Reddit mentions: The best eschatology books

Here's a list of books I've read that have had a big impact on my journey.

First and foremost tho, you should learn to meditate. That's the most instrumental part of any spiritual path.

 Ram Dass – “Be Here Now” - https://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-Dass/dp/0517543052 - Possibly the most important book in the list – was the biggest impact in my life.  Fuses Western and Eastern religions/ideas. Kinda whacky to read, but definitely #1

Ram Dass - “Journey Of Awakening” - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006L7R2EI - Another Ram Dass book - once I got more into Transcendental Meditation and wanted to learn other ways/types of meditation, this helped out.

 Clifford Pickover – “Sex, Drugs, Einstein & Elves…” - https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Drugs-Einstein-Elves-Transcendence/dp/1890572179/ - Somewhat random, frantic book – explores lots of ideas – planted a lot of seeds in my head that I followed up on in most of the books below

 Daniel Pinchbeck – “Breaking Open the Head” - https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Open-Head-Psychedelic-Contemporary/dp/0767907434 - First book I read to explore impact of psychedelics on our brains

 Jeremy Narby – “Cosmic Serpent” - https://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Serpent-DNA-Origins-Knowledge/dp/0874779642/ - Got into this book from the above, explores Ayahuasca deeper and relevancy of serpent symbolism in our society and DNA

 Robert Forte – “Entheogens and the Future of Religion” - https://www.amazon.com/Entheogens-Future-Religion-Robert-Forte/dp/1594774382 - Collection of essays and speeches from scientists, religious leaders, etc., about the use of psychedelics (referred to as Entheogens) as the catalyst for religion/spirituality

 Clark Strand – “Waking up to the Dark” - https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Dark-Ancient-Sleepless/dp/0812997727 - Explores human’s addiction to artificial light, also gets into femininity of religion as balance to masculine ideas in our society

 Lee Bolman – “Leading with Soul” - https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Soul-Uncommon-Journey-Spirit/dp/0470619007 - Discusses using spirituality to foster a better, more supportive and creative workplace – pivotal in my honesty/openness approach when chatting about life with coworkers

 Eben Alexander – “Proof of Heaven” - https://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195 - A neurophysicist discusses his near death experience and his transformation from non-believer to believer (title is a little click-baity, but very insightful book.  His descriptions of his experience align very similarly to deep meditations I’ve had)

 Indries Shah – “Thinkers of the East” - https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-East-Idries-Shah/dp/178479063X/ - A collection of parables and stories from Islamic scholars.  Got turned onto Islamic writings after my trip through Pakistan, this book is great for structure around our whole spiritual “journey”

 Whitley Strieber – “The Key: A True Encounter” - https://www.amazon.com/Key-True-Encounter-Whitley-Strieber/dp/1585428698 - A man’s recollection of a conversation with a spiritual creature visiting him in a hotel room.  Sort of out there, easy to dismiss, but the topics are pretty solid

 Mary Scott – “Kundalini in the Physical World” - https://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Physical-World-Mary-Scott/dp/0710094175/ - Very dense, very difficult scientific book exploring Hinduism and metaphysics (wouldn’t recommend this for light reading, definitely something you’d want to save for later in your “journey”)

 Hermann Hesse – “Siddartha” - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/siddhartha-hermann-hesse/1116718450? – Short novel about a spiritual journey, coming of age type book.  Beautifully written, very enjoyable.

Reza Aslan - “Zealot” - https://www.amazon.com/ZEALOT-Life-Times-Jesus-Nazareth/dp/140006922X - Talks about the historical Jesus - helped me reconnect with Christianity in a way I didn’t have before

Reza Aslan - “No god but God” - https://www.amazon.com/god-but-God-Updated-Evolution/dp/0812982444 - Same as above, but in terms of Mohammad and Islam.  I’m starting to try to integrate the “truths” of our religions to try and form my own understanding

Thich Nhat Hanh - “Silence” - https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Power-Quiet-World-Noise-ebook/dp/B00MEIMCVG - Hanh’s a Vietnamese Buddhist monk - in this book he writes a lot about finding the beauty in silence, turning off the voice in our heads and lives, and living in peace.

Paulo Coelho - “The Alchemist” - https://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0062315005/ - Sort of a modern day exploration of “the path” similar to “Siddhartha.”  Very easy and a joy to read, good concepts of what it means to be on a “path”

Carlos Castaneda - "The Teachings of Don Juan" - The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671600419 - Started exploring more into shamanism and indigenous spiritual work; this book was a great intro and written in an entertaining and accessible way. 

