Charismatic leader Roberts Liardon said that one
afternoon in 1974 -- when he was eight years old -- he was caught
up into heaven where he met Jesus face to face. Liardon, who now
directs his own worldwide ministry based in Laguna Hills,
California, said that Christ was "about six feet tall, with
sandy-brown hair, not real short and not too long."[1] In his
book I Saw Heaven, Liardon said Jesus escorted him through
the gates of heaven where he saw golden streets, dazzling looking
flowers, plenty of mansions, trees that "swayed back and forth,
dancing and praising as we passed," and a "knee-deep...crystal
clear" river of life.[2]
Upon walking to the river, Liardon recounts the first thing Jesus
did to him: "He dunked me! I got back up and splashed Him, and we
had a water fight. We splashed each other and laughed."[3]
Later, Liardon claims, when Jesus walked him to the heavenly
throne room of God, he noticed "three storage houses 500 to 600
yards" away. He explains:
We walked into the first. As Jesus shut the front door behind us,
I looked around the interior in shock!
On one side of the building were exterior parts of the body. Legs
hung from the wall, but the scene looked natural, not grotesque.
On the other side of the building were shelves filled with eyes,
green ones, brown ones, blue ones, and so forth.
The building contained all of the parts of the human body that
people on earth need, but Christians have not realized these
blessings are waiting in heaven. There is no place else in the
universe for these parts to go except right here on earth; no one
else needs them.
Jesus said to me, "These are the unclaimed blessings. This
building should not be full. It should be emptied. You should
come in here with faith and get the needed parts for you, and the
people you will come in contact with that day."
The unclaimed blessings are there in those storehouses -- all of
the parts of the body people might need: hundreds of new eyes,
legs, skin, hair, eardrums -- they are all there. All you have to
do is go in and get what you need by the arm of faith, because it
is there.[4]
Later during the visit, Jesus allegedly ordained Liardon to the
ministry. Jesus told him, "Roberts, I am calling you to a great
work. I am ordaining you to a great work. You will have to run
like no one else and preach like no one else. You will have to be
different from everyone else."[5]
As strange as Liardon's story might seem, it is not unusual these
days. In fact, many leaders from within the Pentecostal and
charismatic movements (including the Word-Faith camp) claim that
they too were taken to heaven (and sometimes hell) to consult
with Jesus or deceased saints. Besides witnessing incredible
sights, most of them claim (like Liardon) that they were
commissioned for their ministries there, often by Jesus
Himself.
During the past several months I have examined many of the most
popular "I went to heaven" stories circulating through the
church. As a result of my inquiry, I am throwing up a bright red
flag -- urging extreme caution over believing any of the current
heaven or hell visitation stories. To begin, the stories are
mystical and unverifiable -- there's no way to be certain that a
particular story is true. And there are several additional
concerns which I will raise below.
DISTINCT FROM NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES
Before proceeding further, I need to make an important
clarification. The types of experiences I am dealing with are
related to near-death experiences (NDEs), but they aren't the
same thing. In the Spring and Summer 1992 issues of this journal,
researcher J. Isamu Yamamoto examined NDEs, which became popular
following the publication of Dr. Raymond Moody's book Life
after Life in 1976. In a typical NDE, a hospital patient who
has been near death (e.g., the patient temporarily stopped
breathing, or experienced a severe heart attack or trauma that
caused the heart to stop beating) testifies -- upon awakening
from the trauma -- that he (or she) experienced hovering above
his body in the hospital, then propelling through a dark tunnel
toward a bright light on the other side. This light turns out to
be a being of unconditional love, and in his presence the patient
reviews his entire life before being sent back to his body.
The "I went to heaven and hell" experiences are different first
of all because those who claim to have experienced them are not
necessarily near death when the event occurs. Often those who
claim to have been to the other side were not sure if they were
actually there or if they experienced a vision. The accounts are
also more detailed than the typical NDE, often involving not just
an encounter with a heavenly entity but a tour of the world
beyond.
Second, these experiences are predominantly Christian in
orientation, with a strong apocalyptic flavor (i.e., many of the
images are straight out of the Book of Revelation and other
biblical texts). They seem to be closely related to the
continuing search for supernatural "signs and wonders" presently
sweeping through the charismatic and Pentecostal movements. NDEs,
on the other hand, are not necessarily Christian-based; they
don't typically reflect a world view that portrays the Godhead
(represented by the Holy Trinity) on one side and the Devil and
his hoards on the other. In fact, they often have New Age
overtones.
