A
Critique of Mary Baxter's "A
Divine Revelation of Hell"
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Mary K. Baxter
is a Pentecostal minister who wrote a
controversial book called
A Divine Revelation
of Hell in which she makes
some astonishing and problematic claims.
Judging her claims from the perspective
of a near-death researcher, it is easy
to detect the problems with her
testimony when compared to documented
NDE testimony. Perhaps the biggest
problem with her testimony is her claim
that Jesus appearing to her for 30
straight days while in prayer to give
her a guided tours of hell; followed by
10 straight days of Jesus giving her a
guided tour of heaven. Baxter claims her
soul was "taken out of her body" by
Jesus and "transmitted to hell" in order
for her to receive many revelations. But
there is not any trigger - short of the
psychedelic kind - which would induce
the kind of experiences Baxter claims to
have had. As you will see from this book
review, they apparently are not NDEs or
OBEs. Other problems include: her
strange depiction of the spirit world,
her bizarre depiction of Jesus as the
Being of Light, her self-admitted
embellishment of her testimony with
Charasmatic theology. Her depiction of
hell which is about as silly as the
graphic I created on the left. If you
are a Christian who believes Jesus
judges and condemns all people to hell
for never have pledged allegiance to his
Lordship, you might enjoy her book. As
you will discover from this book review,
I find her book to be highly dishonoring
to both Jesus and God.
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1. Some Background on Mary
Baxter |
Mary K. Baxter was born
in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was raised in the Church and
accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of 19.
In 1983, she was ordained as a minister at the
Full Gospel Church of God. She is now currently working
as a minister with the
National Church of God. In 1976, Baxter claims Jesus appeared
to her through prayer for forty nights in a row and told her
God had chosen her for a special assignment. God wanted to reveal
to her the reality of hell and the glories of heaven. Baxter
claims Jesus said to her, "for this purpose you were born,
to write and tell what I have shown and told you." Then
for a period of thirty nights, Baxter claimed she would pray
and Jesus would then take Baxter on a tour of hell, followed
by supposedly ten visits to heaven. In all these visits, Jesus
was always guiding Baxter.
On the
Full Gospel Church of God,
where Baxter was ordained, they declare the
Pauline Christian concept of, "Only
faith in Jesus Christ can provide salvation!" which,
of course, is a mere pledge of allegiance! This faith only
salvation originated with Paul who contradicted the brother
of Jesus, James the Just, who knew Jesus all his life and taught, "You
see then that a man is justified by works and not by
faith only" (James 2:24).
Paul's system of theology flied in the face of the other
apostles of Christ - the Twelve - who were taught by Christ
himself on how salvation is attained through the
practice of following the law of
unconditional love (because the Bible states
divine love is God) as revealed in
Luke 10:25-28. There is little wonder
why Paul (the self-appointed apostle) often criticized the Twelve
and always seemed to be in conflict with those of whom Christ
said would, "also
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
2. The Pentecostal Movement
Enters the NDE Arena |
After reading enough reviews about Baxter's
book, my guess is she had some nightmares about hell. However,
this is nothing to be sniffed at because dreams are out-of-body
experiences and excursions into the soul realms of the afterlife.
But the problem with dream visions of heaven and hell is they
usually resemble the Book of Revelation in that it is heavy
with dream symbolism which is the language of the soul and must
be interpreted as such. In fact, the Book of Revelation has
the same dream symbolism as the prophet Daniel's dreams which
are recorded in the Book of Daniel.
So, my point is Baxter
probably did have nightmares of the hell. But the key to dream
interpretation is how the symbolism applies only to the person
who dreamt them. It is apparent to me how the hellish dreams
of Baxter stem from her own personal psychological terror of
going to hell. This also explains why so many fundamentalist
Christians have NDEs involving hell and describe a God of "wrath
and condemnation." So if you have a firm and terrifying
belief in Satan as your scapegoat, a God of wrath who bar-b-ques
souls in hell forever because of relatively minor infractions,
then you are actually creating that reality for yourself in
the afterlife. After a person dies, they "step into"
the spiritual reality they have cultivated their entire life.
If there is nothing but darkness within a person (i.e., spiritual
ignorance) God does not abandon them forever (see my page on
the Biblical doctrine of universal salvation.)
It is
not unusual to read a NDE testimonial from a fundamentalist
Christian who went through the same tunnel as other NDErs and
saw the same light of God as others, except they are terrified
because they interpret it as being the fires of hell instead.
Or instead of a God of love, they perceive a "God of wrath"
instead. So, we must be careful about believing in evil because
in the afterlife the only force which is counter to the light
is darkness - and "darkness" is merely "ignorance"
- not "evil" per se. In other words, Hitler was not
an "evil" man (as if he had some disease). Instead,
he was a normal man but obviously extremely "ignorant"
about spiritual realities - a condition everyone has from one
degree to another. What makes Hitler so fearful is he was an
ordinary human being just like ourselves, and not a "monster."
But we demonize Hitler because we cannot imagine any human being
doing what he did. But the fact is Hitler was human, was loved
by millions of Germans and probably loved others (especially
his mother.) Perhaps it is human nature to create scapegoats
so we can proclaim how we could never do the things Hitler did.
Can anyone honestly say - given the same circumstances Hitler
had in life - we would never have done the same thing? I remember
watching a documentary about the World War II and the Holocaust
where a Rabbi said the real question is not, "Where was
God when all this was happening?" but rather, "Where
was man?" This is especially true when one realizes how
governments around the world (even the U.S. government under
Roosevelt) knew what was going and nothing to stop it. The same
documentary included someone commenting how never before in
history have so many people called out to God.
If you
really want to know what hell is like from an ordained minister
who has been there and was rescued from there by Jesus, reading
the NDE testimony of Reverend Howard Storm. Rev. Storm was given
the following insights from beings of light after his life review
when he was fearful of returning to Earth life and afraid he
would make mistakes again:
"Mistakes are an acceptable
part of being human. We are here to make all the mistakes we
want because it is through our mistakes that we learn. As long
as we try to do what we know to be right, we will be on the
right path. If we make a mistake, we should fully recognize
it as a mistake, then put it behind us and simply try not to
make the same mistake again. The important thing is to try our
best, keep our standards of goodness and truth, and not compromise
them to win people's approval. God loves us just the way we
are, mistakes and all. When we make a mistake, we should ask
for forgiveness. After that, it would be an insult if we don't
accept that we are forgiven. We shouldn't continue going around
with a sense of guilt, and we should try not to repeat our mistakes.
We should learn from our mistakes. God wants us to do what we
want to do. That means making choices - and there isn't necessarily
any right choice. There is a spectrum of possibilities, and
we should make the best choice from those possibilities. If
we do that, we will receive help from the Other Side."
(Rev. Howard Storm)
He is "the real deal" and
his testimony is like none other. I consider his near-death
experience to be one of my personal favorite because he explains
so much about hell, Jesus, salvation, and what heaven and life
on Earth is all about. Although I haven't read Baxter's book,
judging from the book reviews I have read, her experience would
pale in comparison.
Return to Top
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3. Book
Reviews of Baxter's "Divine Revelation of Hell" |
Reviewer:
from Princewick, WV United States
"At the
risk of offending many Christians who have read and believe
MKB's revelation; I must say that this is one of the silliest
books I have ever read. Prior to purchasing this book, I checked
out a few of the reviews and I recall a reviewer who likened
this text to a children's book. I couldn't agree more. The language
is so simplistic that it reads more like a first grade primer
than a divine revelation. In addition to its simplicity, it
is also extremely repetitive. Phrases such as: the Lord Jesus
knew my thoughts .... oh how (choose one) awful, terrible, horrible
.... and I cried on the inside ....are repeated so many times
that you wonder if you're simply reading the same page over
and over. Also repetitive are the descriptions of the damned
souls and the demons tormenting them. All of the souls are skeletons
and the majority of the demons bat-faced. How cliché!
On page 174 MKB says "What you are about to read will
frighten you." I think ... finally! Something interesting!
