I had a vision of Heaven and Hell

Jennie: the Scriptures don't give a lot of details about heaven and hell (and when Paul saw the 3rd heaven, he wouldn't go into detail, bec. it was 4bidden). The WORD also discourages paying heed to dreams (yes, yes, I know, there's Daniel and ole Nebuch, and Joseph, etc. but those are exceptions). Remember that dreams are phantoms, a product of the chemicals of our brains, so not really reliable.

The thing to do is saturate yourself with The WORD, which provides you with (a) a filtering system whereby you can assay experiences/teachings/comments and (b) wisdom, which you'll recall from PROVERBS is **THE** goal for one who wants to live in harmony with reality. If you will, The WORD is His set of lenses for us, bec. we suffer from distorted (spiritual and moral) vision.

Oh, and as for Coast-2-Coast, avoid it like the plague if you're looking for spiritual sustenance and truth (I myself have listened to it several times bec. I'm interested in cultural phenomena----how people think/what their spiritual gropings look like----- but the effluvium spouted there is hardly worth taking seriously. About like chewing bubble-gum and expecting it to provide vitamins for your body.)

Hope your sleep was refreshing!

There is a short story by Flannery O'Connor about an old Southern lady who treats her colored employees badly (the context of the story is 20th century, but "pre-civil rights" era). One day, in a circumstance not unlike that which you describe, she has a vision of people going up to heaven, and she is distraught, because all of those colored ladies are going, but she is not. Miss O'Connor wisely does not spoil the story by suggesting that the old white lady was thereafter a sweet and loving employer.

Your account recalled this story to me immediately, although i've not read it or thought about it in twenty years or more. In that state to which you refer--which is characteristic of falling asleep, dreaming, and awakening--many visions may come to us unbidden. I have been startled completely awake on a few occassions by hearing the voice of my grandmother, dead these many years, speaking my name aloud, quite clearly. This does not lead me to believe in spirits of the dead or communications from beyond the grave.

It does lead me to speculate that there is ordinarily a function of the fully-conscious mind which prevents such visions, auditory or visual, from coming to us unbidden while we wake and move about our world. As the consequences might easily have been fatal for us in a primitive state, and equally so while driving down the freeway--it appears to me a salutory measure of the conscious mind to preserve our existences. When in our unguarded moments, we may lapse into an other than waking state, and have such visions or hear such sounds, these might alarm us, and cause us to wonder from whence they come.

I have never once experienced something like that which could not be attributed to my memory of life, and what could be built from pieces of memory. I suggest to you that you saw nothing which it was not easy for your mind to construct from all memories in your experience. Truth is said to be stranger than fiction because until we encounter the genuinely novel, we cannot imagine it through the use of our memories.

I would say that you ought not to worry, and that you might consider that your are overly concerned with Heaven and Hell. I suggest that you seek the love and understanding of those whom you trust best, and if such visions come again, willfully banish them from your dreams--i mean that literally, because i know it works. Simply say: "Begone, now." They will go, prehaps not right away when first you try it, but it does work. The other likely consequence is that you will come fully awake.

I agree with Setanta.

I used to suffer Sleep Paralysis, and while you may not have that exact form of it, I can vouch for the amazingly strange things you are given leeway to assume is happening whilst in that state. The dream-world is one of many, many turns and corridors that scientists don't even understand yet.

I would assume that your "vision" was nothing spiritual, but instead you drifting to sleep while pondering a certain thought. Rationally, and I find this true with myself the majority of dreams I have, the last important or 'stand-out' thought or idea before you fall asleep is usually one to reincarnate itself into some scene in your mind during slumber. I would say that you thinking about hell would easily persuade your subconscious to dream about it, and if you already had ideas seeded into your mind (the "sounds of hell," which by the way have been proven a fake many years ago - expectedly) then it's highly explainable that you would incorporate them into that scene.

If you take comfort in religion, then follow it completely. But please, do not charge full-force merely because you're too frightened to do otherwise. Faith should be a willful, pleasureful experience that brings one joy - not fear and uncertainty at their every move.

Also, while I love Art Bell and Coast-to-Coast AM, I would not suggest taking all of the claims he presents to us as authentic. :wink:

If I new it was forbidden to talk about a vision of Heaven and hell, I would of never said anything. I need to start reading more of the bible. Everytime I learn something new from the bible, I share it with people that should know. I guess you can say I'm kind of like a preacher.(But I'm not.) Thats what a lot of people call me though. Well thank you for replying

Also I don't just read the bible because of the vision, I read it because God helped me get where I am today and everything I have is because of him.