Jean-Yves Leloup - “The Gospel of Mary” - https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Mary-Magdalene-Jean-Yves-Leloup/dp/0892819111/ - The book that finally opened my eyes to the potentiality of the teachings of Christ.  This book, combined with the one below, have been truly transformative in my belief system and accepting humanity and the power of love beyond what I’ve found so far in my journey.

Jean-Yves Leloup - “The Gospel of Philip” - https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Philip-Magdalene-Gnosis-Sacred/dp/1594770220 - Really begins to dissect and dive into the metaphysical teachings of Christ, exploring the concept of marriage, human union and sexuality, and the power contained within.  This book, combined with the one above, have radically changed my perception of The Church as dissimilar and antithetical to what Christ actually taught.

Ram Dass - “Be Love Now” - https://www.amazon.com/Be-Love-Now-Path-Heart/dp/0061961388 - A follow-up to “Be Here Now” - gets more into the esoteric side of things, his relationship with his Guru, enlightenment, enlightened beings, etc.

Riane Eisler - “The Chalice and the Blade” - https://www.amazon.com/Chalice-Blade-Our-History-Future/dp/0062502891 - An anthropoligical book analyzing the dominative vs cooperative models in the history and pre-history of society and how our roots have been co-opted and rewritten by the dominative model to entrap society into accepting a false truth of violence and dominance as “the way it is”

Hey, I've been there before. It's not as worrisome as you think it is. A church (or christian) interact with God mainly in 3 different ways: fellowship, study, and worship.

For fellowship, you should probably look for a spiritual father or family for yourself. This is a individual or group who you come to about christian matters, but specifically it is better to find someone to be a father figure in Christ. Someone who can not only show you how to work him into whatever stage of life, but also to show you how to grow closer to God.

For studying, set aside time to read bible and grab any christian book you can find! Right now I have around 30 book ranging from The Shack to The Prophet's dictionary. From reading, i discovered my spiritual gifts, and how to receive words of knowledge from him. I put some suggested books at the bottom.

Also worship, its about just showing him the joy of being with him in the way you find best. Like during worship in church, some people lift there hands and in more liberal churches they wave banners and dance and laugh. But also worship is a lot more than that, you can show worship through the things you do, through sports, writing, wood work, metal work, or whatever you want, even the work you do at your job. Just by thinking or meditating on the things of God while doing something, we worship.

Wild at Heart by John Eldridge, which is about calling out the masculine soul of a man. He talks about the importance of a father, healing wounds from our fathers, and seeing God as our father. I cried over soemthing i read in that book many times, also i was able revive the relationship with my Dad. And later after reading this one try Captivating which is for girls, but it shows a lot about who a girl is.

The Supernatural ways of Royalty by Kris Vallotton is an awesome book! Its about bringing us out of being orphans and seeing that we are sons and daughter of God. Though it might be better so start with When Heaven Invades Earth b Bill Johnson. Both authors are from the same church, so they have the same mentality and this book will blow your socks off.

The Final Quest by Rick Joyner. This book is a compile of visions this guy had. It paints a really interesting picture of spiritual warfare and dynamics of the spiritual world. I thought of the part in this book when he is on the mountain when i read your post.

The Shack by William Young. This book is fiction, but it paints a wonderful picture. Now, some will say this is a bad book because some details the author uses isn't bilbical exactly. But that aside it shows how far God would go to show just one person how much he loves them.

Here's something from my book on eschatology that addresses your question.

Why Should I Care About The Future?

I have a lot of pastor friends who don’t know what they believe about the future. They honestly don’t even want to explore it, because everything they have studied so far seems to them foggy and confusing. The deeper they get the foggier it gets. Many of them have already abandoned a strict Dispensationalist view, but are comfortably uncomfortable with saying, “I don’t know how it will all turn out, so I’ll just serve Jesus and wait and see.”

This is a relatively safe approach, and certainly easier than having to wrestle for themselves with heavy eschatological issues. But there are two problems with this attitude.

First, it isn’t biblical. My goodness! Jesus and Paul and John and Peter and Matthew and Mark and Luke and Jude and James and whoever wrote Hebrews all talked about it. So did Moses and David and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah and Daniel and Malachi (I have to stop here...too much typing!). How can we, as people faithful to the Word of God, simply ignore or put on a shelf something that is so significantly present in the whole of Scripture? If we are going to be faithful servants, ably handling the Word of God, we have to come to grips with these issues.

