What the Bible Says About Death and Heaven
Can God raise the cremated? Will we know our loved ones? Will our pets be there? My book answers the questions Christians ask about death and heaven, plainly, from the King James Bible. 460 large-print pages. Instant download. Print at home.
- 460large-print pages
- 32chapters, one question each
- 777King James verses quoted
- 2indexes: Scriptures and subjects
Launch price
- The book
Later: $42Now: $37That's 8 cents a page
- Where your loved ones are right now (chapter 3)
- Whether you'll know them again in heaven (chapter 7)
- Whether God can raise the cremated (chapter 9)
- What each church teaches about cremation (chapter 14), and what to do with the ashes (chapter 15)
- How to get through the first year (chapter 23)
460 large-print pages · 32 chapters, one question each · every verse from the King James Bible · two indexes
- The Complete Set
Later: $62Now: $57Everything in the book, plus:
- The Christian Final Wishes Planner: write down your own service, your Scriptures and hymns, letters to your family and where your papers are (52 pages to type into or print)
- 24 prayers to keep, give, or read at a bedside (printable cards)
- 48 King James verses of comfort, four to a page (printable cards)
On November 1, the prices go up to the crossed-out amounts.
Available soon
Instant download · One payment, no subscription · 7-day money-back guarantee
Secure checkout by Stripe: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
How it works
- You pay through Stripe's secure checkout, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
- Your files are ready on the very next page, to read on your tablet or computer, or to print.
- The link stays in your email, so you can download them again any time, on any device.
Nothing is shipped, and there's no account to make.
Open your Bible to 1 Thessalonians 4
Some of the first Christians at Thessalonica had died, and the church didn't know what to think. So Paul wrote to them “concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
He didn't tell them not to grieve. He told them not to grieve without hope, and then he told them why.
If you've ever wondered where your loved ones are tonight, whether you'll know them again, or what God will do on the last day, Scripture doesn't leave you to guess, and neither does this book. Chapter 3 (page 29) answers where they are now, and chapter 7 (page 82) whether we'll know them.
Three questions, answered from the book
Every chapter opens with a short answer like these. They are quoted from the book, word for word.
Can God raise someone who was cremated?
(chapter 9, page 109)
Yes. Nothing that happens to a body can stop God from raising it. God formed the first man from the dust (Genesis 2:7). The sea will give up the dead in it (Revelation 20:13). The resurrection is God’s work, not something we preserve by how we bury (1 Corinthians 15:42–44). The first Christians held to this while their enemies burned martyrs and threw the ashes into a river. Every major church teaches it today. Some churches prefer burial or ask for it, for reasons of honor and witness, but none teaches that God cannot raise the cremated. If you chose cremation for someone you love, you did not take the resurrection from them.
Will we know our loved ones in heaven?
(chapter 7, page 83)
Yes. Scripture never pictures the life to come as a crowd of strangers. David expected to go to his child (2 Samuel 12:23). Peter knew Moses and Elijah, though he had never seen them (Matthew 17:1–4). Paul comforted grieving Christians with the promise that they and their loved ones would meet the Lord together (1 Thessalonians 4:17). We will know more there, not less (1 Corinthians 13:12). Scripture doesn’t explain how recognition works. Jesus said that marriage as we know it belongs to this life (Matthew 22:30), but nothing in Scripture says love ends. And no one who belongs to Christ arrives unwelcomed: he promised to receive his people himself (John 14:3).
Do our pets go to heaven?
(chapter 11, page 137)
The Bible does not say directly whether our own pets will be in heaven. Anyone who tells you it plainly does, either way, is saying more than Scripture says. But the Bible gives real reasons for hope. God made the animals and called them good. He made his covenant with “every living creature,” he feeds them, and not one sparrow is forgotten before him. Paul writes that creation itself will be set free (Romans 8:21), and the prophets picture God’s coming kingdom full of animals at peace. Christians such as John Wesley believed God will restore his creatures. Heaven will not be a place with less love in it than this world.
