THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
By Mitch Albom
Timewarner. 208 pages. £6.99
ISBN 0 7515 3682 2
This is a novel which is being pushed in the 3-for-2 promotion in some high street bookshops. It is not a Christian book, but the title will intrigue customers.
It imagines the story of what happens in the afterlife to Eddie, a man in his 80s who is killed trying to save a little girl in a fairground accident.
Arriving in heaven he meets, one at a time, five people who help him to understand his life and teach him various lessons. It is a story custom-made for the world's current therapy culture. The book offers a kind of redemption through counselling and understanding. 'You are at peace when you make peace with yourself.' No mention is made of the need for peace with God. 'Life has to end, but love doesn't.' The frustrations and troubles which we face in life make up for our sins. Salvation is by works, therefore, not by faith in Christ.
The book reflects the ongoing sentimental attachment which secular people still have for the idea of a life beyond this one. That is an interesting phenomenon in itself. No doubt it reflects the kind of outlook which many people would like to think is true. It will have the effect of giving hope and comfort to many readers. But if what the Lord Jesus taught is true, then it is false hope.
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