Second, the future determines the past. Yes, I’ll say it again, the future determines the past. What I mean is this. If you and I make plans to go on a picnic next Thursday, that future event determines what we do before it arrives. We have to decide where to go. Someone has to bring the sandwiches. Someone needs to get the wine. Will there be a blanket to sit on? How will we deal with the ants? Plans must be made, or else the picnic might not happen at all!

Similarly, what we expect about the “big” future determines what we do before it arrives. Is Jesus coming back to rescue a few who are holding the fort awaiting his arrival? Then our best option is to dig in, save as many souls as we can, expect things to get worse, forget about transforming society, and hold on for dear life. But if Jesus is coming back to the welcome of a victorious church, then we have work to do; things like making disciples of the nations (not just a few in the nations), teaching the world to obey everything Jesus has commanded us, saving souls—yes—but also transforming cultures, influencing economics, recovering the arts, channeling technology toward godly goals, and a whole host of other things. If Jesus is coming back really soon, we don’t need to send people to seminary—there isn’t time for that. If he’s coming back after we have accomplished our purposes, then we have time on our side—send a kid to seminary and prepare him for a life of ministry, train up children to be good parents and grandparents, elect godly leaders, write books, and plant trees, for God’s sake (literally).

When the ancient cathedrals were being built in Europe, the Christians understood that it might take a hundred or more years to complete them. When the foundations were laid, forests of trees were planted to serve as scaffolding a generation later. Stonemasons trained their sons to follow them in the trade and multiple generations of families made their living working on the church. One cathedral in England took a thousand years to finish! But it’s been finished for five hundred years and is still used for the worship of God. This is a far cry from throwing up a tin building in the hopes that it will last 20 years until Jesus comes.

The future determines the past. What do you believe about the future?

(pages 27ff)

I was raised as a fairly liberal Lutheran, so I don't know much about Calvinist Theology. However, what I do know is that there are still some sects of Christianity that push a deterministic view of Heaven and Hell. It's pretty detached from the center of Christian teachings, especially if you consider Agape love. I would like to assure you that Heaven is much more open than you might think.

I've been recommending a book I've come across on NDEs (Near Death Experiences) to every other Christian I've come across recently, and I must sound like an absolute broken record because of it. However I find it a great piece of faith based literature to anyone who thinks they're destined for Hell, or that Heaven is unreachable. Here's a link to the book if you're interested.

https://www.amazon.com/Revealing-Heaven-Christian-Near-Death-Experiences-ebook/dp/B0089LOM7O/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=john+w+price&qid=1554159327&s=gateway&sr=8-1

SPOILERS:

If you're not, here's a summary. While Reverend John W. Price initially discredited accounts of people seeing Heaven on the basis they didn't meld with mainstream Christian teachings, he eventually decided to open up about these accounts due to an experience he had with one of the soldiers under his care (he was an Army Chaplain for awhile). Since then he's heard over 200 accounts of the phenomena and come to several very progressive conclusions on the matter. I won't list them all here, but here's the most important ones that these accounts have led him to.

1. Regardless of Religious beliefs, kindhearted and good people are always allowed into Heaven. Several non-baptized people who've had NDEs have reported actually seeing and speaking with Jesus and God, who did not judge them harshly for this. This led him to conclude that, in a roundabout way, those who love and do good for their fellow man accept Jesus into their hearts. Thus bringing them salvation in Heaven.
   
2. The only people who experience Hell, are those who are detached from God through their own behavior. Thus people who are mean and unnecessarily cruel end up rejecting God through their actions, despite their beliefs about God.
   
   Hope this could be of some use to you!

You might be interested in the book Heaven: A History By Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang. It describes different ideas of Heaven throughout Christian history.

For the best collection of descriptions of the Mormon version of Heaven, I strongly recommend The Plan of Salvation: Understanding Our Divine Origin and Destiny by Matthew B. Brown.

One of the best descriptions of Mormon Heaven, come from the near-death experience of Jeddediah Grant. He described everything from enhanced senses to plants with flowers of multiple types and colors on the same vine.

I'm not familiar with specific Roman Catholic teachings on Heaven ... but I certainly wouldn't look to "Heaven is for Real" as a source of sound doctrine.

You could be running into some problems insofar as that where there isn't official RC dogma on a topic, people are allowed to hold a variety of interpretations and understandings.

It's also important to draw a distinction between heaven as God's current spiritual realm, and heaven as the ultimate stated of restored creation: a new Heaven and Earth.

You might find Peter Kreeft's book "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven" helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Ever-Wanted-About-Heaven/dp/0898702976/

>if you TRULY consider your thoughts you can quite easily see that they are not a process of free will but rather come to our mind unbidden.


