Sunday, January 27, 2008

Why I Don't Believe Bill Wiese Went To Hell

Occasionally, my research for my upcoming book, "What the Hell? Simple Answers to Life's Most Burning Questions", takes me to the testimonies and personal experiences of others regarding Hell.
Recently, I came across the book, "23 Minutes In Hell", by Bill Wiese. Now, I don't know Bill Wiese and I have nothing against the man. In fact, as a fellow Christian, I am overjoyed that he is seeking to spread the gospel in his own way. However, after reading his book, cover to cover, I was left thinking that either the man was deceived, or was intentionally pushing an agenda. Not knowing him, as I said, I dare not conjecture which.

The book speaks of him somehow being catapulted into a Dante's Inferno type of Hell while, presumably, asleep in his bed. Now, if you are not familiar with Dante's Inferno, it is a part of a larger poem written by a man named Dante Alighieri in the 14th century which greatly influenced the Church's perception of Hell. Inferno, of course, was a fictitious poem, not having anything to do with Biblical Scripture, but was more about Dante's political angst against some of his enemies at the time.

Wiese borrows a significant amount of the descriptors in Inferno in his alleged trip to Hell. I don't fault him for that, as it is the meat and drink of modern Christianity, however wrong it may be.

There are, however, some very strange inconsistencies in Wiese's story which require the observant reader to take notice. I will address them individually.

1. He claims to have gone to bed at Midnight on 23 NOV 1998 and was "catapulted out of my bed into the very pit of hell." (p. 2) So, by his own testimony, he was in bed at the time of his "departure" to hell, he says, at 3:00 am. However, his wife, Annette, whom he appropriately and tenderly describes in his book, says this on p. 46: "I woke up to screams coming from down the hallway. My first reaction was to look to my right to see if Bill was there beside me in bed. He wasn't." So, the million dollar question is, how did Bill get from being in his bed to laying on the floor several rooms away if he was in Hell the whole time, with no way to control his body in the meantime?

2. Annette continues on with this: "I turned to my left and looked at the digital clock, and noticed that it was 3:23 a.m. I got out of bed and WALKED down the hallway to the living room where I found Bill in a fetal position with his hands grasping at the sides of his head. His breathing was erratic, and he was screaming, "I feel like I'm going to die!" I thought he was having a heart attack." - Emphasis mine. I don't know about you, but if someone *I* loved was in a fetal position on the floor, and their screams woke me up, I would RUN, not walk to wherever they were. Her testimony does not match what a prudent person would do under those circumstances, and the rest of her story is similarly unbelievable. She didn't call 911 when she believed he was having a heart attack, even when he was screaming the entire time she was praying over him. No woman I have spoken to, even Christian ones, has agreed that they would have done the same under similar circumstances, knowing what Annette knew at the time she had awoken.

3. He claimed several times during the book, that he was unable to think of the Lord during his time in Hell because Jesus Himself prevented it. (p. 37) There are two problems with that. First, how would he know that the demons in his cell were blaspheming against a God he didn't know? (p. 4) Second, in his alleged encounter with Jesus, all Jesus said was, "I kept it from you" but did not otherwise give an explanation. Wiese offered an explanation, but that didn't come from Jesus.

4. Upon arrival to his cell, initially, Wiese said he could not stand due to an inexplicable weakness, which apparently never got better. (p. 2) However, after getting soundly whupped on by 2 of his 4 giant demon captors, somehow, with his chest ripped open and in the new found pitch blackness, he was able to stand up and walk away. He offered no explanation how he somehow "adjusted" to his predicament and got stronger, even as his circumstances got much, much worse.

5. After escaping his cell and demonic tormentors, he said he was taken back there to get roughed up again, prone on the floor. Then, all of a sudden, he was standing next to the pit of fire 10 miles away without any explanation as to how he was carried such a vast distance instantaneously, or how he managed to stand up after being nearly drawn and quartered. (p. 14)

6. During his encounter with Jesus, he claimed that he arose from the bottom of the cavern and was rising in the air. Then suddenly Jesus appeared, and he fell to His feet. How is that possible when both are floating in the air? What could he have fallen on?

7. His testimony, indeed the title of the book, indicates that he had been in Hell proper for 23 minutes, but clearly that couldn't be the case because he claimed that Jesus took him out of Hell and into outer space, and then back to his home. That time between his departure from Hell and his arrival at home clearly would have eaten into his 23 minutes.