A HISTORICAL SURVEY
A historical survey of these types of mystical stories indicates
that such alleged experiences are nothing new. According to
Heaven: A History, by religious historians Colleen
McDannell and Bernhard Lang, visionaries throughout the centuries
have claimed to have been caught up to the other side. McDannell
and Lang note that visionaries' pictures of paradise tend to
differ depending on the era in which they were recorded.
Throughout the book they recount various stories -- some of them
every bit as outlandish as today's stories -- from people who
claimed to have been caught up into heaven. They state that
images of heaven have generally fallen under three categories:
(1) "the compensatory paradise," which was a view favored by
early church father Irenaeus that pictured the new world as a
paradise restored, where "the human body will be placed in an
ideal environment," and where women will bear many children in a
plentiful, abundant earth;[6] (2) "the ascetic afterlife,"
favored by the early Augustine in which he indicated that heaven
would be based on continuous contemplation on God in ecstatic
rapture;[7] and (3) the "ecclesiastical model" in which there
would be remembrance of families, fellowship of the saints, and a
new God-based society.[8] Visions of heaven throughout the
centuries have been significantly conditioned by whichever view
of the afterlife prevailed at the time.
ARE VISITS TO HEAVEN POSSIBLE?
Of course, it is possible for God's children to be caught
up into heaven. No biblical passage expressly denies the
possibility. But we need to be wary of leaders who claim an
exclusive vision or experience in order to verify their
ministries.
Christian leaders should point others to Christ and what
He has done on the cross instead of to their own personal
experiences. Most of the people claiming heavenly visitations
seem to have a much different attitude than the apostle Paul when
he discussed his trip (whether out of the body or in a vision) to
the "third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:1-5). In the verses leading up to
his account of heaven, Paul was clearly reluctant to discuss his
experience because he thought he might be perceived as "boasting"
about it.
WHO'S MADE THE TRIP?
Paul Yonggi Cho ???
Some of the biggest names in the charismatic movement claim to
have been to the other side and back. Among them is Paul Yonggi
[David] Cho -- controversial pastor of the largest church in the
world (with more than 500,000 members) in Seoul, Korea. He said
he met a blue-skinned, deceased missionary to Korea there who
commissioned him to reach his country-folk for Christ.[9]
Cho has also stated that one of his assistant pastors at the
Yoido Full Gospel Church died and came back to life after three
days. During that time period, according to an interview Cho gave
to Mary Stewart Relfe, he was reunited with his wife in heaven
where he saw God and was able to meet various biblical figures --
including Abraham, Stephen, and David.[10]
Kenneth Hagin ???
Another big name who claims to have been to heaven and hell is
prominent radio evangelist Kenneth E. Hagin, founder of the RHEMA
Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In his book I
Believe in Visions, Hagin claims that as a young man in 1933,
suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease,
his heart stopped beating and his "inner man rushed out of my
body...[and]...I went down, down, down until the lights of the
earth faded away....And the farther down I went, the hotter and
more stifling it became. Finally, far below me, I could see
lights flickering on the walls of the caverns of the damned....I
came to the entrance of hell."[11] Hagin stated that a voice from
above, Christ's voice, rescued him from hell during this occasion
(as well as two later occasions when his heart also stopped
beating) as he lay deathly ill.
Hagin has also stated that during a 1950 tent revival meeting in
Rockwall, Texas, Jesus appeared to him, standing in the air near
the top of the tent. "Come up hither," Jesus allegedly commanded
him. Hagin claims he then sailed through the air with Christ and
was shown visions of both heaven and hell.[12]
Morris Cerullo ???
Well-known Pentecostal evangelist Morris Cerullo, like Hagin,
claims to have been caught up into heaven during a service.
Cerullo says the incident was a "vision" that later evolved into
his "spirit lift[ing] from this earth and [being] taken right
into the heavens."[13] There he saw a six-foot tall
"manifestation of the Godhead" that didn't look human at
all:
I am not going to tell you that I saw Jesus with long brown
hair, a beautiful beard and [a] nice long white robe....Directly
in front of that great mass of people, the height of an average
man, about six feet tall and two feet wide, there appeared a
great flaming ball of brightness and glory; it had no physical
human features about it at all! There were no eyes, there were no
ears, no nose, no mouth, no hands and no legs, but just a great
flaming ball of brightness and glory.[14]
He called the entity "the Presence of God, for this light was not
just the glory of Jesus but it was the glory of the Godhead; the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." The entity then showed him
the fires of hell in which "were multitudes of lost souls,"[15]
and it spoke these words to him in 1611 King James English: "My
son, arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon thee. Thou shalt not be afraid for thou shall
not stand in thine own strength, neither shall you stand in thine
own place but you shall stand in the place I have made for thee
and My strength shall uphold and guard thee."[16]
Lesser-Known Travelers
Many lesser-known people claim to have visited the other side.