Did anybody hear the story about Mary and the three children from Portugal? They say she showed the children hell, and then told them to pray the rosary everyday.

Also you said something about spirits. I once seen a guy in his thirtys while I was awake. He had cuts and scrapes all over his arms and face. I opened and closed my eyes three times before he disappered. I'm really not sure what word to use .He looked transparent.Like he was right in frount of me but see through.

Re: I had a vision of Heaven and Hell
Dearest JennieJen, there's been a misunderstanding! You didn't need to delete your post: I was a bit elliptical in my own post when I said "it's forbidden." I was merely quoting what Paul said about his own (real) vision (and assumed that you understood the passage I was alluding to---so sorry for my presumption). Yours was merely a dream, so perfectly OK to write/post/talk about.

I hope that by now you have a lot more peace about this issue than when you first had that dream.

Blessings,

'Knowz

pretty crazy

Quite right, Setanta. When these visions too regularly intrude they are often a sign of severe personality disturbance.

Jen; I don't know how much you have studied in history or scripture, so it would be unfair of me to proselytize here. You may look up some of my other posts if you wish.

Suffice it to say that I am of the (accurate ) opinion that there is no punishment inflicted by God after death.

Jen, stick with the the Scriptures; you can study the topic simply by getting a Nave's topical Bible and looking up "hell." There you'll find all applicable verses on the subject. Jesus mentioned the place plenty of times, and the whole reason He died in our stead was so that, if we receive His deliverance (thru His atonement), Hell will not be our destination.

Blessings,

'Knowz

If there were a punishment worse than death, would it not have been fair for God to have warned Adam and Eve? If they hadn't sinned, they would still be alive and we wouldn't have war and crime and sickness and death.

He offered them life. They sinned. The punishment is death. The hope is in the resurrection.

He cursed the Canaanites (and rebel Israelites) for sacrificing their children by burning them alive. He said such a thing had never come into His heart. Why then, would he subject any human to such a fate?

As someone much smarter than I once said:

Oh my God! Those sounds from Hell?

The same sounds have been coming out of my toilet for several weeks now!

I think I'll use the guest bathroom

Those 3 children from Portugal - Are you refering to the Our Lady of Fatima story? There was supposed to be some big secret revealed by one of them after a certain year.
I'm not sure, but I think I remember hearing that when the "secret" was opened up, it just said something about continuing to pray the Rosary.

Kinda sounds like that decoder ring you would send for in the mail, that when the radio announcer would give the numbers, it would read "drink more ovaltine"

JennieJen - I'm not making light of your belief that you have seen visions. But I feel your belief in seeing things like hell and spirits with stigmata are coming from being overwhelmed and scared.

When I was a kid, we had this one fire and brimston priest, and one Sunday he was giving a big sermon about hell - Really scary.
I had just finished reading the Exorcist, and it really stuck with me.
Suddenly I started feeling really sick - I believed I had become possessed because I was thinking of the devil so much. I truly believed that I was possessed for the next year - but hid it from everyone. I was petrified every waking minute.

What actually happened was that I got a bad case of the flu, and it happen to hit when I was in church.
Because of the fear I was unable to communicate or share, for whatever reason - I felt I was completely out of control at 12 years old.

May I ask.....Have you been diagnosed with any mental disorder?
Some disorders are associated with hearing/seeing things.
Some people view this as being able to see another plane of existance.
Others view it as a relegious experience.
Some feel it's a medical condition that can be treated.

I never saw/heard things, but because of my hyper awareness for so many years I developed panic disorder.
Some are environmental, some are genetic.

Since your a Newbie - would you care to share a little bit about your background?

Sounds of hell? You don't need to go any further than most inner cities for that. That website is crap. Don't believe it.

Neo, the death He warned them about in the beginning was not just physical, but spiritual---being cut off from perfect fellowship with him; banishment from the garden was merely a "foretaste" of eternal banishment. Also, recall that thruout the WORD, revelation is progressive, so He didn't have to reveal everything from the beginning.

