Heaven Tourism Books Pulled from Nearly 200 Christian Bookstores

Christianity Today ^ | March 25, 2015 | David Roach

[Lee N. Field]

LifeWay Christian Resources has stopped selling all "experiential testimonies about heaven" following consideration of a 2014 Southern Baptist Convention resolution on "the sufficiency of Scripture regarding the afterlife."

...

The resolution, adopted by messengers to the SBC annual meeting in June, warned Christians not to allow "the numerous books and movies purporting to explain or describe the afterlife experience" to "become their source and basis for an understanding of the afterlife."

[Lee N. Field]

Good!

[StoneWall Brigade]

Ping

[MeshugeMikey]

“Heaven Tourism” what a great phrase!

an Amen to Your Good!

[C. Edmund Wright]

Good!

Really? I'd call it legalistic, pharisaical, and elitist. You know, we can't have anyone deciding for themselves, we gotta make all these decisions for them.

I've read one book about Heaven, and one about Hell - in the past ten years or so. Both were provocative and interesting.

[stars & stripes forever]

How will the Southern Baptists explain the death of Dwight Moody?

A TRIUMPHANT PASSING AWAY

Still another gave the picture of his last hours. No more memorable sentences on one’s deathbed have ever been spoken. It was just such a triumphant passing away as his dear friends would have wished. Where have you ever read better sayings than these.

“Is this dying? Why this is bliss.
“There is no valley.
“I have been within the gates.
“Earth is receding; Heaven is opening; God is calling; I must go.

And when he went away from them for a little time and came back, he said that he had seen his loved ones in Heaven, giving their names, and when it was suggested that he had been dreaming, he assured them it was not so, but that he had actually been within the gates of Heaven. Thus his noble life went out, but he being dead yet speaketh, and is continuing to speak, and tens of thousands rise up to call him blessed. Such intimate associates as Mr. Ira D. Sankey, Mr. George C. Stebbins, Rev. George C. Neediham, Prof. W. W. White, Mr. William Phillips Hall, Mr. John R. Mott, Mr. Richard C. Morse, Rev. George A. Hall, and many others talked until the evening was gone, and then retired each to feel that his was a personal bereavement, because D. L. Moody was dead.

http://www.biblebelievers.com/moody/27.html

[MNDude]

Good? How will we ever have any idea what Heaven is like without finding out from Colton’s experiences?

[Alex Murphy]

LifeWay Christian Resources has stopped selling all "experiential testimonies about heaven" following consideration of a 2014 Southern Baptist Convention resolution on "the sufficiency of Scripture regarding the afterlife"....The resolution, adopted by messengers to the SBC annual meeting in June, warned Christians not to allow "the numerous books and movies purporting to explain or describe the afterlife experience" to "become their source and basis for an understanding of the afterlife."

Sounds like a good idea. I've always been suspicious of these kind of books, mainly because we almost never hear stories like Jeremy's:

Four-year-old Jeremy Werdt says he went to heaven during emergency spleen surgery, and his testimony of seeing Jesus and deceased relatives thrilled his Christian family and landed him a book contract....“To have Jeremy back and talking about this amazing experience of being with the Lord was the most wonderful day of our lives,” says his mother, Brenda. “He named all the relatives he’d seen and we just sat there crying. Then, after a while, we realized he hadn’t said anything about my mom, Grandma Spencer....Every time we asked he just shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Nope. Not there,’” says Brenda. “We suggested maybe he didn’t recognize her because she looked younger in heaven. He smiled and said, ‘Mom, you recognize everyone in heaven. Grandma wasn’t around.’”
-- from the thread ‘Grandma not in heaven’ boy reports

[DLfromthedesert]

When a friend was dying, his wife told us he said he was on the King’s Highway.

[bigbob]

There’s still Dante’s “Inferno”

[stars & stripes forever]

[When a friend was dying, his wife told us he said he was on the King’s Highway.]

The Book of Acts describes the accounts of Stephen seeing heaven open up before him prior to his stoning. Paul was lifted into heaven to record the Book of Revelation.

How is then any different than now?

God reveals what He wants us to know about Heaven - sometimes He uses people to do it.

[MeshugeMikey]

Imagine a Michelin Guide to Heaven.....

[MNDude]

I know a guy who claimed who died and went to heaven. I trying to find out which dead Professional Wrestlers were there.

According to him, the only ones he saw was Randy Savage Macho Man and Andre the Giant.

[lee martell]

I understand their reasoning, especially after this one little boy publicly admitted to making the whole thing up and fooling everyone, with his family assisting. However, I suspect this won’t last for very long. After a few more blockbuster stories from new ‘tourists’ have hit the market, this bookstore chain will view the new rule as ‘lost revenue’ from underutilized resources. Let’s see how this appears two years from now.

[Lee N. Field]

Really? I'd call it legalistic, pharisaical, and elitist. You know, we can't have anyone deciding for themselves, we gotta make all these decisions for them.

Amazon.com will still have all these, and more, for anyone who wants them.

The SBC is an association of churches, and has an obligation before God, to try to steer the souls under its care away from false teaching.

[MeshugeMikey]

this just in...

[jennings2004]

“...Paul...” might want to change that to “...John...”

[Lee N. Field]

Good? How will we ever have any idea what Heaven is like without finding out from Colton’s experiences?

Real eschatology is hard. They might start here: Monergism.com on personal eschatology.

For made up tales, they could look at "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants". It'll be just as accurate.

[MNDude]

Ha! That guy kind of strikes me as a Pentecostal.

[cdga5for4]

In some ways I agree. It’s almost like the SBC is saying we know everything that God is capable of and going to Heaven and returning is not.

[Gamecock]

I’ll see your good and raise you an excellent!