Two who have each written a handful of books mentioning their
experiences are Dr. Richard Eby of California and Betty Malz of
Florida. Both authors have been the focus of enormous attention
from the Christian media. Eby, author of the best seller
Caught Up into Paradise (Fleming H. Revell), and its
sequel Tell Them I Am Coming, has benefited greatly from
the notoriety he has received as a frequent guest on Paul and Jan
Crouch's Praise the Lord show on the Trinity Broadcasting
Network.
Malz, however, has recently been on the negative side of
attention from the Christian media. Her first book, My Glimpse
of Eternity (Fleming H. Revell, 1977), has sold around one
million copies and has been printed in 11 languages. She has
since written five other books, all of which mention her alleged
trip to heaven during a death experience on July 31, 1959 at an
Indiana hospital.[17] But in the June 11 issue of the Canadian
publication Christian Week, reporter Lorna Dueck, who had
investigated Malz's story, reported it to be flatly false.
Malz claims that after she had been in a coma for 44 days in the
hospital, her heart stopped beating for 28 minutes, during which
she went to heaven and witnessed many marvels. But she was
allegedly sent back to earth when her father uttered a one-word
prayer. Dueck retraced Malz's steps and interviewed officials at
the Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana, who told her that
Malz never died during her hospital stay for a ruptured
appendix. "Clark Boyd, the doctor for Malz referred to in the
book, said he was surprised no reporters questioned him on Malz's
story before. 'I knew...it didn't happen,' Boyd said."[18] The
controversy over Malz's story was publicized worldwide in the
news sections of numerous publications, including Christianity
Today, but it did not result in Chosen Books, a division of
Fleming H. Revell publishers, recalling the books.
Richard Eby's alleged trips to heaven and hell also deserve
careful scrutiny. The problem with Eby is that there is evidence
that he has added previously unrevealed (and highly suspect)
details about his experiences years later. In Caught Up
into Paradise Eby claims that after a two-story fall on his
head in 1972 he briefly died and was ushered into heaven where he
had a "fantastic cloud-like body!...I was clothed in a
translucent flowing gown, pure white, but transparent to my gaze.
In amazement I could see through my body and note the gorgeously
white flowers behind and beneath me."[19] He claims he later came
back to earth in a hospital room where Jesus assured him that he
would be healed.
Later, the book relates, during a 1977 Trinity Broadcasting
Network tour of Israel when Eby was visiting Lazarus's tomb in
Bethany, the lights went out and Jesus took him to hell: "In the
twinkling of an eye Jesus was standing beside me....I heard the
same wonderful Voice that had spoken to me from the cloud in my
hospital room five years before: 'My son; I showed you heaven,
now I show you hell. You must know about them both...'"[20]
"Praise the Lord for only two minutes of hell!" Eby wrote. "Even
so, it was too long....With terror came anger: hell-inspired
curses flowed out in silence. My lips were silenced! Hate, wrath,
cruelty, and insane rage rolled back and forth through me.
Despite the utter silence I heard demons taunt me."[21] Eby then
contradicted almost every other modern visionary claiming to have
visited hell by stating that it is not a place of fire and
flames: "And then I noticed the cold. The kind that sickens and
chills every cell just enough to ache but not get numb. There was
no way ever to get warm, not in that dank pit! And the smell!
Horrid, nasty, stale, fetid, rotten, evil...mixed together and
concentrated. Somehow I knew instantly that these were the odors
of my Pit-mates. Stinking, crawling, demons seen mentally
delighting in making me wretched."[22]
Actually, in Caught Up into Paradise Eby didn't devote
much space to his heaven and hell visitations. In subsequent
books and speaking engagements, however, he has added many new
details. He even went on to claim that Jesus personally promised
him that he would not die -- he would be raptured with the
church; His return was that close. (Eby is now eighty years
old.)
More recently Eby diverged from his original testimony of hell,
claiming on the Trinity Broadcasting Network that during his
visit he heard music and witnessed demons there gyrating to heavy
metal rock n' roll "punk" music.