MKB, however, goes on to describe exactly the same scenes which
populate the previous 173 pages! Suffice it to say I was not
frightened. As if all of this were not reason enough to pass
on this book; MKB says she saw Satan while in Hell but offers
not even a one word description of Him! This woman supposedly
stood before the king of Hell, himself....and she passes over
this event as if it were nothing! I think MKB had a bad dream
that she tried to turn into a book....and she failed. I can
not recommend this book."
Reviewer: John from USA
This is not how God is. Mary Baxter claims that Jesus came
to her when she was praying and took her on a guided tour of
hell. The dialogue is all written in the same style and manner,
and it seemed rather made-up or imagined to me. This woman has
a sick and twisted view of God. She makes out God to be a wicked,
immoral, monster, who has to make people suffer endlessly for
not following his ways. In this book are many descriptions of
people who are suffering unimaginably for relatively minor sins.
One woman was burning because she didn't convert to Christianity
when a missionary came to her village. It's very sad. Nearly
all the poor people say that they're sorry for their sins and
that they love Jesus but it makes no difference. I think that
the whole thing was made up to scare people into being good
Christians. Either that or it all happened in her head. Either
way, I give this book 1 star.
Reviewer: Joy from Phoenix, AZ United
States
Mary K Baxter (an ordained Pentecostal
pastor who is in complete disobedience to Gods word according
to 1 Tim 2:12 dreams up heretical false visions, which are quite
common in the Charismatic community. She's not alone in the
NDE arena. Go to your local Christian book store, and then go
to the "Charismatic Interest" isle, and you will see
many books to the like of hers. Visions, new prophecies, Near
Death, dream interpretation, etc., etc., etc.! You'll find the
same books in the New Age bookstores too! Baxter saw a false
Christ in her vision, and the proof is in her book. On page
113, she states:
"I was so sad and so tired. I collapsed
in the arms of Jesus. And even though He restored me whole,
I wanted to go far, far away-from JESUS, from my family, from
everyone."
What kind of Christians wants to go far,
far away from Jesus? Well, the Jesus in her vision left her
in Hell. Doesn't God's word tell us that He will never leave
us nor forsake us? Apparently this "Jesus" was not
trustworthy. According to the word of God, Baxter received a
revelation alright ... from that old serpent, Satan himself.
Beware Christians ... don't believe every wind of doctrine you
hear!
Reviewer: A Reader from
New York
The Gospel of Bad News. I read some of
this book while browsing in the bookstore, and it truly disgusted
me. What a stain on God's character! God is love. Yes, he is
just and he punishes (sometimes severely), but he has a Father's
heart of love. His punishments always correct! To those who
believe in the truth of this book, you really can't hold to
the position that God is love. The punishment presented here
is vindictive, cruel, and fiendish. There is no purpose to eternal
punishment. Love never fails (1 Cor. 13:8), but according to
Ms. Baxter, God, who is love, has failed. He wants to save everyone
(1 Tim. 2:4), but can't pull it off.
The word gospel
means good news. The Bible, unlike the nonsense in this book,
truly is good news for everyone. It says God is the savior of
all mankind (1 Tim. 4:10), Jesus is savior of the entire world
(John 4:42, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:14), Jesus died for all (2
Cor. 5:15), Jesus will draw all men to Himself (John 12:32),
every knee will bow in worship before Jesus (Phil. 3:21), God
binds all into stubbornness that he might have mercy on all
(Rom. 11:32), there will be a restitution of all things (Acts
3:21) and a reconciliation of all things (Col. 1:20, Eph. 1:10).
The Biblical words for hell and eternity are not as clear
cut as you might think. There is no mention of hell at all in
the Old Testament. Yes, there is a Hebrew word "Sheol",
but this word means a hidden or unknown place, especially the
realm of the dead. Jonah said he was in Sheol when inside the
great fish, Job longed to go to Sheol during his earthly suffering,
Jacob and David (declared saints in the Bible) went to Sheol,
1 Sam. 2:6 says the Lord brings down to Sheol and raises up
again. When the OT was translated to Greek, Sheol was translated
to the Greek word Hades, which means "the unseen".
There is mythology connected to this word, but scripture uses
it only in the same sense as Sheol - the realm of the dead.
Jesus holds the key to death and Hades (Rev. 1:18) means that
he has power over death, not that he acts as a jailer. Death
and Hades are temporary and will be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:55,
Rev. 20:14).
The Greek word "Gehenna" that
is translated hell in most Bibles actually refers to a place
on Earth. It means the "valley of Hinnom", which was
the garbage dump of Jerusalem in Jesus' day where fires continually
burned. Executed criminals were often "thrown into Gehenna",
where worms consumed them. It represents a fiery judgment, and
may or may not represent punishment in the hereafter.
Certainly, punishment after death is clearly taught in the
Bible. Sinners are punished according to what they have done,
but God's judgments make things right again. They are not eternal.
Wherever eternal punishment is mentioned in scripture (e.g.
Matt. 25:46, Dan. 12:2, 2 Thes. 1:9), the word for eternal (olam
in Hebrew, aion in Greek) actually means "age-lasting".
A good concordance will verify that fact (Try the Englishman's
Hebrew/Greek Concordances).
God has a plan to save everyone.
Jesus came to save everyone. Those who aren't drawn to Him in
this life will be drawn to Him in some resurrected age, because
the promises are sure (John 12:32, 1 Cor. 15:22). I believe
in God's goodness above all other things, so I can follow the
commandment to not worry about anything. It's not up to me to
save sinners, though I still try to do my part. It's much more
effective, by the way, to preach a savior who loves sinners
enough to die for them all, then to say you better believe now
before he sends you to a torturous eternity.
I was once
taken in by such hell-fire preaching. I even heard a radio preacher
once say that God would throw babies into hell. God won't hold
such people guiltless, because they malign His character (a
violation of the 3rd commandment), but He will have mercy on
them. I hope this helps set some hearts at ease. Search deep
into the scriptures yourself to see if these things are so,
and ask God for the answers, for he who asks shall receive.
Reviewer: Know_thyself_first
from Detroit
Is this for 3rd graders? This book
is the best fictional book I have read for children ... When
I told that to the co-worker who gave me the book he stated, "It
wasn't a children's book and it wasn't fictional." That
was a shock because if that's the case this is the most idiotic
hour read that I have had in a long time. Here are 3 reasons
(1) Here it is that Christians promote this BELIEF that
their god is all loving however it is obvious that Baxter has
more love for these suffering masses then the very god who claims
to love all mankind.
(2) This book is a blatant contradiction
of the Bible due to the fact that Baxter repeatedly states that
after death you feel all pain and suffering when it is a fact
that the Bible states that there is no pain, nor knowledge after
death.
(3) She must have run out of torture methods because
all of them began to repeat themselves.
This book is
nothing more then an elementary horror novel meant to be read
by elementary minded individuals. Question: Why are you printing
the words so large and using such large spaces for 212 pages?
Obviously you could have written this in a pamphlet of no more
then 100 pages. If you want to serve the Lord at least save
his trees. Peace and Blessings
Reviewer: Keith from UK
This book portrays a traditional view of the devil presiding
over hell tormenting souls. Not only is it repugnant that a
righteous God would allow such a thing, Hell is most especially
reserved for the devil as his judgment. I am amazed that this
book even found its way to a publisher, let alone that it got
printed. It is nonsense from start to finish.
Reviewer: David from Illinois
What good this book was for me. This is I think the second
review I have made on this book. I believe the book has some
value; however, it is in error somewhat, at least Biblically.
I have read this book several times, plus attended a few services
in which Mrs. Baxter preached. What the book did for me was
that it shook me at a point in my life, when I was living in
sin and away from God. I immediately confessed sin, and started
walking with Jesus, that was about six years ago. I must say,
however, that I lived in mortal fear from then on, because,
even though I wanted to live better, I still had sin in my life
and couldn't overcome it. I felt like I would go to hell if
I died because I couldn't shake the sins in my life. I thought
to myself, "who can qualify to go to heaven?" because
it seemed from this book on hell that only a select few "super-Christians"
could make it.
One day, after really seeking God on the
subject, the Holy Spirit spoke one word to me. That word was "righteousness".