May I ask.....Have you been diagnosed with any mental disorder?
Some disorders are associated with hearing/seeing things.
Some people view this as being able to see another plane of existance.
Others view it as a religious experience.
Some feel it's a medical condition that can be treated.

I never saw/heard things, but because of my hyper awareness for so many years I developed panic disorder.
Some are environmental, some are genetic.

Since your a Newbie - would you care to share a little bit about your background?[/quote]

Oh Boy. Figures someone would say something like that. I never seen anything except for that one time. I didn't watch any scarry movies. The guy looked like someone killed him.He had cuts ans scrapes all over his face and arms,like he was dragged.This was many years ago.About 4 or 5 years to be exact. I was living in a house that was very old. I was sitting in my living room watching TV. Then I walked in my room and there he was just standing there, starring at my X-boyfriend sleeping on the bed.I fell onto the bed backwards starring at the man still ,and he just kept starring at my X- boyfriend. I thought it was a figment of my imagination so I opened and closed my eyes three times.I got scared the third time because I realized he was still there.Then I blinked my eyes really fast and he disappeared.Maybe he realized I could see him and I was scared so he left.After that I never seen him again.I never seen nothing like this before, or ever.( it was a one time deal).I heard storys about people seeing ghost all the time, and didn't belive it either. I use to think maybe my x-boyfriend did something to this man. Why else would he be standing there starring at him why he was sleeping? .The guy looked like he was angry at him.I asked my x if he did something to that man.( He asked why,what did he look like.)I told him and he was scared.Well I'm glad that strange horrible experience is over with.


No I was never diagnosed with a mental disorder.I am 28 years old.I have one six year old son who is in second grade.I am a female, who is in college for nursing.Right now I work as a nurses aid. I live in Connecticut and I'm loving life and feeling great.

I'm really sorry to hear that you were diagnosed with a disorder.I hope that you feel better.

So, when we find out there is a hell, Satan pops up out of the box and yells "SURPISE!"

No one here is qualified to diagnose you Jenniejen. My personal and not entirely uninformed opinion is that there is nothing wrong with you. What i wrote earlier i perhaps made too complicated for such a simple matter. I was saying that your experience is a common one. It is only because you thought your vision might be real that you became alarmed.

So, let me reinforce this: what you experienced was common and normal, it doesn't mean you're crazy, and it also doesn't mean you actually saw hell.


Chai Tea should be ashamed for that series of tendentious questions, they were really inappropriate.

Yeah, what you said.

Thats ok I did not take anything personal.Actually, I think it is kind of funny.
(I know he or she didn't mean any harm by it. )

I know I probably didn't see hell. I was freaked out by the sounds of hell, Thats probably why I had that dream. Did anybody actually hear that recording from Coast to Coast. It sounded like there were beast being loud and people suffering from torture. I will never listen to that again.
Someone here said it was proved to be a fake. How did they prove it.? Also it has to be a fake because hell would not be deep in the earth, it would be in another place far from earth.

Finding your way to Heaven
And Heaven is in your mind

(line from an old song)

I rather suspect that were there a Hell (which i personally consider a ludicrous proposition), it would also reside within and not in the physical world.

Well it was not scientifically proven, as it's impossible to defraud something that never existed in the first place.

However, common sense and logic can do the job just as well.

Here's the story:




As a communist I don't believe in heaven or the Bible but as a scientist I now believe in hell," said Dr. Azzacove. "Needless to say we were shocked to make such a discovery. But we know what we saw and we know what we heard. And we are absolutely convinced that we drilled through the gates of hell!"

Dr. Azzacove continued,". . .the drill suddenly began to rotate wildly, indicating that we had reached a large empty pocket or cavern. Temperature sensors showed a dramatic increase in heat to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit."

"We lowered a microphone, designed to detect the sounds of plate movements down the shaft. But instead of plate movements we heard a human voice screaming in pain! At first we thought the sound was coming from our own equipment."

"But when we made adjustments our worst suspicions were confirmed. The screams weren't those of a single human, they were the screams of millions of humans!"


Now, obviously, this is laughable. The depth would, assumably, have to be much deeper in order to get to that temperature. The machinery of the modern world is not strong enough to dig to the core of the earth - the only firey place that I can think of that they'd possibly reach. The microphone should have melted; I would imagine it had some sort of aluminum or metal parts to it. And don't you think that if someone was able to dig to hell that one time, and considering the hype of this story, that it would have been attempted since?