23 Minutes in Hell

[Barnpreacher]

Has anyone read this book by Bill Wiese? I was in BAM this afternoon drinking a cup of coffee and browsing the religious section when I saw it, picked it up and read the first three or four chapters.

This man believes that God sent him to hell for 23 minutes so that he could come back and tell everyone he knew how horrible it was. He gave very vivid descriptions of the heat, darkness, demons around him, screaming, smells etc.

My first reaction was that he was dreaming. He swears up and down it wasn't a dream. Then my second reaction was why would God need to do this to have someone tell people about the horrors of hell when we have His Word that describes it?

 

[VictorBravo]

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

I think the man is preaching hell and not Christ. Whatever he saw, it was not from God.

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

I think the man is preaching hell and not Christ. Whatever he saw, it was not from God.

 

[Barnpreacher]

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

I think the man is preaching hell and not Christ. Whatever he saw, it was not from God.

Vic,

That was my third reaction, but I didn't want to post it to discourage discussion on the matter. But what discussion is there to discourage when all is said and done? This seems to be a form of "special revelation", and we have God's special revelation in the Word of God.

 

[RamistThomist]

ditto to vic. it very well could be demons. I don't think he is making it up. I believe it could be demon-induced.

 

[Barnpreacher]

Right, guys. When I say a form of special revelation, I don't mean that it was from God. Rather, I mean that he claims this as special revelation and I can't really see that as being Scriptural or from God. I agree with you guys.

 

[Ravens]

23 is a number with quite a bit of occult significance. I realize that all "numbers" belong to God, and that no number can intrinsically be evil. That being said, I think there is Satanic "backing" behind 23, i.e., giving it a meaning, drawing attention to it, lifting it up, etc., just as I think there is Satanic "backing" behind Islam.

I say that based on personal experience, so take it for what its worth. That being said, if one did examine some of the writings of William Burroughs and others, one would see the same trend. I haven't researched it (nor do I want to), but I believe Aleister Crowley found it significant also.

All that to say, I find it very odd that this "revelation" of Hell which we all deem to be very fishy in and of itself, would come wrapped up in packaged in a number that is loaded with occult baggage.

Take it For what it's worth. Obviously our opinions on anything are to be based on Scripture, not occult significance. Nevertheless, there is a connection.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

I think the man is preaching hell and not Christ. Whatever he saw, it was not from God.

I would ask him why he thinks he can do a better job than Christ did at warning people about Hell.

 

[ReformedWretch]

Is there ANY talk of repentance from sin in the book. I am not saying that makes the book acceptable, I am just wondering if what the man encountered led him to repent?So many modern Christian books speak NOTHING of the need for repentance.

 

[Pergamum]

This makles me remember that 1930's certoon of the little pig that stole the pie and then dreamed he was in hell being force fed pieces until he exploded.


I was traumatized!

 

[Ivan]

This makles me remember that 1930's certoon of the little pig that stole the pie and then dreamed he was in hell being force fed pieces until he exploded.


I was traumatized!

I remember that one, but I don't remember being traumatized. I think we had pork chops and apple pie for supper that evening.

 

[Barnpreacher]

Is there ANY talk of repentance from sin in the book. I am not saying that makes the book acceptable, I am just wondering if what the man encountered led him to repent?So many modern Christian books speak NOTHING of the need for repentance.

Adam,

Not sure. Like I said, I was just browsing through Books-A-Million killing a little time before going to pick up my daughter at school. So I didn't read very much of it. I basically skimmed through the first three or four chapters. I think that he claimed to be a "Christian" even before this happened. That's part of the problem. How can anyone in Christ go to hell for 3 minutes or 23 minutes or 3 seconds for that matter? It's not possible.

 

[Barnpreacher]

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

I think the man is preaching hell and not Christ. Whatever he saw, it was not from God.

I would ask him why he thinks he can do a better job than Christ did at warning people about Hell.

- This is exactly what I was thinking as I was skimming through it.

 

[etexas]

You know....when I saw the title of the thread I thought was a spinoff of my really bad sitcoms thread.

 

[Davidius]

Some quotes from the Amazon comments page:

"...Tell others there will be a literal pain felt in hell"..Pg103
Thank God he takes these extraordinary steps to get his message out to warn unbelievers about the realty of hell.

He goes on to tell us, God does not want anyone to go to hell.
Hell is made for fallen angels and demons, not man.
He describes in detail how God feels physically when a soul is lost in hell, it breaks God's heart.

And also to me, it is not surprising that people are experiencing visions of Hell, after all, we are in the endtimes and God is doing all He can to sound the alarm.

He says that he "sensed [Hell] to be approximately thirty seven hundred miles deep." P. 107.

Incredibly, Wiese also recounts that the next day he wasn't sure if his experience was real so he asked God to allow him to look in again (p. 56). God obliges, as twenty-three minutes of torture too horrible to comprehend obviously wasn't good enough for Wiese.

 

[Davidius]

My favorite part is the clip with T-1000 melting.

[video=youtube;StTRdtvfMcQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StTRdtvfMcQ[/video]



Lots of dialogue from Mr. Wiese: being brought to hell as a Christian, Kenneth Hagin and Joel Osteen, descriptions of demons, etc.
[video=youtube;RhfsxIS5fG8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhfsxIS5fG8[/video]