When I got home and looked it up in the Bible, I realized that
we are saved only by believing on the blood of Christ, that
faith in God through Jesus Christ is our salvation, not works,
as this book on hell suggests. Finally, I was able to see clearly
that all I needed was to cling to Christ and not worry about
trying to avoid sin so much. It made my life better, because
it took my mind off of sin and I started living better knowing
in my heart that I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2
Cor. 5:21). Unfortunately, this book leads the reader to believe
that you can only get to heaven through good behavior, not faith
in Christ. Certainly, abstaining from sin is important, because
sin will mess up your life, period. Sin, however, has no power
over the saint (Christian) in Christ and therefore we are free
and justified, not of our own works, but through the cross of
Christ.
I recommend this book to any Christian that is
backslidden, but be warned that you need to know who you are
in Christ, and build your foundation up of that in your life
immediately, or you will eke out a miserable Christian walk
that is unfruitful and agonizing. Jesus didn't die a horrible
death on the cross and then "need" us to "help"
him out with good behavior. When He said "It is finished",
He meant the fulfillment of the law, which we could not do.
I certainly do not disbelieve in hell. I haven't gone there
or experienced death yet. I do think it would have been nice,
however, if Mrs. Baxter would have been a lot more explicit
about the ones she saw in hell and why they were there. It is
assumed by the reader that the people in hell were there because
they sinned. All have sinned, and will continue to sin, sorry,
if this is all it takes to go to hell, I guess we will all be
there, including Mrs. Baxter!!!!
[I received another
email pointing out to me the fact that Mary Baxter does talk
about Satan in Chapter 9 of her book]
QUESTION:
Did he read Chapter 9? This speaks very poorly of the reviewer,
since his statement is incorrect. I read the book, since reviews
like this only enforce my perception that some reviewing is
done from a biased prejudicial viewpoint.
ANSWER: The
reviewer's point was that he expected to read a physical description
of Satan but there was none in the book. Perhaps you know where
it is in her book and can email it to me. One of the things
I have always wanted to know was if I ever came across someone
who claims to have seen Satan to find out what he looks like.
Does he have a pitchfork, horns and hooves? Does he wear a red
cape or does he look more like a bat or a dragon. The reviewer
has a very credible point and if Baxter does not give the reader
a description of Satan (or Jesus for that matter) then it doesn't
pass the "smell test" to me. So, if you would email
to me what he looks like, perhaps I might believe in him.
QUESTION:
I am sorry that you feel so critical of "fundamentalist"
Christians.
ANSWER:
This is not a personal matter. I am critical of fundamentalist
beliefs - nothing personal. If anything, I am sympathetic to
fundamentalists because I was once one myself for many years
and know exactly what taking fundamentalism to its extreme means.
I can tell you that I have the same feeling as Paul when he
said that he wished he could be cut off for the sake of those
who opposed him. I must point out here that not all fundamentalists
are "washed in the blood of the lamb" fanatics. You
can read about my own personal conversion to Christianity and
then away from fundamentalism at the link provided.
QUESTION:
[In response to my speculation that Baxter just had nightmares.]
But you haven't read the book. I have. And she definitely had
an out of the body experience, while being totally lucid and
in control of her senses.
ANSWER: I just found a good summary
of Baxter's book. After reading this summary, I came to a number
of conclusions:
(1) The critical aspect about these kind
of experiences is the initial phase of it. This summary suggests
Jesus appeared to Baxter while she was praying. If this is true
then this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone having
a NDE or an OBE while praying. So unless it WAS a miracle and
Jesus just appeared while she was saying her routine prayers,
then I would have to know more detail about what happened at
this initial phase. And since this experience occurred over
a number of days, I will have to know what she initially experienced.
NDEs and OBEs can happen while a person is meditating but usually
only if it is deep trance meditation. So I will need to know
the details of the initial experience she has.
(2) Her
descriptions of the hell realms and outer darkness resembles
that of someone who has never read any testimonies of the thousands
of people who have died and been to hell and back. Baxter's
description of hell resembles "Dante's Inferno" and
nothing like I have read from NDEs. You can check it out yourself
here:
The
earthbound hell
realms and
outer darkness.
(3) Her descriptions of the spirit world do not ring true
to me either. Here are some of her descriptions:
Mary Baxter's NDE: "Baxter saw long funnels
protruding out of the Earth. These funnels were all over the
Earth and could only been seen with the spiritual eye. Baxter
asked what these funnels were and Jesus replied that those were
gateways to hell and that they are to go into hell through one
of them."
ANSWER:
This description of funnels leading inside the Earth to hell
suggests that hell is within the Earth. This is highly bizarre
and contradicts everything that researchers know about hell.
She also gives an even more bizarre description:
Mary Baxter's NDE: "Jesus
later told Baxter that hell has a body, just like a human form,
lying on her back at the center of the Earth. It is shaped like
the body of a human, with many chambers of torment."
ANSWER:
This description just does not pass the smell test. This is
not the nature of hell.
What also really bothers me about
Baxter's story is how she depicts Jesus. Baxter's descriptions
of Jesus' words and actions not only fail my smell test, they
fail the gospel test. When Jesus was accused of performing miracles
by the spirit of the devil, he rebuked his accusers by telling
them that a tree is judged by its fruit. A "good"
tree cannot produce bad fruit. Nor can a bad tree produce good
fruit. The fruit Jesus was talking about the fruit of the Holy
Spirit which the Bible describes as: love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Jesus was teaching his accusers how Satan cannot produce love,
joy, peace, etc. The assumption was if Jesus was producing these
fruits of the Spirit, then he couldn't be working for Satan.
So this is test to evaluate NDE testimony about Jesus. Any testimony
describing Jesus behaving according to love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
is a true testimony. Otherwise, it is false. Baxter's portrayal
of Jesus is one where Baxter is seen having more compassion
for the lost in hell than Jesus. Jesus appears to have these
people burning in agony for eternity because of legalistic sins
some of which are ridiculously minor. Here are some of the reasons
Baxter's Jesus tortures people in hell:
Example #1 reason people
go to Mary Baxter's hell: "Jesus
replied that this woman had surgery done because she had cancer.
Christians came and wanted to pray and heal her, but she refused
their help - instead, she blamed God for her condition and cursed
the Savior. Jesus said "My spirit pleaded with her. Even
after she had turned her back on Me, I still tried to draw her
by My spirit, but she would not listen. At last she died and
came here."
ANSWER:
The Jesus of the NDEs I know about makes Baxter's "Jesus"
to be more like Satan. And this whole incident just appears
too contrived. Read how even more ridiculous the next one is:
Example #2 reason people
go to Mary Baxter's hell: "In the
next pit was the skeletal form of a woman on her knees, apparently
looking for something. Fire clung around her hands and flesh
fell off her. She said "O Lord, O Lord, I want out."
She managed to get herself to the top of her pit and just when
she was going to get out, a large demon pushed her back into
the burning pit. Baxter was horrified at what she saw and pleaded
for this woman. Jesus said:
"My child, judgment
has been set. God has spoken. Even when she was a child, I called
and called her to repent and to serve Me. When she was sixteen
years old, I came to her and said, "I love you. Give your
life to Me, and come follow Me, for I have called you for a
special purpose.' I called all her life, but she would not listen.
She said, "Someday I will serve You. I have no time for
You now. No time, no time, I have my life of fun. No time, no
time to serve You, Jesus. Tomorrow I will.' Tomorrow never came,
for she waited too long."
ANSWER: Jesus
said in the gospels that a tree is known by its fruit. My aunt's
dog has more compassion for people than Baxter's Jesus. This
Jesus is judgmental, condemning, uncaring, and legalistic. This
Jesus is a "bad tree". Tell me any instance in the
gospels where Jesus acts like this? This Jesus acts more like
one of the legalistic Pharisees. Read this next pathetic reason
Baxter's Jesus tortures people:
The woman cried to Jesus
and said: "My soul is truly in torment. There is no way
out. I know that I wanted the world instead of You, Lord. I
wanted riches, fame and fortune, and I got it. I could buy anything
I wanted: I was my own boss. I was the prettiest, best dressed
woman of my time. And I had riches, fame and fortune, but I
found I could not take them with me in death. O Lord, hell is
horrible. I have no rest day or night. I am always in pain and
torment " My sweet Lord, if only I had listened to you
! I will regret that forever. I planned to serve You someday "
when I got ready. I thought You would always be there for me.