What's inside
Part One: What Happens When We Die
- What Does the Bible Mean by Death? · p. 9
- What Happens in the Moment We Die? · p. 18
- Where Are Our Loved Ones Right Now? · p. 29
- Can I Be Sure Where I'm Going? · p. 42
- What About Loved Ones Who Didn't Believe, Took Their Own Lives, or Died as Babies? · p. 54
Part Two: Heaven, and Seeing Them Again
- What Is Heaven Really Like? · p. 68
- Will We Know Our Loved Ones in Heaven? · p. 82
- What Kind of Body Will We Have? · p. 96
- Can God Raise Someone Who Was Cremated, Drowned or Never Found? · p. 108
- Can Our Loved Ones See Us? Dreams, Signs and Visits · p. 121
Part Three: The Animals We Love
- Do Our Pets Go to Heaven? · p. 136
- When a Pet Dies: Grief, Guilt and Putting a Friend to Sleep · p. 151
Part Four: Burial or Cremation
- Why Have Christians Buried Their Dead? · p. 163
- Is Cremation a Sin? What Scripture and Each Church Say · p. 175
- What Should We Do With the Ashes? · p. 190
- Casket, Coffin, Embalming, Vault, Green Burial or Body Donation? · p. 203
- What a Funeral Costs, and How to Pay Less Without Shame · p. 215
Part Five: The Funeral
- What Is a Christian Funeral For? · p. 229
- Choosing the Scriptures and Hymns for Your Own Service · p. 241
- Will My Children Follow My Wishes? · p. 259
- At the Funeral and After: What to Do, and What Never to Say · p. 271
Part Six: Grief, and Going On
- May a Christian Grieve? · p. 288
- How Do I Go On? The First Year · p. 300
- Living as a Widow or Widower · p. 315
- When a Child Dies Before You · p. 330
- Why Did God Take Them First? · p. 345
Part Seven: Setting Your House in Order
- When the End Is Near: Hospice, Hard Choices and Keeping Watch · p. 358
- Preparing to Die Well · p. 374
- What to Tell Your Children Before You Go Home · p. 385
- Wills, Inheritance and Keeping the Family at Peace · p. 397
- Your Papers, Your Accounts and the People to Call · p. 411
The Last Chapter
- The Morning We're Waiting For: The Resurrection and the Last Day · p. 424
At the back
- Help When You Need It · p. 436
- Where the Words Come From · p. 438
- Words You'll Meet (a glossary) · p. 442
- Index of Scriptures · p. 448
- Index of Subjects · p. 456
Look inside
Tap a page to see it full size.
The Complete Set: 4 in 1
Tap a page to see it full size.
The planner and the cards come only in the set.
Made for easy reading
- Large print, about the size of this text.
- US Letter pages.
- A clickable table of contents, for reading on a tablet.
- Print it all, or only the chapters you need.
Written for Christians of every church
Where churches see things differently, on cremation, on where our loved ones are now, on the ashes, it says so, in each church's own words, quoted from its own documents. Every Scripture is quoted from the King James Version.
How each chapter works
- The short answer: every chapter opens with the whole answer in a few sentences, in a shaded box.
- Where Christians differ: wherever churches don't agree, a box sets out what each one teaches, in its own words.
- What the Bible does not say: where a common saying goes beyond Scripture, a box gently says so.
Where the words come from
Every Scripture is quoted from the King James Version, checked word for word against two published texts. Each church’s teaching is quoted from its own documents: the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the U.S. Catholic bishops; the Orthodox Church in America and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod; the United Methodist Church; the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Westminster Confession; the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Faith and Message; the Book of Common Prayer; the Seventh-day Adventist Church; and the Assemblies of God. The full list is at the back of the book, on page 438.
Questions
I chose cremation for my husband. Did I do wrong by him?
No church teaches that God can't raise someone who was cremated. Chapter 9 (page 108) shows what Scripture says, and chapter 14 (page 175) gives each church's teaching in its own words. As the book puts it: “If you chose cremation for someone you love, you did not take the resurrection from them.”
My son walked away from church before he died. Will this book tell me he's lost?
It won't tell you what only God knows. Chapter 5 (page 54) sets out what Scripture says and what it doesn't, and what the churches teach. Its short answer begins: “Only God sees what is in a person’s heart at the end, and Scripture shows him to be both just and merciful (Genesis 18:25).”
Our dog was family. Is it silly to hope he's in heaven?
Not silly at all. Chapter 11 (page 136) says plainly what Scripture doesn't say and gives the real reasons it offers for hope: “The Bible does not say directly whether our own pets will be in heaven. … But the Bible gives real reasons for hope.” Chapter 12 (page 151) is for the grief and guilt of putting a friend to sleep.