CONTEMPLATING THINGS ABOVE
Now, having said all this, it is critical to note that there's
nothing wrong with Christians dwelling on the afterlife. In fact,
God's Word tells us, "Set your mind on the things above, not on
the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is
hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:2-3). We are to live as
"aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Pet. 2:11) because "our
citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). It is healthy, then, for
Christians to contemplate their future home in heaven instead of
laying their treasures in this world (Matt. 6:19-20). Jesus, in
fact, comforted His disciples by assuring them that He was
preparing a place for them in heaven (John 14:1-4).
From a personal perspective, an unexpected benefit in completing
this article was that after reading so many "I went to heaven"
stories, I found myself dwelling on the topic more, wondering
what heaven is really like. Others, too, seem to have derived the
same benefit from books like these. But, because they all
contradict one another, if there is any validity to some of these
visions they must be understood as symbolic and not literal
depictions of what the afterlife is like.
CONTRADICTING GOD'S WORD
Whatever debatable value may be derived from these books,
however, is clearly canceled out when they contradict God's
revealed Word. Furthermore, even if a doctrinal contradiction is
not apparent, these "special revelations" supposedly given to
Christian leaders in heaven must never serve as a source or
corroboration for doctrine, or they will undermine the authority
of Scripture.
Roberts Liardon, for example, uses his heavenly revelations to
promote the false "name it and claim it" prosperity doctrines. In
talking about his "heavenly warehouse" visit, Liardon
notes:
You do not have to cry and beg God to make the part you need.
Just go get it. The doors to the storehouses are never locked.
They are always open for those who need to go in. We should empty
those buildings....Because of my visit to heaven, I never had any
doubt that Jesus not only wants His people well and whole but
that healing is available for any who will receive. I knew beyond
the shadow of a doubt that God did not put sickness and disease
on people. I saw no sickness and disease in heaven during my
visit, only provision for creative miracles.[23]
The End-Time Handmaidens -- a Jasper, Arkansas-based charismatic
ministry headed by Gwen Shaw -- have published several
contradictory books about trips to heaven which shoot wide of
Scripture in significant areas.
In reprinting and distributing Intra Muros ("Within the
Gates"), which was originally published in 1898, the Handmaidens
became culpable in spreading false doctrine because the book
supports the Mormon doctrine of eternal marriage between men and
women in heaven.[24] Intra Muros is based on the 19th
century vision of heaven by Methodist Rebecca Springer
(1832-1904).[25] Contrary to Intra Muros, God's Word tells
us -- in fact, Jesus Himself stated -- that there will be no
marriage in heaven, and people will be "like the angels" (Matt.
22:30). Intra Muros also strays from Scripture in numerous
other areas, including the advocacy of works righteousness as a
way of attaining heaven, and the assertion that many in heaven
will not be in a perfected state.[26] It also states that the
saints in heaven can become "ministering spirits" to those on
earth.[27]
Another book reprinted by the End-Time Handmaidens in 1984 (first
published around the turn of the century) is Elwood Scott's
Paradise: The Holy City and the Glory of the Throne. This
account is hard to take seriously due to its fanciful portrait of
heaven as being a domain of flying horseless chariots (resembling
futuristic "Jetsons"-type cars) that are flown about by angels
and the saints; its accounts of each saint being given a harp to
play; and the ludicrous, worldly, and even racist thinking that
permeates the book.
For example, the book asserts that all black people on earth will
become white in heaven. The main character in the book, Seneca
Sodi, who claims to have spent 40 days in heaven, gives an
account of how he observed a group of singers in the distance and
was told that "they were all colored people of America."[28]
Drawing closer, Sodi asks one of the singers, "Are there no black
faces in heaven?" He is told: "We are all white here and in de
perfect image of de Lord....There's multitudes of dem here and
dey sing in de choir wid de odder people and their voices are
often de loudest."[29]
The End-Time Handmaidens also published a more respectable
13-page testimonial booklet by Aline Baxley of California who
claims that after an automobile accident, "the Death Angel
carried me out to that outer darkness. I found myself in Hell,
screaming, hollering, gnashing my teeth, begging the Death Angel
not to leave me in Hell. Souls were around me by the hundreds and
thousands, screaming and gnashing their teeth, just trying to
die."[30] After God also showed her the lake of fire, she woke up
from a coma she'd been in for several days, so terrified that she
asked Christ to save her from her sins.