But how wrong I was ! I was one of the most sought after women
of my time for my beauty. I knew God was calling me to repent.
All my life He drew me with His cords of love, and I thought
I could use God like I used everyone else. He would always be
there. Oh yes, I used God ! He would try so hard to get me to
serve Him, while all the time I thought I didn't need Him. Oh,
how wrong I was ! "
ANSWER: First of all, the dialogue of
this woman just sounds l too phony to me. Secondly, "Jesus"
sends these people to burn forever because of specific legal
sins. It is as if a person's eternal damnation is based upon
just a few specific legalities, rather than on a spiritual basis.
Where are her descriptions of people who are like Adolf Hitler
or Ted Bundy or Stalin? Baxter appears to only describe people
in hell who are the equivalent of church-goers who farted in
church and now must burn forever in hell for it. Read this next
one:
"They stopped at a pit where there was a large
framed man. He too was in skeletal form, but had ripped clothes
and burning flesh hanging onto him. This man could be heard
preaching the Gospel, holding a make believe bible. The Lord
informed Baxter that the man was a preacher of the Gospel and
at one time, he spoke the truth and served God. Jesus said to
the man "Peace, be still" and immediately, the man
looked at Jesus. The man said "Lord, now I will preach
the truth to all the people. Now, Lord, I'm ready to go and
tell others about this place. I know that while I was on Earth,
I didn't believe there was a hell, nor did I believe You were
coming again. It was what people wanted to hear, and I compromised
the truth to the people in my church I'd made my own rules about
heaven and right and wrong. I know that I led many astray, and
I caused many to stumble over Your Holy Word" Lord, let
me out, and I will do right."
Mary Baxter's Jesus answered
the man and said: "You not only distorted
and misrepresented the Holy Word of God, but you lied about
not knowing the truth. The pleasures of life were more important
to you than truth. I visited you Myself and tried to turn you
around, but you would not listen "You knew the way of the
cross. You knew the way of righteousness. You knew to speak
the truth " You should have repented."
ANSWER:
See what I mean? This "Jesus" lacks the fruit of the
Spirit of love, joy, peace, kindness. Where is the compassion?
This "Jesus" condemns the preacher to eternal torture
because of NOT PREACHING THE BIBLE CORRECTLY!!!! I submit to
you that this "Jesus" fails Jesus' test of knowing
a good tree by its good fruit. This "Jesus" is not
the Jesus I know from the Bible or NDEs.
Listen to the reason "Jesus"
is barbqueing this woman: "Jesus
later told Baxter that the woman had gone to church just to
seduce men, resulting in many broken marriages. Despite this,
Jesus sent many of His servants to convince her to repent, but
she would not. Satan then entered into her and she become bitter
and unforgiving. Part of her wanted to serve Jesus, but you
can't serve God and Satan at the same time. Everyone has to
make a choice."
ANSWER: This IS kindergarten stuff!
To think that Jesus would torture a woman for eternity merely
for trying to find romance in church or breaking a few legalistic
transgressions is to question whether Baxter really understands
the very basic fundamentals of salvation. According to orthodox
Christianity, Christians are not punished for sin because they
are not perfect but forgiven already. The next case is even
more ridiculous:
"The people in hell still had all
their senses and could feel the fire, the worms and the frustration
and hopelessness of their situation. They stopped at a pit which
contained a woman.
"Jesus" said to the woman: "While
you were on Earth, I called you to come to Me. I pleaded with
you to get your heart right with Me before it was too late.
I visited you many times in the midnight hour to tell you of
My love. I wooed you, loved you and drew you to Me by My Spirit. "Yes
Lord,' you said, "I will follow You,' With your lips you
said you loved Me, but your heart did not mean it. I knew where
your heart was " you wanted the world and not Me."
The woman said to Jesus: "You
remember Lord, how I went to church and was a good woman. I
joined the church. I was a member of Your church. I knew Your
call was on my life. I knew I had to obey that call at all costs,
and I did."
Mary
Baxter's "Jesus" said: "Woman,
you are still full of lies and sin. I called you, but you would
not hear Me ! True, you were a member of a church, but being
a church member did not get you to heaven " You would not
forgive others when they hurt you. You pretended to love and
serve Me when you were with Christians, but when you were away
from Christians, you lied, cheated and stole " you also
had a double tongue. You talked about your brothers and sisters
in Christ. You judged them and thought you were holier than
they, when there was gross sin in your heart " You played
with God, and God knows all things. If you had sincerely served
God, you would not be here today."
ANSWER: Baxter's "Jesus"
judges this woman as if she was Adolf Hitler. This "Jesus"
is having this woman tortured for eternity basically because
she has personality problems. According to this description,
Jesus is torturing this woman because she did not forgive others,
she pretended to be a Christian, she lied, cheated and stole,
talked about her brothers and sisters, she judge them, etc.
... in other word, "Jesus" is burning her for eternity
for being too human.
QUESTION: God, in the person of His
Son, came to Earth to free us from going to hell, a very real
place, which He talked about himself (flames, lake of fire,
worms that don't die, incredible pain, thirst, and burning)
He warned us about this very real place, but made a way of escape
to deliver us from the evil one, as his very own prayer says.
ANSWER:
Whenever Jesus talked about hell it was in the form of a parable.
Parables are symbolic. They are much like the dream symbolism
of the Book of Revelation. Hell is not so much a matter about
flames or pits of fire or any outward description. Heaven and
hell are emotional, mental and spiritual conditions which everyone
is already familiar with. When we are in love and happy, we
say we are "in heaven." When we are so depressed that
we want to die, we say we feel "like hell." My point
is that the horrible thing about hell is not seeing pits of
fire or flying demons or even Satan. The horrible thing about
hell is the emotional, mental and spiritual Armageddon that
people have within them in life which they realize within themselves
after death. Having a devil prod you with a pitchfork is a childish
way to describe hell and Baxter's descriptions resemble just
that.
QUESTION:
I trust that you would agree that hearing God's Son share about
hell should be something that we pay very careful strict attention
to, because he's not a mere man like you and I, but as deity,
deserves the respect that he could claim, whenever he is talking
about truth claims. We owe him that, don't we?
ANSWER: Yes,
that is why you need to judge Baxter's "Jesus" by
his fruit. Is there love, joy, peace, kindness, etc. the fruit
of the Spirit? Nope. False Jesus.
QUESTION:
Kevin, sorry to say, but the lie of evil, the very core and
essence that it says is this - "there is no evil"
That is the evil in evil. You need to understand that the fountain
head, the source of evil was actually started by a person, named
Lucifer, who became Satan. Originally created by God to be one
of the highest angels, if not the highest angel, his heart went
into pride and he fell.
ANSWER: You need to read my web page
about the history of Satan which originated with the ancient
Persian religion called Zoroastrianism. Then you will know that
relying on just a New Testament understanding is very foolish.
According to Genesis, a literal interpretation of the story
of the Garden of Eden tells the bizarre tale of Satan and how
sin, evil, death, and Armageddon entered into the world:
A talking snake tricks a woman - who was created from a
rib - into eating magical fruit. (Genesis 3:1-7)
Are
we to understand that this ridiculous event literally unleashed
the horrible satanic legion of apocalyptic abomination of desecration
and damnation from the dark abyss and into the hearts of all
humanity bringing death, holocaust, and Armageddon? This has
to be symbolic like either a parable or dream symbolism. In
fact, you can read a better interpretation of the Genesis account
right here. The notion that God punishes children for the sins
of their fathers is incredibly unjust and Christians need to
face up to this. Suppose your friend committed a murder. It
would be an incredible travesty of justice if your friend's
son was executed because of his father's sin - especially if
your friend gets off scott-free.
