MixedPittsburgh Post-GazetteHeaven and Hell is not an easy read. Rather than a developmental chronology, Mr. Ehrman jumps back and forth between various periods. I was quite surprised that he virtually ignores the influence of Egypt. The most glaring omission in this book is the absence of the evolution of the power that became the Devil. The Devil arrived late in human history (our modern concept is not found in the Jewish Scriptures) ... If you want to know if, in fact, heaven and hell exist (and what happens there), you will not get a definite answer. Mr. Ehrman does not believe in either one, nor in the idea that human suffering is part of God’s plan to somehow make us \'better for it.\'
