On Tue, 05-30-06 4:36 pm
Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven
Written by Dr MikeFiled under: I Rarely Post Here Anymore , Random Stuff , Theology
[11] comments thusfar
A brief excerpt from the book:
In 1989, Piper was heading home from a Baptist conference when he hit a truck head on. ‘A light enveloped me, with a brilliance beyond earthly comprehension or description.’ 90 minutes later, Piper returned to life.”
OK, so it’s Don Piper instead of John, but Christianity Today’s series of articles on heaven, hell, and the afterlife provide a wealth of information – some funny, some sad, all worthwhile.
The lead story is “Travel Writing from the Afterlife,” Rob Moll’s wry and sardonic look at the claims of Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven and Bill Wiese’s 23 Minutes in Hell. Worth your time, too, are the many links to additional, related articles. I’ll provide snippets to whet your appetites for some of the writings.
Travel Writing from the Afterlife
Regarding Wiese’s time in hell:
Hell, Wiese says, ‘was hot—far beyond any possibility of sustaining life.’ (Thankfully, it being hell, everyone but Wiese had already died.) ‘My flesh should disintegrate from off my body at any moment. The reality was that it didn’t.’ Lots of other things happen in hell, says Wiese, which don’t normally happen on earth.
“‘I was extremely nauseous from the terrible, foul stench coming from these creatures. It was absolutely disgusting, foul, and rotten. It was, by far, the most putrid smells I have ever encountered. … The odor was extremely toxic, and that alone should have killed me.’ Somehow it didn’t.
“Wiese was also given information that he ordinarily wouldn’t have known. The creatures in his cell were speaking in a blasphemous language, Wiese says which he was supernaturally able to understand. Then, ‘one of the creatures picked me up. The strength of the beast was amazing. I was comparable to the weight of a water glass in its hand. … Instinctively, I knew that the creature holding me had strength approximately one thousand times greater than a man.’
“Jesus told Wiese to tell people that hell is real. Wiese says he was brought to hell in order to warn others about its torment. Twenty-three minutes after first being catapulted from his bed, Wiese woke up. He was lying on the floor of his living room, screaming in horror. His wife, hearing his screams, woke up and brought Wiese a glass of water.”
Of Piper’s time in heaven, Moll reports,
For those considering the comforts of heaven, Don Piper, a Texas pastor, tells his story. In 1989, Piper was heading home from a Baptist conference when he hit a truck head on. ‘A light enveloped me, with a brilliance beyond earthly comprehension or description.’ 90 minutes later, Piper returned to life . . .
“Interestingly, Piper’s vision corresponds to American Christians’ view of heaven. ‘Nearly all Christians think that union with God, peace, and tranquility, and reunion with relatives are likely to await them,’ writes Alan F. Segal in Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion.
“So, either Piper proved American views of the afterlife correct, or he saw what he expected to see, because he expected to see it.”
What Will Heaven Be Like?
Thirty-five frequently asked questions about eternity.
Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, tackles the FAQs of heaven. A sampling from his article:
3. Will we recognize our loved ones in Heaven?
George Macdonald answers this question with a counterquestion: ‘Will we be greater fools there than here?’ Of course we will know our loved ones. This is a divinely designed, essential part of our joy. We are not designed to be solitary mystics, lovers of God alone, but to be, like God himself, lovers of men and women as well.”
9. What happens in hell?
Nothing.
10. What happens in Heaven?
Everything.”
14. Do differences include sexual differences? Is there sex in Heaven?
Of course. Sex is part of our divinely designed humanity. It is transformed, not removed, in Heaven. We will be ‘like the angels’ in ‘neither marrying nor being given in marriage,’ according to Christ’s answer to the Sadducees (Matt. 22:30), but not in being neutered. Sex is first of all something we are, not something we do. I do not think we will be “doing” copulation in Heaven, but we will be busy being ourselves, and that includes being men and women, not genderless geldings. Vive la difference!”
John G. Stackhouse Jr. begins his article,
According to a recent snippet in Harper’s magazine, the reach of American entrepreneurship has exceeded that of the builders of the Tower of Babel and extends into heaven itself. Afterlife Telegrams offers to deliver messages to the dead for a price of $10 a word (with a five-word minimum) by way of terminally ill patients who promise to deliver the messages upon ‘passing into the afterlife.’
In the fine print of the agreement, however, it warns customers that it cannot guarantee the message will get through. ‘The truth is,’ Afterlife Telegrams solemnly warns, ‘no one knows what happens when someone dies.’”
Additional articles:
-
What’s a Heaven For? – by Philip Yancey
- The Believer’s Final Bliss – by John Murray
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The Eternal Weight of Glory – by Harry Blamires
-
Afraid of Heaven – by Kenneth Kantzer
Plus many more. Scroll to the bottom of this page for a full listing.
