Our own Alan Gomes probably has an answer. His 40 Questions About Heaven and Hell is—get this—it’s clear talk about eschatology. Yes, it’s possible to talk clearly and sensibly, on the basis of the Bible, about what we can and cannot know about heaven and hell.   

40 Questions about Heaven and Hell

Gomes follows a semi-socratic, question-and-answer format. This is an outstanding teaching tool. It has worked in everything from Thomas Aquinas’s ginormous Summa Theologiae to Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. (If you wanted, you could even write a commentary on Romans in question-and-answer format—as did the Spanish Protestant theologian (and Oxford professor) Antonio del Corro (1527-91).)   

So if you have a specific question about heaven or hell, look it up in Gomes. He’ll give you arguments, responses and a clear survey of important passages of Scripture.

What happens right when we die? What happens to infants who die? What will the resurrection body be like? What will we do in heaven? How long does hell last? Can heaven be heaven if we know there are people in hell? Can animals go to heaven?  

Gomes isn’t writing just-so stories. He’s doing responsible teaching based on Scripture. There’s plenty of stuff we can’t know about heaven and hell, and it can be a little disappointing to realize this. But it’s actually really helpful to know what we can’t know. The flip side of this is that there’s plenty we can know, and know with confidence, because God has revealed it to us in his word.