should a Believer want to Die? 42
Summing Up 43
III JUDGMENT 45
The Fact of Judgment 47
The Just God 50
Judgment according to Truth 56
The Standard of Judgment 60
Salvation by Works? 68
IV HEAVEN 73
Continuity and Change 74
Heaven as Redemptive, Fixed and Final 78
Heaven as Rest, but also as Activity 83
Critiques of Heaven 86
Heaven as Vision and Reward 94
V HELL 99
Opposing Hell 101
Hell and Annihilation 108
Differences in Hell? 111
The Preaching of Hell 117
VI GLORY BEGUN BELOW 121
I Corinthians 15 123
Romans 8 127
II Corinthians 4-5 131
Some Conclusions 133
General Index 139
Index of Scripture References 143