Heaven or hell
Yes! I finally got my Yancey book and quickly read the first two chapters. I’m looking forward to the discussion starting tomorrow, HERE.
Anyway, they stuck in a Christianbook.com Christian Book Bargains Fall Sale Catalogue (CCBBFSC) and I spent about 30 minutes in it rather than reading one of the books I already own. I’m going to order some Christmas cards for Let’s Start Talking friends and I may order a couple of stocking stuffers for my kids who, BTW, loyally read this blog, and NOT just because I threaten them.
I turned to the bestseller page looking for, maybe, the 20 hottest books in Christendom today. #2, according to CBD, is 23 Minutes in Hell. This is not a trip about your latest visit to the DMV. No, it seems that Bill Wiese was given a vision of hell and he’s warning us about it (hell, not the vision). I have no reason to doubt that this really happened, because I found on Amazon.com the following:
Wiese… returned from [hell] with vivid details etched in his memory. He records an accurate account of his experience in this book, presenting more than three hundred scriptures that verify the horrors he endured and observed.
So it is an accurate account of his experience, which, of course, we know is accurate because it was etched in his memory. Plus, this information is on the Internet. BTW, its Amazon sales rank is #2,877, which leads us to the question: What kind of people buy books at CBD?
Amazon will give me a special deal if I buy another book (bestseller #11 at CBD) entitled 90 Minutes in Heaven by Dan Piper. Amazon.com comments:
Back on earth, a… minister… is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man is dead. Piper miraculously comes back to life and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery.
Instead of being angry about this, Piper tells us what God’s taught him about life and stuff. Not my kind of read, but readers gave it 5 stars. Its Amazon rank is #194, which means people (at Amazon) like reading more about heaven than hell, though my all-time favorite heaven or hell book is The Great Divorce, ranked #1783.
October 20th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Yep … if it’s in writing and Amazon sells it, it’s GOT to be the truth! I read your blog every day, too … and w/out the threat.
October 20th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Wait until it appears in Wikipedia - for every fact must be confirmed by one or two biased witnesses.
October 20th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
I’m glad somebody finally figured out all that heaven and hell business.
October 21st, 2006 at 5:23 am
BYW: Best stuff I’ve ever read on hell was by Ed Fudge. Actually, I’ve not read it, but heard him lecture on it at P’dine one year and have discussed it with him both in person (over lunch), in our home when he has stayed with us, and via email. Fascinating stuff, if one can say the discussion of hell is fascinating.
Just picked up Joe Beam’s little book on heaven. Always find Joe does decent research for what he writes, but the book is might small compared to Ed’s volume on hell. Does that argue against the Amazon theory??