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
