Embarking on a short tour of the afterlife is all the rage, it seems. Don Piper got it started with 90 Minutes in Heaven, a really bad book that sold millions of copies. Then there was 23 Minutes in Hell, another bestseller and another awful book. And now hot on their heels comes Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. It’s currently sitting atop the New York Times list of bestsellers and has over a half million copies in print. I wonder if I’m the only one who finds it a mite suspicious that now that these books are selling like proverbial hotcakes, more and more people find that God wants them to tell their stories of heaven and hell. Probably not.
And what does the Bible say? Tim adds,
First, the Bible gives us no indication whatsoever that God will work in this way and that he will call one of us to heaven and then cause us to return. It is for man to die once and then the resurrection. To allow a man (or a boy) to experience heaven and then to bring him back would not be grace but cruelty. The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it’s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it. And the reason he even mentioned this experience was not to offer encouragement that heaven exists, but to serve as a part of his “gospel boasting.” He saw heaven and was told to say nothing about it. This was a unique experience in a unique time and for a unique reason.
The second ground refers to the reason each of these authors offers—that through their experience we now find confidence that what God says is true. This kind of proof is exactly the kind of proof we should not need and should not want. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. Don Piper insisted that he was called to be the Minister of Hope. If hope is to be found in any person, it will be found in the person of Christ. It is the Spirit working through the Word who will give us confidence in our faith. And what is faith? It is simply believing that what God says in his Word is true. We do not need tales of heaven or stories of those who claim to be there.
You can read the entire review here. Its is worth looking at!
3 comments:
What me must always keep in mind is, that for every real experience there will be a counterfeit by Satan so that people will react in the same way as this article. By throwing them all out as fakes.
The Lord Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice"We His people have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and He alone will guide us into all Truth. Rather we should depend on Him, then to make a blanket statement, that all should be ignored.
Gerie
I am hesitant to say that someone's spiritual experience is true or not as God works in mysterious ways. Also, I have to agree with Geri's comment that satan attempts counterfeits of God's works.
Tim's statement, "The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it’s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it" is wrong. In Revelations, John gives us a lengthy and descriptive experience he had in Heaven.
Also his statement, "This was a unique experience in a unique time and for a unique reason"...God could very well have a unique reason to give some people unique experiences in today's times as well. Just saying that all things are possible with God. Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
I am hesitate to accept an extra Biblical source as an accurate and unbiased description of something. There is simply no way to authentic what the author says. God does work in mysterious ways BUT I have no way of knowing if that book is true or not and since there are no real examples of this taking place in Scripture, I am hesitant to believe it. Further, I believe John had a vision, he didn't go to heaven and then return to Patmos to write Revelation.
I liked what Tim said...if someone saw heaven and then God sent them back - that would be cruel.
I have not read the book and do not plan to.
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