To Heaven and Back: Another Visit-to-Heaven Book

This blog and the one that follows will be full-length articles. I do this rarely, but I believe some of the issues at stake are very important, and far larger than just one particular book.

After its release two months ago, I guessed Mary Neal’s book To Heaven and Back would become an influential bestseller like its predecessors, so I read it. Sure enough, it has remained #1 in the “Paperback Advice & Miscellaneous” category of the New York Times Bestsellers List for nine weeks. 

Last year I blogged about Heaven is for Real and 90 Minutes in Heaven. I wrote that though these books don’t have the authority of Scripture, I am grateful that authors Don Piper and Todd Burpo uphold the gospel. Many who report after-death experiences do not.

For decades I’ve read accounts in which people who do not know Christ claim to have gone to Heaven and were reassured by a “being of light” that all is well. In some cases they’ve been “sent back” to earth to bring the message that people have nothing to fear because a loving God will send everyone to Heaven.

The Bible clearly states that those who do not trust Jesus for their salvation have great reason to fear death, and the Hell that follows (Luke 12:5). To claim otherwise is to preach a false gospel, which is exactly what some “I came back from Heaven” books do.

I’m convinced that though some have had real supernatural experiences, the one who reassured them with was not Jesus. “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).  Continue at Randy Alcorn

Satan the Proud and Powerful (Part 1)

Where did the idea of a red-flanneled, pitchfork-bearing Devil come from? The roots of this grotesque caricature of Satan are found in the Middle Ages. It was popular sport in medieval days to mock the Devil by describing him in ludicrous terms. There was a method in this madness. The medieval church believed in the reality of Satan. It was aware that Satan was a fallen angel who suffered from an overdose of pride. Pride was Satan’s supreme weakness. To resist Satan, that proud but fallen creature, required fierce combat. The combat focused on Satan’s most vulnerable point, his pride. The theory was this: Attack Satan at his point of weakness and he will flee from us.

What better way to attack Satan’s pride than to depict him as a cloven-hoofed court jester in a red suit? These silly images of Satan were intentional caricatures. Unfortunately, later generations responded to the caricatures as if they were intended to be the real thing.    Keep Reading...