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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
23 minutes in hell	stacey	Saturday, February 23, 2008
Question: I was in the bookstore night before last and thumbed through a book called 23 minutes in hell. There was another book by a woman I think called "A Revelation of Hell" that I also looked at. I looked up some information on the computer about the first author and found several sites where he speaks about his experience. One of the sites had a 3 minute video clip with images like the ones he claims he saw. It was very disturbing especially after having experienced demonic oppression to watch this since it brought back some painful memories of what I experienced. I don't doubt that these 2 authors had an experience that was real to both of them but I found some of it doesn't seem to hold up to scripture. For one, I can't imagine God creating this marvelous creation called earth and then putting something as horrible as hell in the middle of it. Imagine the most beautiful place you've travelled to and then have all of that beautiful imagery ruined by the thought of what lies beneath. Doesn't make sense to me! I've always thought of hell as being located in another dimension not necessarily a physical reality like he describes. Another thing he says is that demons have no I.Q. I've always been taught that they are very intelligent. How else could they plot and carry out all of their deceptive schemes on mankind without being seen for what they really are? You have to be extremely intelligent to do that. What are your views on these revelations in relation to what the church teaches about hell? Thanks and God Bless!
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Stacey: Your evaluation of these "stories" is accurate. These people may indeed have had an experience in hell, I do not know, but whatever experience they had it was colored by their pre-conceived notions about hell and about demons. Demons are (fallen) angels. As angels, demons are extremely intelligent beings. They have "I.Q.'s" that are far above that of humans. Their intelligence is often overshadowed by their hatred and pride (which also happens to humans) but they have great intelligence. The location of hell, as reported by them, is also colored by their pre-conceived notions. The imagery of hell being in the earth is merely an image that was useful to the Biblical writers. The grave (a place in the earth) is a place of death. From within the earth even people thousands of years ago knew contained "fire and brimstone". We call this magma. The ancients saw this "fire and brimstone" everytime a volcano erupted. The image of "fire and brimstone" was an analogy of the pain and suffering the Biblical writers envisioned would be the experience of a person forever separated from God's love. But, the earth and fire and brimstone are part of the material world. This material world will pass away, this earth will be no more. If nothing else, our Sun will supernova in about 5 billion years and this our entire solar system will be destroyed. Thus, inside the earth cannot be hell since hell lasts forever. These people speak of these notions not as their perception of things but as if they are absolute fact. While their stories are interesting, the details should not be taken as fact. I have had an experience of hell myself. What I saw was nothing like what they describe. What I saw was a blackness or a darkness that was more than black, more than dark, it was an abyss, it was something that I cannot explain or describe. I saw my soul as it really was at that time -- dead. Demons were these black and dark entities, of the same blackness that was more than black, entities completely devoid of light who were pure evil. There was no sense of "place", it was just a state of being (which, by the way is consistent with Catholic teaching on the nature of hell). It was a frightening experience and one that inspired me to be the prodigal son returning home to God. Bottomline: take these fanciful stories with a grain of salt. God bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

23 minutes in hell

stacey

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Question:

I was in the bookstore night before last and thumbed through a book called 23 minutes in hell. There was another book by a woman I think called "A Revelation of Hell" that I also looked at.

I looked up some information on the computer about the first author and found several sites where he speaks about his experience. One of the sites had a 3 minute video clip with images like the ones he claims he saw. It was very disturbing especially after having experienced demonic oppression to watch this since it brought back some painful memories of what I experienced.

I don't doubt that these 2 authors had an experience that was real to both of them but I found some of it doesn't seem to hold up to scripture. For one, I can't imagine God creating this marvelous creation called earth and then putting something as horrible as hell in the middle of it. Imagine the most beautiful place you've travelled to and then have all of that beautiful imagery ruined by the thought of what lies beneath. Doesn't make sense to me! I've always thought of hell as being located in another dimension not necessarily a physical reality like he describes.

Another thing he says is that demons have no I.Q. I've always been taught that they are very intelligent. How else could they plot and carry out all of their deceptive schemes on mankind without being seen for what they really are? You have to be extremely intelligent to do that.

What are your views on these revelations in relation to what the church teaches about hell? Thanks and God Bless!

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Stacey:

Your evaluation of these "stories" is accurate. These people may indeed have had an experience in hell, I do not know, but whatever experience they had it was colored by their pre-conceived notions about hell and about demons.

Demons are (fallen) angels. As angels, demons are extremely intelligent beings. They have "I.Q.'s" that are far above that of humans. Their intelligence is often overshadowed by their hatred and pride (which also happens to humans) but they have great intelligence.

The location of hell, as reported by them, is also colored by their pre-conceived notions. The imagery of hell being in the earth is merely an image that was useful to the Biblical writers. The grave (a place in the earth) is a place of death. From within the earth even people thousands of years ago knew contained "fire and brimstone". We call this magma. The ancients saw this "fire and brimstone" everytime a volcano erupted. The image of "fire and brimstone" was an analogy of the pain and suffering the Biblical writers envisioned would be the experience of a person forever separated from God's love.

But, the earth and fire and brimstone are part of the material world. This material world will pass away, this earth will be no more. If nothing else, our Sun will supernova in about 5 billion years and this our entire solar system will be destroyed. Thus, inside the earth cannot be hell since hell lasts forever.

These people speak of these notions not as their perception of things but as if they are absolute fact. While their stories are interesting, the details should not be taken as fact.

I have had an experience of hell myself. What I saw was nothing like what they describe. What I saw was a blackness or a darkness that was more than black, more than dark, it was an abyss, it was something that I cannot explain or describe. I saw my soul as it really was at that time -- dead. Demons were these black and dark entities, of the same blackness that was more than black, entities completely devoid of light who were pure evil. There was no sense of "place", it was just a state of being (which, by the way is consistent with Catholic teaching on the nature of hell). It was a frightening experience and one that inspired me to be the prodigal son returning home to God.

Bottomline: take these fanciful stories with a grain of salt.

God bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.