It is clear that the
Bible states that evil and sin are the "plague" of
humanity. Christians believe there is a universal force that
is opposed to God and is the source of evil. But, the NDE shows
that "evil" is basically "stupidity" or "ignorance"
of spiritual realities. What Christians know to be as "sin"
is seen by God as "mistakes." It must be admitted
by Christians that "evil" and "sin" are
permitted to exist only because of the sovereignty of God. Otherwise,
God would have destroyed "evil" the moment it was
created. People having NDEs learn that God permits us to make
mistakes for the purpose of instruction and enlightenment. For
example, Hitler was very "evil" man in that he was
a very ignorant man. There was no universal force than made
Hitler "evil," Hitler made himself into a very, very
ignorant person.
This person called "Satan"
supposedly is leading a universal force of rebellion against
God. Christians believe this being tempts people to sin and
is responsible for the fall of humanity from grace. But many
NDErs have been shown that such a person does not exist. What
people think of as "Satan", is really their own personal
trait of self-centeredness, self-gratification, self-glorification,
self-consciousness, self-righteousness, self-interest, self-ego
which we must "crucify" to practice unconditional
love. People whom others would consider to be "good people"
have hellish NDEs when usually become heavenly "It's a
Wonderful Life" experiences. People whom others would consider "not
so good people" have hellish NDEs which also become heavenly
in its effect. So hell is not a place of punishment but rather
of education and "time-out." That is the true nature
of the hell realms judging from the NDE evidence I have examined.
Return to Top
|
4. A Short
Summary of Mary Baxter's Book "A Divine Revelation
of Hell" |
|
Chapter 1 (Into Hell)
On March 1976, when Baxter was praying
in her house, Jesus Christ appeared to her at night and said:
"I am Jesus Christ, your Lord, and I wish to give you
a revelation to prepare the saints for My return and to turn
many to righteousness. The powers of darkness are real and My
judgments are true. My child, I will take you into hell by My
Spirit, and I will show you many things which I want the world
to know. I will appear to you many times; I will take your spirit
out of your body and will actually take you into hell. I want
you to write a book and tell of the visions and of all the things
I reveal to you. You and I will walk through hell together.
Make a record of these things which were and are and are to
come. My words are true, faithful and trustworthy. I Am That
I Am, and there is none beside Me."
At this, Baxter
began to praise God and was willing to be used by Him. Jesus
then took Baxter's soul out of her body and into the sky. At
that point, Baxter's soul could see her family and house below
her; in fact, she had all her senses. Also, Jesus knew Baxter's
thoughts and comforted her when she was afraid.
Jesus
and Baxter went higher and higher into the sky, until they could
see the Earth below. Baxter then saw long funnels protruding
out of the Earth. These funnels were all over the Earth and
could only been seen with the spiritual eye. Baxter asked what
these funnels were and Jesus replied that those were gateways
to hell and that they are to go into hell through one of them.
They soon entered into one of the funnels. Inside the funnel
looked like a spinning tunnel, and yet there was deep darkness
as well as a horrible smell. Evil spirits, dark gray in color,
lined the tunnel. These spirits were embedded in the walls,
yet were able to move and cry out. When Baxter asked about these
forms, Jesus said that they are evil spirits ready to be spat
onto the Earth, once Satan gives the orders.
Near the
end of the tunnel, sharp screams can be heard. Jesus prepared
Baxter to what was to come by saying "We will soon enter
the left leg of hell. Ahead you will see great sorrow, pathetic
sadness and indescribable horror. Stay close to Me, and I will
give you strength and protection as we go through hell. The
things you are about to see are a warning. The book you write
will save many souls from hell."
Jesus later told
Baxter that hell has a body, just like a human form, lying on
her back at the center of the Earth. It is shaped like the body
of a human, with many chambers of torment.
Chapter 2 (Left Leg of Hell)
The sounds of people in torments were everywhere and there
was a thick horrible odor. Many pits can be seen in the left
leg of hell as well as evil spirits and demons. The pits were
filled with fire and they were everywhere, as far as one can
see. On closer inspection, the pits were shaped like a bowl,
three feet deep and four feet across. There were red hot coals
of fire on the side of each pit and in the center of the pit
was a soul that has gone into hell. Fire would start at the
bottom of the pit and rise up, engulfing the lost soul, leaving
the soul caged in a burnt skeleton. These souls could feel the
flames, as wails of regret and excruciating pain came from them.
The fire would then die down, and then would rise up again,
sweeping the tormented soul. This happed day and night.
A soul cried out to the Lord, "Jesus, have mercy!".
It was a voice of a woman in skeleton form, with a dirty gray
mist inside, which was her soul. Flesh hung by her bones and
she was hairless and eyeless. The woman cried out again and
said "Lord, Lord, I want out of here!" Jesus' face
showed great sorrow and He said to Baxter that she is here to
let the world know that sin results in death and that hell is
real. Baxter looked at the woman again and saw worms crawling
out of the bones; the worms were not harmed by the fire. Jesus
said that the woman knows and feels those worms.
Jesus
and Baxter walked to the next pit. From this pit, a man's voice
cried out "Lord, have mercy on me... I'm so sorry, Jesus.
Forgive me. Take me out of here. I have been in this place of
torment for years. I beg You, let me out!" Great sobs shook
this man. Jesus heard this man and He too was crying. "Lord
Jesus," the man cried, "haven't I suffered enough
for my sins? It has been forty years since my death." Jesus
said:
"It is written, "The just shall live
by faith!' All mockers and unbelievers shall have their part
in the lake of fire. You would not believe the truth. Many times
My people were sent to you to show you the way, but you would
not listen to them. You laughed at them and refused the gospel.
Even though I died on a cross for you, you mocked Me and would
not repent of your sins. My father gave you many opportunities
to be saved. If only you had listened!" Jesus wept.
The man replied that he would repent now! Jesus said "It
is too late, judgment is set." The man then tried to persuade
Jesus to let him go back on Earth to tell his friends about
hell, but Jesus said to him "They have preachers, teachers,
elders " all ministering the gospel. They will tell them.
They also have the advantages of the modern communications systems
and many other ways to learn about Me."
Jesus told
Baxter that hell is real and judgment is real. Also, this is
only the beginning of many terrifying things He has to show
her. Jesus said "Tell the world for Me that hell is real,
that men and women must repent of their sins."
In
the next pit was a small framed woman about 80 years old. The
woman had only one leg and there were drill holes in her hip.
Baxter asked about her and Jesus replied that this woman had
surgery done because she had cancer. Christians came and wanted
to pray and heal her, but she refused their help -instead, she
blamed God for her condition and cursed the Savior. Jesus said "My
spirit pleaded with her. Even after she had turned her back
on Me, I still tried to draw her by My spirit, but she would
not listen. At last she died and came here."
The
woman cried out to Jesus, saying "Lord Jesus, please forgive
me now" I will be good. Haven't I suffered enough? Why
did I wait until too late? Oh, why did I wait until Your Spirit
quit striving with me?" Jesus said to her that she had
many chances to repent and to serve Him. The old woman cried
as Jesus and Baxter walked away sadly.
In the next pit
was the skeletal form of a woman on her knees, apparently looking
for something. Fire clung around her hands and flesh fell off
her. She said "O Lord, O Lord, I want out." She managed
to get herself to the top of her pit and just when she was going
to get out, a large demon pushed her back into the burning pit.
Baxter was horrified at what she saw and pleaded for this woman.
Jesus said:
"My child, judgment has been set. God
has spoken. Even when she was a child, I called and called her
to repent and to serve Me. When she was sixteen years old, I
came to her and said, "I love you. Give your life to Me,
and come follow Me, for I have called you for a special purpose.'
I called all her life, but she would not listen. She said, "Someday
I will serve You. I have no time for You now. No time, no time,
I have my life of fun. No time, no time to serve You, Jesus.
Tomorrow I will.' Tomorrow never came, for she waited too long."
The woman cried to Jesus and said:
"My soul
is truly in torment. There is no way out. I know that I wanted
the world instead of You, Lord. I wanted riches, fame and fortune,
and I got it. I could buy anything I wanted: I was my own boss.