There are other tales circulating through the church, some of
which are more fanciful than others. For example, Howard O.
Pittman speaks of the heavenly realm and the realm of demons in
his books, Placebo (which is based on his alleged
near-death experience in 1979) and Demons: An Eyewitness
Account. In Demons (The Philadelphia Publishing House,
1982) Pittman includes line drawings of the many different types
of demons he was shown by the angels as they escorted him through
the spirit world. Some appeared like frogs, he reported, while
others looked like soldiers, mythological creatures, and other
forms.
In her book A Divine Revelation of Hell, Mary K. Baxter
claims that Jesus took her on a 40-day personal tour of hell and
later heaven in 1976. She claims hell is a place in the bowels of
the earth where snakes slither and rats scurry about.[31] She
adds that hell is where people are burning but cannot die, even
though worms are crawling through their ignited corpses. She also
pictures hell as being structured in the shape of a human: it has
a left and right leg, belly, heart, right and left arm, and a jaw
-- with each section constituting a slightly different torture
chamber pocketed with many fiery pits.
Like many other modern-day visionaries, Baxter diverges from
Scripture by portraying hell in terms of The Divine Comedy
by Dante (A.D. 1265-1321). Thus demons and Satan himself function
as supervisors in hell, responsible for inflicting pain (beyond
the pain already inflicted by hell itself) on people under their
charge.[32] In one scene demons are portrayed as dancing around a
coffin "chanting and laughing" as they keep thrusting spears into
a human victim.[33] The Bible, however, teaches that the Devil
himself will be thrown into "the lake of fire" to face eternal
punishment (Rev. 20:7-10). And Jesus added that "the eternal
fire" will be specifically created for "the devil and his angels"
(Matt. 25:41).
Perhaps the most plausible book I read involved the visions of
Marietta Davis who fell into a nine-day trance in the summer of
1848 at her home in Berlin, New York. During this time, she said
upon awakening, she had been in heaven and had also been shown
hell. Although her story was first published in 1856, it has
since gone into at least 36 editions, including a recent edition
published by Christ for the Nations of Dallas, Texas, and edited
by that organization's late founder, Gordon Lindsay. According to
this edition, called Scenes Beyond the Grave, when Davis
returned to consciousness she accurately predicted the day of her
death based on her otherworldly revelations.[34] In her vision
Jesus was adorned with a crown of pure light and had golden
hair.[35] She also stated that in heaven the angels educate and
instruct earthly infants and young children who've died before
reaching an age of reason. But she too paints a picture of hell
as a domain of not only fire, but of demonic revelry and
laughter.[36]
Heavenly Mansions?
Although these heaven and hell stories generally don't match each
other in significant ways, almost all mention seeing large
mansions -- often resembling multiroomed Victorian castle-like
houses -- being constructed for God's people in heaven. This
might appear to be justified on the basis of John 14:2 (in which
Jesus tells His disciples in the King James Version that in His
father's house are "many mansions...I go to prepare a place for
you."). But a careful reading of the Greek wording in the passage
reveals that there is little warrant for translators using the
term mansions, which denotes a worldly picture of a lavish
house.
According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament
Words, the Greek word mone is primarily a staying, or
abiding, and it "denotes an abode." The same Greek word is
translated as abode in verse 23. Vine's says "there
is nothing in the word to indicate separate compartments in
Heaven; neither does it suggest temporary resting-places on the
road."[37] Modern translations tend to render the passage in a
manner similar to the New International Version: "In my Father's
house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I
am going there to prepare a place for you."
(Of course, this does not entirely rule out that God may still
provide a loving and comforting glimpse of the security of heaven
by allowing the vision of a literal mansion).
More Biblical Objections
Those who would unreservedly accept any of the "I went to
heaven or hell" stories need to further consider additional
scriptural factors. In my opinion, the most obvious problem with
the "I went to hell" accounts that I've examined -- including the
above-mentioned vision of Marietta Davis -- is that they confuse
the biblical distinction between hades, a temporary
holding-place of punishment where the lost go after death (see
Luke 16:22-26) and gehenna or the lake of fire, the final
and eternal abode of the damned (see Matt. 25:41). These
modern-day visions of hell typically see the lost
presently in gehenna. (This might present a theological
problem).
