Dr. Randy White
Those who were around for Y2K remember the hysteria. Yet the talk of drastic food shortages, arming yourself against mobs running wild in the streets, and other “prophecies” proved more fantasy than reality.Still, the turn of the century ushered in a phenomenon that has developed largely under the radar. I’m talking about Americans’ fascination with mysticism, as personified by the popularity of books and movies about visits to heaven.Heaven is for Real is one of the most popular, with the book selling more than 10 million copies. The movie generated more than $91 million in box office receipts, and millions more in DVD sales.The multi-million-selling 90 Minutes in Heaven actually preceded it, even though the movie version didn’t release until after Heaven is for Real. There are many others. Recently the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association honored Dr. Mary Neal’s To Heaven and Back for selling more than one million copies.Ironically, in January of 2015 young co-author Alex Malarkey recanted the story he shared in The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven. In a statement admitting it was a hoax, Malarkey said, “When I made the claims I did, I had never read the Bible… . the Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by a man cannot be infallible.”Whether the report of young Colton Burpo (Heaven is for Real), Don Piper (90 Minutes in Heaven), or one of a legion of others, these experiences have common threads. They raise the question: Do people really die, go to heaven, and return to share these experiences?To look at this in rational terms, I hesitate to even use the word “die.” If these people had died, they wouldn’t still be around, breathing and talking about heaven. When the heart, brain, or lungs stop, a person can have a near-death experience (NDE). When this happens and paramedics attempt to revive someone via CPR, cardiac resuscitation, or other means, one of two things happen. Either the EMTs successfully resuscitate the victim or the person goes into cardiac arrest and dies. In other words, they may have had an NDE, but they didn’t die. If left alone, they would have died and not awakened later to talk about and—in many cases—make money off it.
Skepticism is Wise
You say ask: “Why be skeptical about these stories? They’re wonderful!”Why? Because I think we should be skeptical about a lot of claims. I don’t mean you should be grumpy and stick your tongue out at everyone. Be a skeptic with a big heart and a smile on your face.Still, Christianity needs more skeptics! I’m convinced one reason so many young people are leaving the church is because we too often say, “Don’t ask questions.” That kind of stance is neither biblical nor Christian. A wise believer questions everything.I don’t doubt that the authors writing these accounts have had a very real experience. I just don’t believe they went to heaven and came back to tell about it. One scientist described these experiences as the body’s neurochemical response to trauma. Now, I don’t know anything about that scientist, but I tend to agree with the observation.Here is a technical definition: “A neurochemical is an organic molecule, such as serotonin, dopamine, our nerve growth factor, that participates in neural activity.” What that means is that when the body suffers trauma, it sends out serotonin, dopamine, and other substances that affect the mind and the memory.The human mind is quite susceptible to suggestions. A scary movie is a perfect example. Your body physically reacts to what’s on the screen. Your heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, palms get sweaty, and if a loud noise suddenly sounds you might have a heart attack. If you think I’m kidding, before this kind of film starts, why do people reassure themselves: “This is only a movie; it’s only a movie”? Why do we get so “into it” that a film can literally affect us not just psychologically, but physically?It’s because our mind is so susceptible to suggestions. Whether it is ghosts, near death experiences, or something else, we want them to be true!
