Endorsements

      Living, as we do, in an age that faces challenges from the Enlightenment and the realization on the part of many that the ideas of heaven and hell have been used to anesthetize us to the reality of suffering in this world, making us more compliant to the powers of this world, there is much angst over what to make of an afterlife. With a cautious and pastoral approach, Bill Tuck helps us navigate our way through the questions posed by life and death, so that we might journey toward the “undiscovered country” with “quiet confidence and Christian assurance,” so that we might approach death with a sense of hope and assurance, while finding encouragement to live this life with boldness and faithfulness.

      — Robert Cornwall, Pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church and author of Faith in the Public Square.

      Bill Tuck is wise enough not to try to give us all the answers to what happens after we die, but he does raise most of the questions, and does it in a way that is thoughtful, imaginative, and open to interesting new possibilities. At almost every point he wonders, “What if it’s not the way the preachers have always told us it would be? What if it’s different—and better—than we have ever imagined?”

      He compares death to birth, and observes how the unborn infant could never know what’s waiting for him outside the womb, could never imagine how bright, and beautiful, and full of wonder the world is. But like a twin within that womb, Bill Tuck talks to us about what it might be like, and he talks about it like someone who has given it plenty of thought. He can’t be sure. He hasn’t been there. But the way he talks about it makes me almost eager to be born, to discover for myself what’s waiting beyond the womb of my earthly existence.

      — Jim Somerville, Pastor of First Baptist Church

       Richmond, Virginia

      “Many of our fellow Americans seem to live in denial about death, but not William Tuck. He knows that death is not a friend in disguise but an enemy who would destroy us. He is confident that Jesus has defeated death and has promised to share the spoils of his victory with us. His promise gives us hope as we make The Journey to the Undiscovered Country. Tuck writes realistically about the second coming of Christ, God’s judgment, and hell. His chapter on heaven reinforced my hope and helped me to celebrate what “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,” but which “God hath prepared for them who love him.”

      This is a beautifully written book and never boring. Tuck knows that many things about the future are mysteries beyond our understanding, so he doesn’t speculate unwisely. But neither does he evade difficult questions or disregard the hope-full message of the New Testament. This book is practical and interesting and filled with Christian hope. I recommend it to anyone who wants to face the future realistically and as a Christian. I especially recommend it to those who have arrived at an age where they think regularly about their own mortality.”

      — Fisher Humphreys, Professor of Divinity emeritus

       Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama

      “This book is vintage Bill Tuck—thorough research on an important biblical subject, carefully pondered and beautifully illustrated. Chockfull of rich and wonderful nuggets of thought and devotion, it is well worth putting into the hands of anyone who has begun to think about the end of our common trajectory or has already been saddened by the death of a loved one. It is a book to be read, digested, and then read again.”

      — John Killinger, former Professor & pastor, and author of 70 books including If Christians Were Really Christians and Hidden Mark: Exploring Christianity’s Heretical Gospel.

      Other Books By

       William Powell Tuck

      The Way For All Seasons

      Facing Grief and Death

      The Struggle For Meaning (editor)

      Knowing God: Religious Knowledge

      in the Theology of John Baillie

      Our Baptist Tradition

      Ministry: An Ecumenical Challenge (editor)

      Getting Past the Pain

      A Glorious Vision

      The Bible As Our Guide For Spiritual Growth (editor)

      Authentic Evangelism

      The Lord’s Prayer Today

      Christmas Is for the Young… Whatever Their Age

      Through the Eyes of a Child

      Love as a Way of Living

      The Compelling Faces of Jesus

      The Left Behind Fantasy:

      The Theology Behind the Left Behind Tales

      The Ten Commandments: Their Meaning Today

      Facing Life’s Ups and Downs

      The Church in Today’s World

      The Church Under the Cross

      Modern Shapers of Baptist Thought in America

      The Journey

       to the

       Undiscovered Country

      What’s Beyond Death?

      William Powell Tuck

      Energion Publications

      Gonzalez, FL

      2012

      Copyright © 2012, William Powell Tuck

      Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are the author’s translation.

      Scriptures marked RSV taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.

      Scripture quotations marked NEB are from The New English Bible, Copyright © 1961,1970 by the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Studies of the Cambridge University Press.

      Scriptures marked Good News are from the Good News for Modern Man, Copyright © 1972 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee.

      Scriptures marked Moffat are from James Moffatt, A New Translation of the Bible Copyright © Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York and London, 1935.

      Cover Design & Original Art: Carol Everhart Roper

      carolroper.com

      EPub Edition

      Print ISBNs:

      ISBN10: 1-938434-09-9

      ISBN13: 978-1-938434-09-9

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945458

      Energion Publications

      P. O. Box 841

      Gonzalez, FL 32560

      energionpubs.com

      850-525-3916

      To Emily,

      my companion through life toward the Celestial City,

      whose love, wisdom and gifted insights

      have strengthened me along the way

      Preface