I was the prettiest, best dressed woman of my time. And I had
riches, fame and fortune, but I found I could not take them
with me in death. O Lord, hell is horrible. I have no rest day
or night. I am always in pain and torment " My sweet Lord,
if only I had listened to you! I will regret that forever. I
planned to serve You someday " when I got ready. I thought
You would always be there for me. But how wrong I was! I was
one of the most sought after women of my time for my beauty.
I knew God was calling me to repent. All my life He drew me
with His cords of love, and I thought I could use God like I
used everyone else. He would always be there. Oh yes, I used
God! He would try so hard to get me to serve Him, while all
the time I thought I didn't need Him. Oh, how wrong I was!"
Chapter 3 (Right Leg of Hell)
Jesus and Baxter arrived at the left leg of hell, and again,
screams can be heard everywhere and burning pits lighted the
darkness. They stopped at a pit where there was a large framed
man. He too was in skeletal form, but had ripped clothes and
burning flesh hanging onto him. This man could be heard preaching
the Gospel, holding a make believe bible. The Lord informed
Baxter that the man was a preacher of the Gospel and at one
time, he spoke the truth and served God.
Jesus said to
the man:
"Peace, be still" and immediately,
the man looked at Jesus. The man said, "Lord, now I will
preach the truth to all the people. Now, Lord, I'm ready to
go and tell others about this place. I know that while I was
on Earth, I didn't believe there was a hell, nor did I believe
You were coming again. It was what people wanted to hear, and
I compromised the truth to the people in my church " I
made my own rules about heaven and right and wrong. I know that
I led many astray, and I caused many to stumble over Your Holy
Word " Lord, let me out, and I will do right."
Jesus answered the man and said:
"You not only
distorted and misrepresented the Holy World of God, but you
lied about not knowing the truth. The pleasures of life were
more important to you than truth. I visited you Myself and tried
to turn you around, but you would not listen "You knew
the way of the cross. You knew the way of righteousness. You
knew to speak the truth " You should have repented with
sincerity, not halfway. My Word is true. It does not lie. And
now it is too late, too late."
As Jesus and Baxter
walked past another pit, a woman in a pit threw out her hands
to Jesus and said "Let me out of here. I will give You
my heart now, Jesus. I will tell others about Your forgiveness.
I will witness for You. I beg You, please let me out!"
Jesus said, "My Word is true, and it declares that all
must repent and turn from their sins and ask Me to come into
their lives if they are to escape this place."
The
woman then asked if there is anyway out of Hell. Jesus said
with compassion, "Woman, you were given many opportunities
to repent, but you hardened your heart and would not. And you
knew My Word said that all whoremongers will have their part
in the lake of fire."
Jesus later told Baxter that
the woman had gone to church just to seduce men, resulting in
many broken marriages. Despite this, Jesus sent many of His
servants to convince her to repent, but she would not. Satan
then entered into her and she become bitter and unforgiving.
Part of her wanted to serve Jesus, but you can't serve God and
Satan at the same time. Everyone has to make a choice.
Chapter
4 (More Pits)
Jesus and Baxter walked past many
burning pits and many bony hands tried to reach out to them.
The people in hell still had all their senses and could feel
the fire, the worms and the frustration and hopelessness of
their situation. They stopped at a pit which contained a woman.
Jesus said to the woman:
"While you were on
Earth, I called you to come to Me. I pleaded with you to get
your heart right with Me before it was too late. I visited you
many times in the midnight hour to tell you of My love. I wooed
you, loved you and drew you to Me by My Spirit. "Yes Lord,'
you said, "I will follow You,' With your lips you said
you loved Me, but your heart did not mean it. I knew where your
heart was " you wanted the world and not Me."
The woman said to Jesus "You remember Lord, how I went
to church and was a good woman. I joined the church. I was a
member of Your church. I knew Your call was on my life. I knew
I had to obey that call at all costs, and I did."
Jesus said: "Woman, you are still full of lies and
sin. I called you, but you would not hear Me! True, you were
a member of a church, but being a church member did not get
you to heaven " You would not forgive others when they
hurt you. You pretended to love and serve Me when you were with
Christians, but when you were away from Christians, you lied,
cheated and stole " you also had a double tongue. You talked
about your brothers and sisters in Christ. You judged them and
thought you were holier than they, when there was gross sin
in your heart " You played with God, and God knows all
things. If you had sincerely served God, you would not be here
today."
Jesus and Baxter then went to the next pit
and there, they saw a skeletal form of a woman. The woman saw
Jesus and said, "Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No man comes to the Father but by Him. Jesus is the Light of
the World. Come to Jesus, and He will save you."
Baxter wondered why a woman will preach the Gospel here
and Jesus said that he had called this woman to preach the Gospel
(the good news of Jesus) at the age of thirty. This woman answered
her calling by doing many good works and grew in the knowledge
of God. One day, she found out her husband was having an affair
with another woman. Her husband had asked for forgiveness, but
she was bitter and wouldn't forgive him. As Jesus described
it, "Murder grew in her heart where love had once been.
And one day, in her anger, she killed her husband and the other
woman. Satan then took her over completely, and she killed herself."
The woman said to Jesus "I will forgive now Lord. Let
me out. I will obey You now. See, Lord, I am preaching Your
Word now. In an hour demons will come to take me to be tormented
even worse. For hours they will torture me. Because I was preaching
your Word, my torments are worse. Please, Lord, I beg You to
let me out."
Chapter
6 (Activity in Hell)
Jesus told Baxter that they
were going into the belly of Hell. He said to tell her readers
that Satan and the demon powers are for real and to go against
such powers, Christians need to humble themselves, turn from
their evil ways and pray to Jesus. Then He will hear from heaven
and heal us of our land and body.
As they walked on,
they could hear the chilling cries of a man. Jesus said:
"What you are about to see and hear is true. Take heed
you ministers of the gospel, for these are faithful and true
sayings. Awake, evangelists, preachers, and teachers of My Word,
all of you who are called to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you are sinning, repent or you will likewise perish."
As they walked closer to the noise, they could see twelve
small dark figures marching around a coffin. These dark figures
were demons holding spears and they were talking and laughing.
There was a small opening in the coffin and that's where the
demons inserted their spears.
Jesus explained: "Child,
there are many souls in torment here, and there are many different
types of torment for these souls. There is greater punishment
for those who once preached the gospel and went back into sin,
or for those who would not obey the call of God for their lives."
Inside the coffin was a man who kept saying "No hope,
no hope!" On closer inspection, the soul of the man was
in a gray mist form, which filled the coffin and inside the
soul was a heart. The spears literally pierced his heart and
blood was everywhere.
The man saw Jesus and said "Lord,
Lord, let me out. Have mercy. I will serve You now, Lord. Lord,
I will now preach the true gospel. I will tell about sin and
hell. But please help me out."
Jesus informed Baxter
that the man was a minister of the Gospel and at one time, had
served Jesus with all his heart. However, the lust of the flesh
and the desire for money had deceived him. He stole from the
church offerings as well as teach lies. For example, he taught
that the Holy Ghost baptism was a lie and that unrepentant drunkards
would go to heaven. This preacher even said that God was too
good to send anyone to Hell. Jesus said "He caused many
good people to fall from the grace of the Lord " He trampled
My Holy Word under his feet. Yet, I continued to love him. My
child, it is better to have never known Me than to know Me and
turn back from serving Me."
Jesus explained that
now Satan torments this man because he once preached God's Holy
Word and saved souls for God's Kingdom " this is his torment.
Jesus looked at the man and said that this man caused many to
stumble and that many souls are here in hell because of him.
Jesus informed Baxter that the time of the end is very near
and that He will come back for His church at a time we think
not. His words of encouragement were "I will protect you
from evil. I will keep you in all your ways. I will save you.
I will save your loved ones. Call upon Me today and live."
Chapter 7 (The Belly of Hell)
The next night, they entered hell again. They were at a
wide open area and many demons and evil entities could be seen
gathered in one area. In this area, one can see many souls in
torment and the semi-darkness was often interrupted by sharp
screams of pain and regret. Jesus said to Baxter "Child,
Satan is both the deceiver on Earth and the tormenter of souls
in hell. Many of the demonic powers seen here also go up on
the Earth at times to hurt, afflict and deceive."