Granting for the sake of argument that thoughts come to the mind unbidden, does that actually show that they come from the physical brain?


>We claim to believe in free will, but our own personal experiences reveal rather strikingly that belief to be completely unfounded.


This is quite an assertion, it seems to me that the opposite is true, for example:

1. If you do not have free will then you can not choose to accept anything.
   
   
2. You can choose to accept or reject premise (1)
   
   
3. Therefore, you have freewill.
   
   
   How do you hold to the idea that it is true we live in a deterministic universe?
   
   If determinism is true then we have no freewill to choose anything, but if we choose to believe determinism, the whole reason we have done so is because we are predetermined to choose it, not because it is actually true.
   
   
   Another way to put it:
   
   
   If my mental processes are totally determined, I am totally determined to accept determinism. But if my sole reason for believing in X is that I am causally determined to believe it I have no ground for holding to the judgement that it is true or false.
   
   
   So the consequences of scientism i.e. determinism are self-defeating.
   
   
   Have you heard of the neurosurgeon Eben Alexander that wrote a book on his near death experience while his brain wave activity was being monitored? If there are states of consciousness when there is no brain activity going on, then brain wave activity is not a necessary condition of consciousness.

You've already received many lengthy answers and I don't want to waste your time, so I will try to be brief.

There are a great many Christians who reject also reject the picture of God you have painted. It is contradictory that a loving God would a) torture people for eternity for b) rejecting a twisted contradictory picture of him (unfortunately, this is so often the picture presented as "Biblical"). If you are interested in looking for better explanations, I have a few ideas and suggestions.

First, I find great hope in the story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 24. While it does not address hell, I provides a surprising answer to question b. In the story, at judgment, people are divided into two groups. The division is specifically not on the basis of a profession of faith. Rather, people are judged by how they loved and cared for the needy around them. Most interestingly, neither party recognizes that care as being about loving God--it was simply something they did or did not do, an expression of who they were on a fundamental level. Now, I don't know you or your wife, so that judgement remains in God's hands, but this story certainly seems to indicate that the deciding factor is how we live and love others, rather than whether we claim to be "Christian." This is an old Christian idea called "inclusivism."

Secondly, I would answer with the simplicity of John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." To address the obvious mention of belief, I would suggest that the evidence of what we truly believe is in the way we live, not the words we speak. But more importantly, I would emphasize the juxtaposition of eternal life with death--not eternal conscious torment, simply death. This is an old Christian perspective called "conditional immortality" or "annihilationism."

TL;DR--The way we live our lives demonstrates what we truly believe. We live in a way either affirming of life (and receive eternal life) or destructive of life (resulting in death).

Of course, I had a friend who struggled with this and it took further reading for her to sort through it. I would point to a few resources:

Rethinking Hell is probably the best place to learn about annihilationism.

On Digma, Ty Gibson talks about his rejection of the same God you reject, without giving up on Christianity. The videos are very short. Specifically, look at "Atheist Too" and "Distorted."

If you're a reader like me, the closing chapters of C. S. Lewis' The Last Battle gives a wonderful explanation of how word and action relate to salvation.

You could also look up Edward Fudge, who has written the most substantial Biblical consideration of Hell I am aware of. Spoiler: He rejects it in favour of Annihilationism. The Fire That Consumes is his masterwork. Hell: A Final Word is the short version.

Finally, and a little farther afield, Walter Kauffmann's Critique of Religion and Philosophy traces the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian thought which led to these particular (I would argue) unBiblical beliefs--immortal soul, eternal torment, priority of idea over action). This is a more academic read.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any good resources on inclusivism.

I hope this helps.

The easiest way to get Christianity is to read the Bible. But to supplement that, I would encourage you to read books by these two German authors: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Jurgen Moltmann

Bonhoeffer was a prominent leader of the confessing church (the church that resisted Hitler) and was a prominent member of the German resistance and a part of the Valkyrie plot. If you want to know more about him and his life, Eric Metaxas wrote an excellent Biography about him. Bonhoeffer's most famous works are "Life Together" about living a life in Christian community, and "The Cost of Discipleship" which is about Grace and how we must not live in a place of cheap Grace. Bonhoeffer was executed a t Flossenburg concentration camp a few months before VE day, and there are some nice memorials to him there (about 1.5 hours east of Nurnberg).

