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Post by Daniel on Sept 14, 2015 8:56:36 GMT -5
Christian Professor Warns: Movies About Heaven, Near Death Experience 'Can Harm Christian Theology'By Benge Nsenduluka, CP Reporter
September 13, 2015
...Scot McKnight, who's a professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois., shared his concerns about NDE-inspired films and the impact that they can have on Christian theology during an interview with The Christian Post on Friday.
"It has to do first with how we learn to believe what we should believe as Christians and our primary source of information — our foundation of information is the Bible and we challenge all experience on the basis of what we find in the Bible," McKnight told CP.
"I find that, with many people either going to movies or reading these books and stories of near death experiences, I find that people believe these stories because they're so compelling and powerful and real, so people believe that they must be what Heaven is like."
McKnight, who has studied more than 100 NDE stories, said believers should not rely on them as fact because they are not consistent with the Bible.
"If we study what the Bible says about Heaven, we will come to the conclusion that what the Bible says about Heaven is seriously out of synch with what NDEs tell us about Heaven and that deeply concerns me," he continued. "I believe that reliance upon these stories can harm Christian theology and a biblical understanding of what Heaven is like."
read full article
www.christianpost.com/news/christian-professor-warns-movies-about-heaven-near-death-experience-can-harm-christian-theology-145125/
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Post by Cindy on Sept 14, 2015 10:18:22 GMT -5
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Kel
Living With Pain
Posts: 302 
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Post by Kel on Sept 15, 2015 9:11:58 GMT -5
What about my experience as a child of 7? vitals were flat, doctors were working on me, I saw myself in the bed, my mother and sister by the window crying and praying. I took the hand of someone I didn't look into their face. I saw my grandfather, he hugged me, I said I wanted to stay, he said no, it wasn't my time. I woke up, in my hospital bed, doctors over me, my mother & sister by the window.
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Post by Cindy on Sept 16, 2015 12:31:05 GMT -5
What about my experience as a child of 7? vitals were flat, doctors were working on me, I saw myself in the bed, my mother and sister by the window crying and praying. I took the hand of someone I didn't look into their face. I saw my grandfather, he hugged me, I said I wanted to stay, he said no, it wasn't my time. I woke up, in my hospital bed, doctors over me, my mother & sister by the window.
To me it seems easiest to conclude that some of it could well be our imaginations. I don't mean that we make it all up, because obviously, you know those people were in the room with you, just as I know who was in the room with me. BUT, what it could be is simply that we heard their voices or even that we were thinking of them, and therefore we "imagined them". I'm not saying that is what happened to me, or to you, or anyone else. I'm just saying it could be part of it. It's hard when it happens when we're children too because although as adults we think we remember everything, it's been proven that our memories aren't all that accurate about things that happened in our childhood. (I don't mean little things, I mean big important things that made an impression on us) Often those things have been thought about and or told any number of times over our life, and after many years, we remember what we told instead of what actually happened.
Even as to what people supposedly say to us that we see in a near death experience could well be things we've heard at some time, or even something someone actually did say during that time. (someone living I mean) I guess it could be partly a dream experience or something from our imaginations, or the way our subconscious mind interprets the information our brain is sending it as we're dying. I'm sure no expert, so can't say. What I do know though is that we're not to trust our feelings or our experiences unless they agree with God's Word.
Of course there's also the possibility of demons messing around, although again, I'm not speaking about what happened to you specifically, only in general. We know for a fact that Satan masquerades as an angel of light - a beautiful being from 2 Corinthians 11:14, and I'm quite sure that demons are quite capable of appearing, speaking and acting like any human being they want to. (one of the times it happened to me as an adult I now think was demons) Usually when we think of demons we think of them as being ugly and acting nasty, but that's not how they appear or how they act in front of us. Their whole scheme is to trick us, therefore they act and sound good, sweet, loving, compassionate, etc. If they didn't act or sound that way, then the Lord and all the authors of the Bible wouldn't have had to warn us constantly of their tricks and schemes. I'm sure we'd all like to believe that children are "off limits" to demons, but sadly that's not true. Look in the bible as there were small children who were possessed and/or harassed by demons. (like Matthew 15:22 or Matthew 17:18) We know too that Satan and the demons can work what we'd call miracles and can most certainly cause us to see things differently then they really are. I've experienced that on more then one occasion.
I'm sure there's probably other things that could explain these experiences as well. I honestly haven't thought about it a lot but these are the things that pop into my mind right off the bat. The bottom line is that I don't know what happened to you when you experienced that as a child, but I know the One that does and so do you. The only way I know of to determine what really happened, is to ask the Lord to show you as you're studying His Word with Him daily. That's what I do and He always shows me the Truth from His Word and I know He will show you as well.
The problem is that many people simply accept the experience as "real" and never think about whether or not it goes against what God's Word says. We do that about a lot of things, at least until we've grown enough in our faith to know better. And since it's so widely accepted in the world, that only adds more reasons why people wouldn't think to question it. But to me, knowing God's Word as I do now, the very fact that it is so widely believed in the world is a huge red flag. Because now I know that God generally tells us the opposite of whatever the world says and that what the world loves is always things that God hates and the other way around too. Then there are many who say they're Christians who say they want the answers, but they won't take the time to spend time with the Lord in His Word regularly to hear what He has to say. Or if they do, they give Him one shot at it and think that's all there is. God doesn't work that way. He's into slow cooking, not microwaving. They'd much rather trust their feelings and experiences, both of which are corrupted by our sin nature, which is why He tells us not to trust them; why we are to live by faith and not by sight, etc.
Anyway, I hope this helps some. Please do know however that I'm speaking in general here and not to your specific incident. I felt that would be better since I can't give you a direct answer, but only point you to the Lord and His Word.
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)
“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” (John 1:18)
“We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
“He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” (Proverbs 28:26)
“This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)
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