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!”

Harleys in Heaven

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
    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!


2 Cor 1.13