8. His "abduction" at 3:00 am - Now this may picking nits, but why would Jesus take Bill at the tail end of what is referred to as the "Witching Hour"?

9. Finally, and this is perhaps the most damning (pardon the pun) to his story, but Scripture clearly states that folks don't go to Hell and return back to the earth. In fact, according to the Lazarus and the rich man parable, it is strictly forbidden because nobody would believe the person anyway. Jesus ABSOLUTELY would not violate His own Word. And for Wiese to have actually gone to Hell and come back would contradict God's Word. This beats even the previously mentioned contradictions in Wiese's story.

So, that leaves us with the nagging question, why would Wiese experience this, if he experienced it at all? Bear in mind that Wiese is a professed Christian since 1970 and has had 28 years to learn the Bible and Hell mythology as it pertains to Christianity today - prior to this event. I don't think he hallucinated it, but he may have dreamed it. And he could have just made it up.

If he dreamed it, then he clearly was being deceived. I have no clue why he would make it up, other than to add more validity to the Hell scare tactics that have produced recalcitrant and often backsliding pseudo-converts througout the ages.

Does this mean that his book is entirely bad? No, not really. He does make some standard Christian points that Jesus, not our own "goodness" or good works, is the way to Heaven. That's the gospel in a nutshell, and thankfully Wiese does not waver from that point at any time. Does he use a substantial portion of his biblical references inappropriately or out of context. Yes, and that's a very pervasive scourge in modern Christian writings that is incredibly annoying, not to mention dangerous.

All that being said, I believe Bill Wiese to be an earnest Christian man who is doing what he can to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others, in his own way. Do I believe his story? Absolutely not...it's inconsistent as well as being unbiblical. But I, in no way doubt his faithfulness to Jesus or his commitment to spreading the Gospel.

I will email him to see if he wants to address any of the points I made, or to clarify areas of confusion on my part, and if he deigns to answer, I will put it here for all to see.

May the Peace and Love of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always,

JC Masters

18 comments:

TSHusker said...

Saw Mr. Wiese's story on Sean Hannity's program. Been a while since I've heard the "I've been to Hell (or Heaven)" story since Dr. Richard Eby back in the early `80's.

Interesting observations in your post. Did you email Mr. Wiese and if so, did you get a response?

Blessings.

Tom
Doctrine Matters

JC Masters said...

Hi Tom,

Thank you for your thoughts.

As a matter of fact, I did indeed email Mr. Wiese and he has not responded. I'm disappointed, but not really surprised.

Maybe I'll email Sean Hannity and see if I can get his thoughts.

God Bless you and your ministry!

JC Masters

Terri said...

I have just finished reading Bill Wiese's book; 23 minutes in hell. From the previous poster on this page, I see that Mr. Wiese has not responded! Sad state of affairs to say the least. (Mr. Wiese, as a professing Christian, should have at the very least attempted to defend himself! At least if he really did experience this event.)
My own commentary to your article is that I whole heartedly agree with your article! I would like to add one tiny tidbit to think about..where do you suppose Mr. Wiese got the idea that the demons in hell would be ALLOWED to do what they want to humans? Since Biblically speaking, the demons DREAD being cast into that place, why would the Lord allow them the PLEASURE of tormenting humanity?
(Assuming of course, that demons find pleasure in tormenting humans.)
Scriptures say that Hell was created specifically for Satan & his demons as a place of eternal TORMENT, not as a place for them to torment humans.
Anyway, just thinking?!
BTW, thank you again for your well written article.
May the Lord Jesus continue to bless you in your endevors to uncover Truth.

Sincerely,
Mrs. T. Hillis

Jesus Loves Us said...

If you were a true christian, in believing God, and in Hell the way Mr. Wiese had described it, then you would believe him. Understand that if you do not believe in what Jesus has warned us of, you will go to hell. Believe in Jesus, and save yourself from hurting Him, and yourself as well as you will suffer along with the millions of people in hell for eternity.

Please believe, and may God bless you and forgive you.

Sincerely,
Analisa

Jayson said...

I noticed that you very articulately attempted to tear apart the validity of Bill Weise's book. I have two questions for you.

First, what was your motivation to do so?

Second, what is your veiw of a real hell?

Jay

ME said...

I am working on a project involving Dante's Inferno. The similarities between his work and Mr. Weise's came to me early this morning. I thought I was the only one to see it, but apparently I am not alone. Thank you for the informative article. And may I add that God loves all his children regardless of what some may say.

jh said...
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jh said...
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Unknown said...