Common Vision
If someone claims to be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and embraces a biblical worldview, the account of their “heaven” trip would reflect the Bible’s description of heaven. Likewise, you would think the NDEs of non-Christians would sound something like what the Bible says about hell.However, research this subject and you will discover that Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, pagans and even atheists also describe NDEs—and they’re pretty similar. This ought to immediately raise red flags. Why should we be encouraged by a vision of heaven when literally anyone can have one?Indeed, the religion of Islam is largely based on Mohammed’s supposed trip to heaven. He describes it in the Quran, where he mentions that enemies wouldn’t believe him unless he went to heaven and brought back a report. What this tells me is that, even in the seventh century, people were enthralled by such visions. In one passage, Mohammed indicates that Islam would never have taken root had he had not had his NDE, where (among other things) he talked about seeing the angel Gabriel.This is one reason I don’t encourage anyone to seek a blessing or learn from such reports. Indeed, to promote these books and movies in churches and Christian bookstores strikes me as unconscionable.A website called
neardeath.com studies this issue from a non-religious perspective. It notes: “Subjects of Indian near-death experiences (Hindus) frequently report being taken to the after death by functionaries who then discovered that a mistake has been made and sent a person back whereupon he or she revives.“In contrast, American subjects if they say anything at all about why they’ve revived mention meeting deceased family members who told them to go back and say they came back because of ties and duty with living persons, or they say it was told them that it was not their time to die.”As you think about this, it tells us something about the similarities between Hindu NDEs and Christian near-death experiences. Hindus believe in reincarnation and that you’re not going to go until it’s your time. So, when one of them supposedly goes to the afterlife, an intermediary tells them: “Oops. There’s been a mistake. You’ve got to go back.” Now, while Christians don’t have the same experience, many tell of a loved one—or even God—saying, “Oh, you need to go back.”In both cases, people read their theology into their experiences. This reflects what Dr. Jody Long says on neardeath.com: “One of the near-death experience truths is that each person integrates their near-death experience into their own pre-existing belief system.”Regardless of background, in people’s minds their experience is so real they insist it was not just in their mind. Ironically, we could be having the same discussion about alien intrusions or unidentified flying objects. (If you want to learn more about the latter, pick up the book,
Alien Intrusion, by Dr. Gary Bates.)
Inherent Problems
In a 2014 article, noted pastor and Bible teacher Dr. John MacArthur reviewed some of the problems with visits to heaven (to read it,
click here). I agree with the observations and have some of my own as well. The problems with NDEs start with the fact that we don’t need them to know everything that God has revealed about heaven. We can find that in the Bible.Furthermore, even if you can find encouragement, a personal blessing, or some kind of “knowledge” from these accounts, they take away from the study of Scripture. Given the flood of books, if someone wants to know what heaven is like, they often head for the bookstore. Without doing much vetting of the topic, bookstores offer material like Alex Malarkey’s—some continued to stock it after it had been discredited. Even when the authors continue to insist this is reality, it is still only anecdotal evidence, not biblical.Now, I’m not against books, particularly those that help guide you through the scriptures.But I reject 100 percent of extra-biblical revelations. I don’t care how wonderful, beautiful, inspiring, or comforting, or how many millions of people buy into them. I still believe the Bible is sufficient.In addition, when you compare them, there are just too many contradictions. What do you do with these contradictions? You have to determine between accurate and inaccurate, based largely on your own feelings. And how you
feel might vary, depending on what you ate last night, how much caffeine you had this morning, or whether the sun is shining.Another problem with these reports is their narcissistic focus. Their point is “it’s all about us.” We’re encouraged, we’re blessed, or we get to meet our grandmother. Or our mom or dad, or the brother or sister we never knew.So, while these accounts may be designed to encourage, I think we can find encouragement and comfort by what God has revealed about heaven. In other words, “sola scriptura:” the Bible alone. If the Bible can’t comfort me and educate me about heaven and the afterlife, then I don’t need comforted and educated.Another problem stems from these experiences’ limited vision. The authors report experiencing things like warmth and light and a conversation or two, and then produce a whole book and movie out of that. That is problematic.So is the fact of what’s so often missing from these accounts. While the authors talk about seeing bright lights, vibrant colors, and other fascinating sights, they rarely mention God. And yet, when John had his vision of heaven, the sight of Jesus was so powerful that he immediately fell at His feet (see Revelation 1:17). So whatever the experience, if its focus isn’t about God, I suspect its authenticity.
Visits to Heaven: What the Bible Says
When judging heaven accounts, we also have to look at the Bible. Especially this strong word that Jesus delivered during His time on this earth: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13).If you consider the Lord’s statement, you have to ask the question, “Well, if no one had gone up into heaven in Jesus’s day, has it happened since that day?” The best you could do is build a theology that says that after Jesus’ day, people started ascending into heaven and coming back down. I don’t think that has happened.Although the Bible mentions a vision of heaven several times, it doesn’t contain any accounts of someone being in heaven. Even when Paul wrote of a man being caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4), he wouldn’t speak further of it. Most theologians believe that Paul was writing about himself in this passage, although that is open to interpretationWith nothing about near-death experiences in the Bible, and with the sufficiency of the Scripture being a foundational theological necessity, we n
