Summary
In the dedication to this book, Will Bronson offers to answer the question posed most often by Larry King of his talk show religious guests: "So what's going to happen to someone like me who is not a Christian when I die? Am I going to burn forever in Hell?" How To Get To Heaven provides three simple but difficult things you can do to insure your place in a glorious eternity. Will Bronson presents the gist of Jesus' teachings: forgive and seek forgiveness, love your neighbor even if its your enemy, and practice humility. Bronson refutes old-fashioned ideas remaining in the church since the Middle Ages such as: eternal conscious torment of the lost, air-tight predestination, and the false idea that only Christians will be in heaven. Bronson shares his vision of a beautiful place where love and freedom reign which is accessible to all people of good will. But he cautions us with Jesus' words: "Enter by the narrow gate, for the way is hard that leads to life, and few find it." In a world where over 20,000 people die each day, most of them children, simply because they or their parents are too poor to stay alive, Bronson asks us to revive our commitment to life in this context and he provides a practical guide to do just that though support of the Millennium Development Goals. When half of our global neighbors are trying to subsist on less than $2 a day, it would seem that loving our neighbor involves engaging in this problem. Bronson's book provides a helpful guide to intelligent giving after laying the basis as to why we should care. The second appendix of this book is A Letter To A Christian Nation, A Response to Sam Harris' book of the same name. It is a summary of Bronson's arguments that ends on the optimistic note that he expects to see Mr. Harris in heaven because of Sam's honesty and concern for a hurting world. The book has an index and an interesting bibliography that includes works by Jeffrey Sachs, Bono, Dr. Paul Farmer, Chris Hedges, Christopher Hitchens, Bill Clinton, Malcomb Muggeridge, Jim Wallis, Kubler Ross, Richard Dawkins, Greg Mortenson and others.
Designed as a tool for the work of the modern church, Bronson's book has endorsements from various clerics such as the assistant Episcopal Bishop of California. Chapter 3 discusses religious exclusivism versus inclusivism and comes down clearly on the side of the latter. Chapter 6 explains why life is designed to be a test. This succinct 168 pages includes nearly 20 pages of end notes most of which are complete quotations of Jesus' words on the topic of the book so that the reader may have them in one place and make up his or her own mind on the subject. Bronson uses inclusive language and argues for more understanding regarding the issues surrounding sexual preference.
About the Author
Will Bronson was born in Chicago in 1939. He attended public schools and an evangelical church. After two years at Carleton College in Minnesota, he went west to Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington where he graduated with a BA in Economics and Political Science. After five years in the U.S. Navy he began a career as an airline pilot. During that time he earned an MA in Education at Suffolk University, Boston and an MTS degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts. He also ran for U.S. Congress four times, winning three primaries as the Republican candidate, but losing close races in Massachusetts and Georgia. After retiring in 1991 he continued reading and studying and earned a Doctor of Ministry from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He formed a non-profit corporation to concentrate on engaging individuals and groups with the Millennium Development Goals, the first of which targets extreme poverty. He travels and speaks on this topic using a PowerPoint presentation that was part of his doctoral thesis. Will Bronson resides in Florida with his wife Christine and pursues his love of sports that include fencing, ice hockey, golf, and tennis.