The most obvious problem with the "I went to heaven" stories is
the clear biblical affirmations that heaven is a place beyond our
ability to describe. Paul, who was "caught up to the third
heaven," "heard inexpressible things, things that man is not
permitted to tell" (2 Cor. 12:2, 4, NIV). With this in mind,
then, the problems inherent with all the "I went to heaven"
stories are: (1) If Christian leaders today have been caught up
to paradise, why are they permitted to tell the world about it
when the apostle Paul wasn't? (2) In mentioning his trip, Paul
stated that what he heard was inexpressible. Why then are
the sights and sounds of today's heavenly trips not only
expressible for a growing number of charismatic leaders, but they
are expressed in vivid detail, down to the color of
heavenly grapes, grass, trees, and mansions -- and even to the
color of Christ's hair?
I have deliberately mentioned the perceived hair color of Christ
in this article to underscore another point about contradictions
among these stories. We've heard about golden locks, brown hair,
and dark hair -- but none of them have described seeing Jesus the
same way the apostle John did when he received his vision on the
Isle of Patmos. "His head and hair were white like wool, as white
as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire" (Rev. 1:14). When
one reads the rest of John's description of Christ, the picture
becomes almost -- as Paul put it -- inexpressible.
When considering these stories, we need to be aware of the
possibility that they may only trivialize and demean the
real heaven that will someday be the believer's home.
Remember that heaven is the dwelling place of God, the Creator of
the universe. Since we cannot fathom the wonders of our own
world, much less determine the size of our own universe, how can
we pretend to picture the next world?
Perhaps the symbol-laden picture the apostle John portrays in the
Book of Revelation is as much of heaven as we are meant to see in
this life. For if the apostle Paul, who was authorized to explain
to us the fullness of God's riches in Christ, dared not describe
what he saw in heaven, why is it that the Kenneth Hagins
and Morris Cerullos of today feel called to do so?
NOTES
1 Roberts Liardon, I Saw Heaven (Tulsa: Harrison House,
1991), 25.
2 Ibid., 32, 38.
3 Ibid., 38.
4 Ibid., 42-43.
5 Ibid., 47.
6 Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang, Heaven: A History
(New York: Vantage, 1990), 270.
7 Ibid., 48, 55.
8 Ibid., 48.
9 Cho discusses this experience in his book, Leap of Faith
(South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing, 1984).
10 "Interview with Dr. Paul Cho," Mary S. Relfe, League of Prayer
(P.O. Box 4038, Montgomery, AL, 36104), n.d.
11 Kenneth Hagin, I Believe in Visions, 2d ed. (Tulsa:
Faith Library Publications, 1984), 5.
12 Ibid., 44-45.
13 Morris Cerullo, From Judaism to Christianity (San
Diego: World Evangelism, 1962), 64.
14 Ibid., 66.
15 Ibid., 66-67.
16 Ibid., 69.
17 Lorna Dueck, "Dream Turned Fact Launches Best Selling Author,"
Christian Week, 11 June 1991, 8.
18 William M. Alnor, "In Brief...," Christian Research
Journal, Fall 1991, 34.
19 Richard Eby, Caught Up into Paradise (Old Tappan, NJ:
Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), 203.
20 Ibid., 228-29.
21 Ibid., 229-30.
22 Ibid., 230.
23 Liardon, 43-44.
24 Rebecca Ruter Springer, Intra Muros (Jasper, AR:
Engeltal Press, n.d.), 138, 158-59, 163.
25 McDannell and Lang, 48, 52.
26 Springer, 25.
27 Ibid., 46-47.
28 Elwood Scott, Paradise: The Holy City and the Glory of the
Throne (Jasper, AR: Engeltal Press, 1984), 89.
29 Ibid., 89, 91.
30 Aline Baxley, I Walked in Hell and There Is Life after
Death (Jasper, AR: End-Time Handmaidens, n.d.), 3.
31 Mary K. Baxter, A Divine Revelation of Hell
(Washington, D.C.: National Press, n.d.), 17-20.
32 Ibid., 29-31, 42.
33 Ibid., 51.
34 Gordon Lindsey, ed., Scenes Beyond the Grave, 36th ed.
(Dallas: Christ for the Nations, n.d.), 9.
35 Ibid., 24.
36 Ibid., 62.
37 W. E. Vine, "Mansions," An Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1966),
39, 40.
End of document, CRJ0124A.TXT (original CRI file name),
"Heaven Can't Wait: A Survey of Alleged Trips to the Other
Side"
release A, June 30, 1994
R. Poll, CRI
A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in
the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.
Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.
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