In this area, there were cell blocks; these cells were arranged
in a circle and seventeen miles high. Jesus told Baxter that
one day, death and hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
Hell is a temporary holding place until that day comes.
Chapter 8 (The Cells in Hell)
Jesus informed Baxter that many of the souls in these cell
blocks were in witchcraft or the occult, such as sorcerers,
mediums, drug dealers, idol worshipers and evil people with
familiar spirits. Screams and moans can be heard coming from
all over the cells. Jesus explained that in hell, there are
different torments for different souls and Satan administers
those torments.
Jesus and Baxter walked to a cell which
contained an old lady seated in a rocking chair. Baxter was
surprised to see a real woman with a body. The woman was crying.
Baxter was then surprised as she saw the woman change forms,
to an old man, then to a young woman, then middle-aged woman
and then back to the old lady; even the clothes changed. When
the old woman saw Jesus, she cried "Lord, have mercy on
me. Let me out of this place of torment." She then changed
her form again, to a man, then a woman, and back to the old
lady.
Jesus explained that the woman practiced witchcraft
and as well as taught others witchcraft. Satan also tricked
her in believing that she would receive a kingdom of her own,
as a reward for serving him. When she died, she praised Satan
and came here. She then asked Satan for her kingdom, but he
mocked her and said "Did you think I would divide my kingdom
with you? This is your kingdom." And he locked her in this
cell and tortures her.
Jesus told Baxter that this woman
was a witch and taught both white and black witches on the occult.
One of her tricks was to change from a youthful woman, to a
middle-aged woman, to an old woman and then to an old man. She
did this to show off her power to lesser witches. Now, she cannot
control her changes and keeps changing from one form to another,
and with each change, her flesh is ripped away; her real form
is a misty soul inside a skeleton. Jesus said "Satan uses
her for his evil purposes and taunts and mocks her. Every so
often she is brought back before Satan to be tormented for his
pleasure."
Chapter 9
(The Horrors of Hell)
They walked to another cell
and could see another woman in great pain. Her bones were burned
and decaying flesh were falling off the bones. Worms could be
seen crawling out of her flesh and bones.
The woman was
holding a rag doll and, like the woman before, was sitting in
a rocking chair. She was crying profusely.
Jesus explained
that on Earth, this woman was a servant of Satan; in fact, she
had gained great favor with Satan because of all the evil she
had done. She was the equivalent of a preacher of Satan. In
fact, she had sold her soul to Satan and thus had the strongest
kind of satanic power. Many people who sell their souls to the
Devil think they will live forever, but in reality, will die
a horrible death and will end up in these cells. These servants
of Satan work as palm readers, mediums".
After this
woman died, she was brought before Satan. She angrily asked
why she no longer had control of the demons (on Earth, she had
control over them) and demanded that Satan keep his promise
of giving part of his kingdom to her. Satan said to her "I
deceived you and used you all those years. I will never give
you my kingdom." The Devil also said to her "you did
serve me well on Earth. You brought me more than 500 souls."
He then lied and said "Your punishment will not be as bad
as the others."
Jesus later said "The way to
heaven is the same for all people. You must be born again to
enter the kingdom of God. You must come to the Father in My
name and repent of your sins. You must sincerely give your heart
to God and serve Him."
Chapter 11 (Outer Darkness)
This night, Jesus and Baxter walked past a group of demons
who were praising Satan. Baxter heard the demons say "We
will go to this house today and torment those that are there.
We will get more power from Lord Satan if we do this right.
Oh, yes, we will cause a lot of pain and sickness there and
much grief to them all." One demon said "We will have
to watch very carefully for those who believe in Jesus, for
they can cast us out." Another demon replied "But
we are not going to those who know Jesus and the power of His
name."
Jesus explained that His Holy Angels protect
His people from these evil spirits. These angels also protect
the unsaved, even though the latter don't know it. This is why
the gospel must be preached to everyone, to protect the believer
from evil.
Then Jesus showed Baxter a place called "outer
darkness". Baxter could hear weeping and gnashing of teeth;
there was total hopelessness in this place. There, a very large
man about thirty feet tall, who appeared to be an angle, held
a very large disk on his left hand. On the outer edge of the
disk was blackness and on the center was fire; souls could be
seen swimming in the sea of fire. Jesus said to Baxter, "This
is outer darkness. Remember that my Word says, "The children
of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" Jesus explained
that these were His servants who turned their backs on Him,
and chose to not stand for truth or holiness.
He said
that it is better to not start than to turn back from serving
Him. However, if you repent, Jesus will forgive you of your
sins, but if not, then He will come when you least expect Him
and will cut you off with the unbelievers, to be cast into outer
darkness. Then Jesus said to tell His servants to be faithful
and to call on His name.
Chapter
13 (The Right Arm of Hell)
Jesus took Baxter to
a river; on closer inspection, the river was on fire and full
of blood. As they walked closer, Baxter could see souls chained
together and the weight of the chain dragged the souls underneath
the lake of fire. Cries of regret could be heard. Jesus explained
that these souls are unbelievers and people who chased after
their fleshly desires, doing what was unnatural. They were men
loving men and women loving women, who would not repent of their
sins.
Skipping directly to
Chapter 16 (The Center of Hell)
Baxter heard a
voice saying "Help me. It's so painful." Baxter could
see a woman in a cell with a real pair of eyes looking at them.
The woman said "Lord, I will do what is right now. I once
knew You, and You were my Savior." As she said this, her
flesh began to burn and all she was left with were bones. The
woman continued:
"You even healed me of cancer.
You told me to go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon
me. I tried, Lord; You know I tried. I even tried to witness
for You. But, Lord, I soon learned that those who preach Your
Word are not popular. I wanted people to like me. I slowly went
back into the world and the lust of the flesh devoured me. Nightclubs
and strong drink became more important than You. I lost touch
with my Christian friends and soon found myself seven times
worse than I had been before. And though I became lovers of
both men and women, I never intended to be lost. I did not know
that I was possessed by Satan" I kept thinking I still
had time. Tomorrow I will turn back to Jesus" I waited
too long, and now it is too late."
Jesus escorted
Baxter to another cell. There, they could see a woman picking
worms out of her bones. The woman in the cell pleaded with Jesus
to let her out and said "Lord, when I was on Earth, I worshiped
the Hindu gods and many idols. I would not believe the gospel
the missionaries preached to me, although I heard it many times.
One day I died. I cried for my gods to save me from hell, but
they could not."
Jesus said to this woman, "It's
too late"
Skipping directly
to Chapter 24 (God's Final Plea)
Jesus said: "Come
as a little child, and let Me cleanse you from the works of
the flesh. Say to Me, "Lord Jesus, come into my heart and
forgive me of my sins. I know that I am a sinner, and I repent
of my sins. Wash me in Your blood, and make me clean. I have
sinned against heaven and before You and am not worthy to be
called a son. I receive You by faith as my Savior.' I will give
you pastors after My own heart, and I will be your Shepherd.
You will be My people, and I will be your God. Read the Word,
and forsake not the assembling of yourselves. Give your whole
life to Me, and I will keep you. I will never leave or forsake
you."
ANSWER:
There is one point I do agree with here and that is the fact
that Jesus will never leave or forsake anyone - not even to
the ends of the Earth or the depths of hell. Not even a sparrow
falls to the ground without our loving heavenly Father. Nor
without our loving Mother Earth herself.
A Comment by L. Jagi Lamplighter
I just read parts of your article on Baxter Baxter's book
about Hell, and I wanted to make a few comments on it.
One of the most disconcerting things for me in Angie Fenimore's
book is where she is told:
"More people who are
dying now are going into the darkness than not."
I've been thinking about this a good deal. It's nearly impossible
for me to believe it. I'm an "everyone goes to heaven'
kind of person. But I decided that, for the sake of argument,
I should consider that this might be true and see where that
might lead. Here is what I have thought on the matter:
Reading Daniel Rosenblit's story was a revelation to me.
