Ask Your Preacher - Archives
“Only MOSTLY Dead”
Categories: GRAB BAG, HEAVEN & HELLI have heard many stories of people that have been declared legally dead for a few minutes and have "seen the light" or gotten a glimpse of what heaven or hell may be like. Is this possible?Sincerely,
Walk Towards The Light
Dear Walk Towards The Light,
‘Legally dead’ is not the same as actually dead. A hundred years ago, someone was declared legally dead when they stopped breathing. Fifty years ago, someone was declared legally dead when their heart stopped beating. Today, we know that neither of those things necessarily mean that someone is dead. In truth, the only way to know for sure that someone is “fully dead” is when they don’t come back to life. When someone is declared dead and then are resuscitated, it simply means the physicians made a mistake in deeming the person “too far gone”.
The whole point of that explanation is to say that you only go to heaven or hell when you are actually dead. The rich man wanted to get back to his brothers and explain what was on the other side… but he couldn’t (Lk 16:22-31). Furthermore, God makes it clear that each of us only dies once, and only then will we face the Judgment (Heb 9:27). Anyone who says they have visited heaven (no matter how sincere their assertion) is mistaken.
