Mr. Peter Kreeft: I have some problems regarding your article "What Will Heaven Be Like" on christ ianitytoday.com.

After reading the first few pages of the article, it appears to me that your views on heaven come mostly not from scripture, but from your own speculation and reasoning. Nothing is wrong with speculating on the nature of he aven; as you wrote yourself, "Why should we neglect any God-given faculty?" Howe ver, my problem is with the fact that your personal opinion does not match the B ible on several points. Under Question number 5, "Can Suicides Be Saved?", you wrote "Those who commit s uicide do not automatically ensure their damnation, but they certainly risk thei r salvation." While it is true that people who commit suicide do not ensure thei r damnation, they absolutely do not risk their salvation. John 10:28 states "I g ive them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them o ut of my hand." Romans 8:38 says "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor heigh t nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." If a person has accepted Christ as h is Lord and Savior, no sin, no matter how grave, is able to remove that person's status of "forgiven" in God's eyes. Even if a Christian were to exit this life by suicide, even that has already been forgiven by Christ's sacrifice. You answered question 9, "What happens in Hell", with one word: "Nothing." Again , this is simply not true. In regards to the fate of those who spend eternity in Hell, I would like to reference a few passages from scripture: Matthew 13:41-42 "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom al l causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:49-50 "So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate th e evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place t here will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Revelation 14:9-10 "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God s wrath, poured full strength into the cu p of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.'" Revelation 20:15 "And if anyone s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown int o the lake of fire." I believe that these passages should be evidence enough that there is much more than "nothing" going on in Hell. In closing, I would like to say that while I enjoyed reading your article, your departures from Biblical truth make it difficult to view your speculations as an ything but misguided. I sincerely hope and pray that you will consult the Bible more closely in your future writing. In Christ, Brian Barnes