Hi I also went to hell and came back. I picked up the phone and called bill Weise's and he personally spoke to me. Is possible!

Unknown said...

Hi. I am from Romania and here there is a builder who in '73 went to hell. His story is similar so why doubt Bill? There was no internet or phones probably at that time. Just a simple builder. Make sure your post is not driven by Satan.

Unknown said...

What is his phone number please? I would like to ring him and ask him something.

Jason Hedeen said...

Your pathetic article leaves me with several nagging questions. How hard are you trying to refute this? (Your points are quite a stretch and should embarrass you.). You do realize that we are dealing with the supernatural here, right? You are aware that people have died and had out of body experiences, going to both heaven and hell, right? I would not return a call to you either after reading this.

Unknown said...
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George said...

Bill Wiese claims that Jesus wanted him to write his books on hell so people will know how to overcome evil, escape hell and be saved. In other words, because Jesus wanted people to have the gospel, he still needed him to write his books. This presumes that Scripture as found in the Bible does not already address these issues. However, there are many passages that present the gospel message. Many passages deal with overcoming sin, evil, hell and Satan. Many passages teach all about hell. In short, Scripture already teaches what he claims his books are supposed to reveal.
The truth is, Paul made it clear that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NASB). In other words, Scripture contains all we need in order to know how to be saved and grow in Christ in order to glorify God. Bill Wiese’s books are not needed!

Maria said...

I agree with your article. Since I first heard his testimony on YouTube I found that he is inconsistent with the teaching of the Bible regarding hell. Thank you for your article it helped me understand even more.

George said...

I am a Christian and have been for many years and I have studied the bible in accordance with even the original language, as the New Testament was originally written in Greek. I will not proclaim that that I am an expert, but I know first hand Jesus never spoke the word "Hell" as hell is not Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek. The origin of hell is from pagan sources and not from Hebrew or early Christian literature. Jesus called the place of everlasting punishment the Greek word "Gehenna" which was the Valley of Hinnom, a garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem in Jesus' time. Anything that entered into Gehenna being garbage, dead animals and dead criminals were consumed or burned up by fire and what did not burn was eaten by maggots (the worm that does not die). Even Isaiah 66:24 from where Jesus quoted, these are dead bodies, not living souls where the worms don't die and the fire is not quenched. Earlier Isaiah writes in 34:9 that the land of Edom will blaze like pitch and the fire will not be quenched, night and day and the smoke will rise forever. Is the land of Edom burning to this day? We must understand the eternal punishment does not mean the same as eternal punishing. Once the punishment runs its course, the punishment is over. The effects of the punishment is eternal and not eternal punishing. There is a difference here. Whatever Bill Wiese experienced, I have no idea, but I do believe his experience was not orchestrated by God because he has to many inconsistencies in his book. I also believe Bill and his message is dangerous because he is dealing with Necromancy (visiting the regions of the dead) and Spiritualism (becoming mystical with spiritual faction) of which according to the bible, is an abomination in the sight of God and condemned by God from practicing, adhering to this and teaching this. That makes Bill Wiese and his "23 Minutes in Hell" an abomination, it is dangerous and against God's rule.

Richlady said...

My husband and I do know Bill Wiese personally. We attended the same Church Assembly for a couple of years when he was still working as a Real Estate Agent and a Property Manager.

My husband did some work for him, so he also knew him as an employer as well as a friend and brother-in-Christ. We heard his testimony first-hand, approximately 4 years before he published his first book! By the way, the publishing house approached him about writing the book, he didn't do this on his own.

This site, as well as others, are contrary to God and His Kingdom. They are not operating according to His Royal Law, in short, treat others the way you want to be treated! None of you want to have people who don't know you or even ever met you, to put up websites that call you a con man, or worse. It doesn't matter on your idea of Hell or Heaven, for that matter; keep them to yourself. You are not doing the Church or God any favors by doing so.

Unknown said...

I have had an open vision of hell too. Bill says that there are holes with people in them. That was me although I didn't look behind me. There was a complete feeling of abandonment and although I am a born again Christian, there was no God to call upon. None. I was so scared and could see creatures or hunters passing by on the upper level. There was no vegetation and it was very volcanic. The biggist impact was the feeling of utter loneliness and fear of being savaged by these creatures. As Bill points out... People need warning of this place...