Jaws of Death: Gate of Heaven
Dietrich von Hildebrand shows that although death never loses its character as a punishment for sin, its fearful darkness can be pierced by the radiant light of faith—faith in God, in eternal life, in the resurrection of the body, and in the certainty of reunion with our beloved dead—a reunion that will know no sunset. Because the jaws of death can be our gate to Heaven, the radiant aspect of death finally triumphs as the light of Christ dissipates the fearful dark clouds spread by death.
Alice von Hildebrand | From the Foreword
Reviews & Commentary
From scholars, students, and readers
Life is a pilgrimage to a glorious destination, not a journey of diminishing returns, ending in darkness and the grave. The bountiful things of earth are signposts to a better future, not lights that warm us for a time but are destined to be snuffed out forever. Hildebrand’s consoling book shines both in its “dark” and “light” halves, illuminating the eternal duality of human life and helping to reconcile its painful contradictions.
For Hildebrand the cry to remain in spiritual contact with the beloved is itself a kind of argument that the departed soul must still exist; that we must believe that not only for the beloved, but for ourselves, or else all is lost forever.
Unlike most recent books about death, Jaws of Death: Gate of Heaven faithfully presents both faces of death—its grim horror and its potential for infinite light and joy.
Alice von Hildebrand
Widow of Dietrich von HildebrandHildebrand offers a coherent and insightful synopsis of relevant Christian revelation and enduring beliefs regarding death and eternal life. This content is rendered in an incisive, highly readable form that is most valuable for general readership. Thus, this is not a theological treatise. Rather, it is a concrete accessible exposition of human death phenomena and the ensuing transition of one’s soul to the supernatural realm. Most importantly, his account can inform, reassure, and focus a Christian’s proper understanding of death, and in turn, the consequent (re)ordering of their present life on earth.
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