And, thank you Christianity Today!
how old is Don piper now 2006?
how old was he then when he was in the accident?
I have no idea: all the information I have came from CT. You might be able to find out from his book.
I have been listening to his book on audio. He states that he was 38 when his accident took place. So that would make him around 55 today if my math is correct. A fascinating read so far!
Nothing like new revelation to tickle one’s ears, eh?
I was just diagnosed with Chiari I malformation of the brain, pseudotumor cerebri and empty sella syndrome by a specialist. I am in constant pain. I flew to New York to see the neurosurgeon specialist who diagnosed me, two weeks ago. Right before that we had a ’secret sister’ exchange at my workplace (a consulting engineering firm – where I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to work fulltime – I have to lie down every lunchtime just to get the spinal fluid moving back to my brain to make it through the afternoons), and my secret sister gave me this book as one of my gifts. She doesn’t know me well, or the extent of pain I am in or that I was going to New York. I feel like God put this book into my hand just in time. Throughout the pain from pressure I experienced in flight to New York, and the time alone in the hotel waiting for my appointment, and dealing with my diagnosis the night after my appointment, I read this book by Don Piper. I felt that God had laid it in my hand, as Don, who continues to this day to experience continual pain, as I do, helped me. I cried as a result of finding another person who understood my chronic pain. Don taught me to accept a ‘new normal’ and to make a list of what I still can do, which surprisingly has really encouraged me! I know my condition could lead to paralysis or an earlier death. But it the book has helped me with my fear. I felt God touching me through every page of this book, and that it was the true telling of a real experience, matching what scripture has also told me when I have read it. I feel like I drew back closer to Jesus despite my constant pain because of Don sharing his experiences of dealing with the pain in his life. Thank you Don. Hanging in here, with you all. May we meet in heaven through Christ.
Anyone seeking comfort for an alarmed soul to either of these two authors needs to compare what the scriptures state about heaven and hell to the claims of the books. Abraham told the rich man who wished for a messenger to be sent from hell to his brothers with a warning that his brothers had the Scriptures. John agrees in Revelation that Scripture is
sufficient to know our future.
The question we must ask is not what are heaven and hell like, but what does God promise me, the repentant sinner who trusts in the merits of Christ? An eternity
with Him. Read the Bible for yourself and learn what God has in store for all.
Believing that Christ died for our sins, did he die for all men. Will people of other faith, who are good people, be received in Heaven.
Karen…Believing that Christ died for our sins is not the only thing that is required of us. He did die for all men…but unless you have a personal relationship with Him, belief alone will not be enough. I grew up in a liberal Church and never heard about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It was not until I was 23 years old that I heard it for the first time. (How sad!) The Bible says, ‘To those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to be called children of God’. It also says,
‘I (Jesus) am the way and the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me’. Heaven is not a reward for being good…it is a result of acknowledging yourself as a sinner…asking forgiveness for your sin…asking Jesus to be your Lord and Savior…and then living for Him. The good works will be a result of your relationship with Christ. ‘For it is by faith you are saved through Christ, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no man can boast’. Karen please don’t take this lightly! I’ll check back in if you (sincerely) have more questions!
It’s a good book and Piper should be congratulated for sharing his Near Death Experience. Only readers should be aware of one serious mistake he makes in the book which is to jump from hearing songs praising Jesus and meeting fellow Christians in heaven to religious fundamentalism. Research of Near Death Experiences show that there is no evidence to support that heaven is exclusively for Christians, or a narrow interpretation of the Bible, as experiences of heaven happen in all cultures and religions. Cross cultural studies of Near Death Experiences show that the Golden Rule truly means that we must love our neighbor – even if this person is of another faith – and “hell” is not something we can simply throw around when we disagree with people. If you have not fallen asleep in Christ, or simply use reason as well, and want to know what people who have Near Death Experiences truly experience in Heaven, have a look at my book Behind 90 Minutes in Heaven.
“. . . there is no evidence to support that heaven is exclusively for Christians”
Talk about a jump! Going from the neurological effects of near-death experiences to “evidence” regarding heaven is a huge, perhaps world-record leap! Plus, you’ve dismissed 1,500 years of testimony in the Bible.
People of dissimilar belief systems have similar NDE because we have similar brains that do similar things as the body begins to die. We cannot extrapolate those reports to argue against the clear teaching of the Bible. Anyone who does so is doing research to buttress a pre-determined conclusion.
I’m thinking about my own book, too. It will be called “90 Minutes Behind in Heaven.” Look for it everywhere!