I don't want my children arguing over my funeral or my things.
Chapter 20 (page 259) is about whether your children will follow your wishes, and chapter 30 (page 397) about wills, inheritance and keeping the family at peace. The planner in the Complete Set gives you a place to write it all down, so nobody has to guess. It records your wishes and isn't a will.
Is it a printed book?
No. It's a PDF you download right after you pay. You can read it on a tablet or computer, or print it at home or at a print shop. Nothing is shipped.
How many pages?
The book has 460 large-print pages, US Letter size. You can print just the chapters you need.
Is there a subscription?
No. You pay once, and there's nothing more to pay.
Will it fit my church?
It's written for Christians of every church. Where Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Adventist teaching differs, it says so in each church's own words.
Which Bible does it use?
The King James Version.
Is the planner a will?
No. It records your wishes so your family doesn't have to guess. It is not a will or a legal document.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. Buy it with your own email, then forward the download email, or print it for them.
What if it isn't right for me?
Read the chapter on your question first. If the book doesn't help you, write to me at [email protected] within 7 days of buying, and I'll refund you in full. A refunded order's download link stops working.
I need help downloading.
Reply to your download email, or write to [email protected].
I'm not good with computers.
You don't need to be. After you pay, the next page shows a big button for each file. Press it, and the book opens. Your email has a link back to that page, so you can come back any day. If anything goes wrong, write to me at [email protected] and I'll help you through it.
What if I lose the file?
Your download page stays open for as long as the order stands. The link is in your email: open it any time, on any device, and download the files again.
Can't I find these answers free online?
You can find pieces of them, from many voices that often disagree without saying why. This book puts every question in one place, gives the short answer first, quotes the verses from the King James Version so you can check them in your own Bible, and where churches differ, gives each church's teaching in its own words.
Is it hard to read when you're grieving?
Each chapter begins with a short answer of a few sentences, so you can take in the answer first and read the rest when you're ready. You don't have to read it in order: start with whichever question is on your heart.
Questions before you buy?
Write to me at [email protected], and I'll write back.
Meet Linda
I'm Linda Sullivan. I grew up in McMinnville, Tennessee, where my daddy grew dogwoods and red maples at a tree nursery for forty years. For twenty-four years I was the secretary at our church. I typed the funeral programs, took the calls on the mornings someone died, and sat with families while they chose the hymns. I taught the women's Sunday school class for thirty years, and these days I sit with families through the long nights as a hospice volunteer. Ray and I were married thirty-eight years, and I still live in the house we built in 1987.
Why I wrote this book
After Ray died in October 2019, kind people told me God needed another angel. They meant well. But I went home and realized I didn't know what the Bible actually says: where he was, or whether I would know him again.
So every morning I sat in my mama's armchair with Ray's King James Bible, his pencil notes still in the margins, and copied out every verse I could find about death and heaven into spiral notebooks.
I wrote this book the way I'd want it handed to me: one question to a chapter, the short answer first, every verse from the King James Bible so you can look it up in your own, and each church's teaching in its own words. Where the Bible doesn't say, I tell you so.
— Linda
7 days to read the chapter you need, and decide
Turn to the question that's been on your heart. Read the short answer, then the whole chapter. If the book doesn't help you, write to me within 7 days for a full refund, no questions asked.
The questions will come, at a graveside or late at night. When they do, you'll have the answers in your hands, plainly, from Scripture.
Launch price
- The book
Later: $42Now: $37That's 8 cents a page
- Where your loved ones are right now (chapter 3)
- Whether you'll know them again in heaven (chapter 7)
- Whether God can raise the cremated (chapter 9)
- What each church teaches about cremation (chapter 14), and what to do with the ashes (chapter 15)
- How to get through the first year (chapter 23)
460 large-print pages · 32 chapters, one question each · every verse from the King James Bible · two indexes
- The Complete Set
Later: $62Now: $57Everything in the book, plus:
- The Christian Final Wishes Planner: write down your own service, your Scriptures and hymns, letters to your family and where your papers are (52 pages to type into or print)
- 24 prayers to keep, give, or read at a bedside (printable cards)
- 48 King James verses of comfort, four to a page (printable cards)
On November 1, the prices go up to the crossed-out amounts.
Available soon
Instant download · One payment, no subscription · 7-day money-back guarantee
Secure checkout by Stripe: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.