There are many popular books about supposed trips to heaven and hell–in fact, some of the bestselling Christian books are books like Heaven is for Real (which documents a six-year-old’s supposed journey to heaven) or 23 Minutes in Hell (which documents a man’s descent down to taste hell for 23 minutes).
Should Christians read books like this? Why or why not? In the video below, Pastor and author David Platt shares his thoughts regarding books containing subjective experiences like these ‘trip to heaven’ books.
His helpful points from the following video:
1. Christians have a low ability to discern the trouble in these books.
2. Christian publishers know there is money in these types of books, and that is one reason why they are published.
3. Platt shares a helpful quote from John MacArthur:
Anyone who truly believes the biblical record, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that these modern testimonies with their relentless self-focus, and the relatively scant attention they pay to the glory of God are simply untrue. They are either figments of the human imagination, dreams, hallucinations, false memories, fantasies, and in the worst cases, deliberate lies–or else they are products of demonic deception. We know this with absolute certainty because Scripture definitively says that people do not go to heaven and come back:
“Who has ascended to heaven and gone down?” Proverbs 30:4
Answer: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” John 3:13
4. The biblical authors who do have visions of heaven are entranced by the glory of God.
Tim Challies on Heaven Tourism and his reviews on Heaven is for Real and related books
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[…] A helpful summary of a presentation on heaven and hell experiences–something good to read over for potential Heaven is for Real conversations/discernment. […]