Controversial Christian Book Wins National Award

Heaven's Doors . . . Wider than You Ever Believed! received the prestigious 2018 Illumination Awards Silver Medal in Theology from the thousands of Christian books published in the past year.

The book challenges many traditional beliefs about heaven and hell, addressing Church teaching from the time of Christ till the present from a historical and Biblical perspective that the judges deemed "exemplary."

Winners were selected from publishers large and small, including HarperCollins, Zondervan, Oxford University Press, Faith Words, Thomas Nelson and Tyndale House Publishers.

Author George W. Sarris says the book exposes a 1,500-year-old myth about hell that began with a power-hungry Roman emperor, was supported by a highly respected but misinformed cleric, and has endured for centuries because it became the status quo.  He says that for the first 500 years after Christ, Church leaders and laity believed that, ultimately, all the people God created will be in heaven. 

"Hell is real," Sarris says, "but it doesn't last forever, and it's purpose is to transform sinners, not torture them for all eternity.  That's the only answer that's consistent with an all-loving, all-powerful God."

David Konstan, Professor of Classics at New York University and Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at Brown University says the book is "gracefully written, deeply thoughtful, and based on careful scholarship; it deserves the widest audience.”

Pastor, author and speaker Brian McLaren says Sarris’ book “could be the breakthrough book among Evangelicals and conservative Catholics especially . . . It is readable, clear, focused and free of red herrings and distracting baggage.”

George W. Sarris is a popular author, speaker and performer who has spent a lifetime addressing Biblical and family issues throughout the U.S.  He’s the narrator of Zondervan’s 2011 revision of the Holy Bible New International Version featured on BibleGateway.com and the creator of an award-winning series of children’s CDs that bring the Bible to life. 

Heaven's Doors is available from Amazon.com in paperback, ebook and audio book formats.

For more information about Heaven’s Doors, go to https://www.heavensdoors.net/

For a complete list of the Illumination Award winners, go to http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=2283