Customer Reviews

The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was very inspired and enlightened after reading this book. The opening chapters on the separation of the soul from the body were exceptional. Beware of the chapters on Hell (a large portion of the book). They will make most depair but for some (as in my case) they will stengthen their resolve to seek God at all times. Those chapters made me see Christ's exhortations about Hell in a new light. In other words, I take them more seriously now. I read and re-read the chapters on Heaven and the reunification of the soul with the body. They are so uplifting that I had to pause often to reflect on what I had just read. I remember one evening before retiring I implored God to give me a glimpse of Heaven for just a moment as the decription I had just read seemed too amazing to believe.

I encourage all to read this short spiritual book.

This book, more than any other ever written, presents perhaps the most frightening,yet accurate, views of what Hell will be like. This book , plus F.X. Schouppe's book "How To Avoid Hell" are the most sobering books ever written on a very sobering topic(Hell!) Buy this book and prepare to re-assess your lifestyle.

Anyone who is involved in christianity should read this book. The author does not cut corners in his presentation of death, judgement, heaven and hell. He shows what the bible, theologians and saints have said about these four subjects. The book is scary to say the least, because the author is not afraid to delve deeply into what many people do not want to hear. He writes about how the number of the saved are few, the eternity of heaven and hell, the hatred and persecutions of the devil and the visions of saints, who portray a merciful but very just God. Read the book.

The author makes extensive use of scripture in this wonderful book. The combination of excerpts from the Bible and his own reflections make this a powerful meditation for Catholics and non-Catholics who believe that Hell and Heaven truly exist. While the reading is "easy" and uncomplicated, the content is so awesome that the reader may find the need to slowly savor the richness of the concepts. For Catholics especially, the perfect environment for reading this treasure is during Holy Hour Adoration in front of the Real Presence.

Pope Pius XII was quoted as saying, "The greatest sin of the twentieth century, is the loss of the sense of sin." In this short book Fr. von Cochem writes on each of the four last things, Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. His chapters are short as is his book. His language is extremely vivid, and I would suspect that most modern readers would have trouble accepting not only the beautiful and fantastic image he paints of heaven, but more lilkely how stark and terrible he paints Hell. This is not to say I don't think this book is useful. If it doesn't inspire the emotions it did with its original audience, at least perhaps it will be helpful in bringing people to realize that perhaps God is mightier than the semi-senile Grandfather figure we often want to believe He is.

This is little book brings the realitilies of eternity home in easy to understand writings.

This is a thorough book about what we are all headed for when we die. Best be prepared ahead of time and not have the Last Judgment a big surprise.

I confess that it has been four months since I read this book, but there are a number of things I can recall: for one, many "pious tales" are included. For instance, the number of angels -- which is folly to put a number on -- is said in this book to be billions of times the number of all human beings that ever existed or will exist. Also, it is said that the departure of the soul from the body is excruciatingly painful. There are many other such fables and that call book's accuracy into doubt.

Additionally, the book takes great pains in "putting the fear of God in you," to the point of undermining the truth of God's love. This is the chief error of the book, a poor idea of God which makes it nigh impossible for the author to reconcile the idea of a loving and merciful God with the idea of judgment and Hell. He goes so far as to say that no one can be certain of salvation, which is a outright falsehood. I recall quite clearly the author's portrayal of St. Paul as uncertain of his soul's state of grace by using a quote out of context from 1 Corinthians 4, 3-4. Paul is saying that although his conscience is clear in the face of criticisms, it is not therefore necessarily correct. The author uses this to argue that one shouldn't be certain of salvation, but that is not Paul's intent in the passage. Clearly, from reading 2 Timothy 4,6-8 Paul is quite certain of his salvation: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day..." This, among other things, sours the taste of the book as to its reliability and its understanding of God's mercy, as if He would damn a man for ignorance when the man loves Him, but was ignorant of some venial error.

Any theological book would be far more edifying in every way about the nature of Heaven and Hell, death and judgment, in addition to teaching the sublime truths of God far better than this book. I would suggest Theology for Beginners by F.J. Sheed, but there are other good ones.

There may be some good in this book, but overall it is quite lacking in instructional soundness, and, as finite as our minds are, it would behoove you to seek out material with more substance and less rhetoric. At very least, if you buy this, take it with a grain of salt (or a teaspoon) and avoid the section on Hell and its torments; little is to be gained from such luscious consideration of pain, when one can be applying one's energies to (perfect) contrition for the love of God. If you really struggle to repent, however, it may help to attain imperfect contrition from fear of Hell. For that, I spare it from a one star rating.

This was a good book. It does definitely give you something to think about. Sometimes the visual descriptions are tough to grasp. The seperation of soul from body being physically excrutiating? I dont know. The rest of the book was good and made some good points. Something every Catholic should consider reading. You are preparing your whole life for this moment.

This is a great book to get your faith back on track. An excellent book overall would highly recommend it to anyone not sure of the role that sin plays in our walk.