He was told a good deal, and yet, the God he spoke to, at least
at first, seemed far more judgmental than the experience of,
say, Betty Eddie or Dannion Brinkley. Yet, once he accepted
forgiveness, God appeared kinder.
My conclusion is that
Jesus was very serious when he said:
"Judge not
less ye be judged."
I think the more judgmental
we are in life, the more judgmental the afterlife seems to us.
We see the world "through a glass darkly'. That glass
gets darker, the farther we move away from God " the more
judgmental we are " and God, seen through the glass, seems
darker to us. Those who, upon Earth, lead lives away from God
may in fact end up in torments, such as the sights described
in Return From Tomorrow " and yet, in his tour of Hell,
George Ritchie saw beings of light standing over those in Hell,
as did Angie Fenimore.
My conclusion is that there probably
is a hell-state " a place where people whose minds are
far from God end up. (Because the only torment is being far
from God, these people believe they are in torment.)
But could such a place be eternal? Could a good God punish eternally?
I am certain the answer is no.
After all, I cannot
believe Jesus or Buddha (whether or not they were the same guy
;-) would ever rest while yet one suffered. Hey, I'd like to
think I wouldn't rest, and I am certain Jesus and God are infinitely
better than me.
Sin, I think, will be punished eternally "
it couldn't be otherwise " sin is being separate from God,
and the only source of anguish is being separate from God.
But people? I can't believe individual sinners are punished
eternally.
I am sure these guys in Hell are given second
chances, third chances, fifth chances, five hundredth chances,
millionths chances, etc.
After all, why would Edgar Cayce
talk about an effort to stop people from reincarnating from
Hell for 1000 years " to let the Earth improve and be ready
to help these people when the 1000 years is up, I assume "
if people did not reincarnate from Hell? And if they do reincarnate
from Hell, well then they can't be there permanently, can they?
My theory is that the farther people move away from God,
the more permanent they fear their punishment will be "
however, moving away from God does not change the nature of
God, it just leads you to misunderstand him more.
My
husband describes it as like the way the sun seems red with
anger (the sunrise) before it rises. To those farther away,
God seems angry " but the sunlight is never actually red,
and God is never actually "not loving." (I think he
got this analogy from C. S. Lewis.)
Basically, people
in Hell are punishing themselves, and " as is suggested
in "Return From Tomorrow" and "Beyond the Darkness"
the moment they accept forgiveness, they will be released from
Hell.
Now, this brings us to Satan. I've never believed
in Satan, but recently I realized that there could be a Satan
... here's what led to that thought:
Have you read "Letters
from the Light" by Elsa Barker (if not, you should! I bet
you'd enjoy it!) In it, the dead guy who is talking to Elsa
describes how people where he is form things out of their mind,
much as Jan Price's dog taught her to do. If people can form
houses, I don't see why they couldn't form demons, or juice
cans or anything they pleased.
I think "demons"
people encounter are one of two things:
(1) The spirits
of men who have lost the way, basically lost souls who are not
really demons, but think they are " who will be rescued
eventually.
(2) Mental constructs, similar to Jan Price's
dog's house, formed by the minds of men but which in truth have
no independent reality.
If enough people believe in Satan,
there could be a "Satan'. Angie Fenimore mentions him briefly.
I think Betty Eddie does too.
But, I don't think he's
a fallen angel (i.e., a creature made by God). I think he's
a mental construct that exists because men believe in him, and
who will cease to exist when they do not " similar to a
myth, or a computer program that spouted devilish advice, but
had no spirit behind it.
In the sequel to "Letters
to the Light, War Letters From A Living Dead Man" available
online at the link provided (I'd make sure I'd read the first
book first.), the man speaking runs into demons that are apparently
part of the mind of living men. He sees a dead soldier encounter
a demon, who is part of him. Eventually, the man is able to
approach the soldier and lead him away to a nicer place. He
also meets the "black-veiled one' who seems to be Satan.
It was when reading about this that it occurred to me a Satan
could exist, but that he would be like a puppet, a thing that
reflects back at you whatever would get you to pay attention
to yourself rather than to God. Think of a broken record, or
a recording, but one with cunning that can alter its message.
In conclusion, Baxter may be making up her books, or she
may have heard all this from Jesus " but if so, it was
the "red' Jesus "seen through a glass darkly' that
reflects the frighten beliefs of those who fear God, not the
real Jesus, the Man of Love " and yet, it may be true Jesus
wanted her to spread this message. If even one person is improved
because they read her book and change their ways, that might
be good enough for Jesus!
In conclusion, if by Hell you
mean a place where souls are punished eternally " I think
we have enough evidence from NDEs to say there is no such thing "
but that does not mean that there are not places of temporary
punishment, such as where Angie Fenimore found herself. In her
experience, she was told people stayed there as short or as
long a time as they needed for their soul to grow. I see no
reason not to believe that is true.
L. Jagi Lamplighter
lampwright@erols.com
ANSWER: Everything you said about
the nature of hell and "Satan" is exactly the way
I feel about this subject except you have put it into words
which I never could have. You are very eloquent.
I have
found that when it comes to discussing the most controversial
aspects of NDEs (which I believe to be "hell," "God",
and "Satan") it is so easy to tangled up with words
that have so many different meanings to everybody that the words
are practically useless when trying to describe it. For example,
I have found that the word "hell" is almost always
associated in people's minds with words like "eternal", "punishment",
and "judgment". This, of course, comes from the fact
that Christianity has been dominant in western civilization
and these are the traditional words which most people think
of it. But in near-death research, hell is more associated with "temporary", "purgatory", "education",
and "purification." And instead of hell as being a
location somewhere, near-death research associates hell more
as a spiritual condition. More can be read about the NDE and
Hell and the Void at the links provided.
Concerning Angie Fenimore's
comment: "More people who are dying now
are going into the darkness than not." There is an interpretation
of this which would make this statement correct to me. It is
true that a large number of people enter into a realm called "the
void" immediately after death (see the link provided above).
It is a place of utter darkness and people have described this
realm as both "hellish" and "heavenly".
The void is a neutral-like place where people can experience
their inner selves with little or no outside influences or forces.
The purpose of the void is for self-evaluation in order to make
an important decision: In the void, the light may or may not
appear (I believe this is dependent upon whether the person
has "seen the light" while they were alive on Earth.).
If the light appears, you have the choice to: (1) enter into
the light and merge with it, or (2) not enter the light, and
instead choose other options such as to be revived (resulting
in a NDE), or selecting an afterlife realm out of a large number
of afterlife realms for which to continue life. Those NDEs which
do not involve the void usually show the experiencer going directly
into the light; and this is not uncommon. So, technically, Angie
Fenimore may be correct in that most people probably do go to
the void first. But, if Angie Fenimore means that most people "go
to hell forever for punishment" then she is expressing
her own opinion based upon her own religious background and
bias.
It is just as you pointed out, that the more these "hell-fire-damnation"
perceptions are ingrained in a person's mind, they more they
will perceive reality that way when they no longer have a body
to restrict their minds and perceptions. People who focus primarily
on "Satan" and "sin" are more apt to see
Satan and sin everywhere. One thing I like about reading so
many of these NDEs is that you soon discover that it is God
who is everywhere and it is possible to see "goodness"
everywhere despite appearances. This is one good reason why
nobody should believe in a Satan (an omnipresent force of evil).
By thinking about "Satan", you create his existence.
I have more on this at my NDE and Satan page.
Like many
concepts in the Bible, "Satan" is an archetype which
represents different things to different people. And it is true
that people who believe or entertain the idea of a Satan or
demons all around us, must be careful because "thoughts
are deeds" when it comes to the realm of the afterlife
(mind and imagination) and as Jesus said that a lustful thought
is equivalent to the act.
So, you hit the nail right
on the head. Basically, no matter where we are in physical reality,
spiritual reality, and even virtual reality, "reality"
is in the eye of the beholder. It is now a matter of quantum
physics: We create our own reality. I expound on this on my
NDE Differences page. So, be careful what you wish for because
you will probably get it in the realm of the mind and imagination
called "the afterlife."
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