Jurgen Moltmann was drafted into Hitler's army in like 1944 and was taken prisoner. He found God in a Scottish POW camp. Moltmann writes a lot about Hope and spends a lot of time exploring what Christ's sacrifices mean to believers. Some of his most famous works are "The Crucified God", "Theology of Hope", "Trinity and the Kingdom" and "The Way of Jesus Christ." Moltmann also comments on more social issues which arose in the post-war era and has a more social theology, which adds a unique depth to his writing.

Yes, the quotes are out of context. For example, look at the Shephard of Hermas quote:


>2[6]:6 Thou shalt therefore say unto the elders of the Church, that they direct their paths in righteousness, that they may receive in full the promises with abundant glory.

Basically, this verse says that we should stay on the path of righteousness in order to receive a reward.

>2[6]:7 Ye therefore that work righteousness be steadfast, and be not double-minded, that ye may have admission with the holy angels.

The word "therefore" indicates a conclusion. Therefore, our works should be steadfast, not double minded in order to have admission with the holy angelsl

Now here is the critical section quoted by this site:

>Blessed are ye, as many as endure patiently the great tribulation that cometh, and as many as shall not deny their life.

Here, we see a old english word "cometh" which is in the 3rd person singular present indicative. There is no future tribulation hinted by the text itself. If someone wants to look at the Greek, I am sure it is also the same case for the Greek, or else this word would not be used in the translation. Thus, the future tense is read into the Shephard of Hermas by these rapture proponents, and the true meaning of the great tribulation is something that is being endured in the present. This careless reading of scripture and other texts is really a hallmark of the rapture movement.

Additionally, The scriptures themselves do not teach the rapture. I recommend reading the Anglican Bishop Kenneth Myers book "The end is near... or maybe not."

http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Near-Or-Maybe-Not/dp/1470001772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345680055&sr=8-1&keywords=the+end+is+near+or+maybe+not

He was a firm believer in the Rapture theology, but when the rapture never happened when it was supposed to after the formation of Israel, he began to read the Scriptures more carefully, and now holds a more orthodox position.

Anyhow, So what should we do with these people? Love them, respect that they believe these things. I would not let their quotes bother you though.

It is wonderful you have those questions! Because God is like Jesus. He has always been like Jesus. There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus. We didn't use to know this. But now we do! (sentence by B. Zhand)

I've been in a very similar position to the one you are now - I also grew up a Christian and then it started slowly around 6 years ago, and when I started reading the whole Bible from the beginning the questions just got really loud!
I was no longer able to ignore the very same questions you are making.

​

But I kept searching for answers. I deconstructed my faith house, and God started rebuilding it, in a whole different and more beautiful form.

​

>“Why would an all loving all powerful God send his own children, no matter what they believe, to be tortured for all of eternity.”

He does not. There are several ways to understand the Biblical texts about hell, and eternal conscious torture is just one of them (and the worst way to read actually).

>I also began noticing verses that were, to put it bluntly, completely barbaric and disgusting.

Yes, they are. Those verses picture God in a way that is not how He is. And God allowed them to be written like that.

There's an awesome book that really helped me to the point that now I'm able to read the Bible again, still see it as inspired, but not disregard these questions, and these very subpar pictures of God.

Please do read "Cross Vision" from Gregory A Boyd

besides this invaluable book I also read these, and all of them helped me a lot:

• Sinners in the Hands of a loving God - Brian Zhand
  
• Her gates will never be shut - Bradley Jersak
  
• A more Christlike God - Bradley Jersak
  
• Unconditional / Radical forgiveness - Brian Zhand
  
  ​
  
  Like I said, for me this started like 6 years ago, and this was the article that started it for me: God and Genocide
  
  notice the sentence:
  
  >This leaves us with only the third option. We have no choice but to revisit how we understand Scripture — particularly the Old Testament.

It's understandable, and in truth, I thank you for pressing me. This was a good dialogue and helped for me to articulate what I actually believe. I know you're an atheist, but if you're interested in the subject, there are two books that I have not read yet (but I've ordered them!) that kind of follow my line of thinking:

• "Love Wins" by Rob Bell. Bell got a lot of flak when this came out, and I'm sure some of may have been justified. However, he was also stirring the pot on a controversial subject. From what I've gathered, he leans towards universalism, i.e. everyone eventually goes to heaven, which I do not espouse.
  
  
• "Hell, A Final Word: The Surprising Truths I Found in the Bible," by Edward Fudge. Fudge and I went to the same alma mater, so I'm familiar with his view. Like him, I tend towards annihilationism, which is that "hell" is not too different than what most atheists believe will happen when they die.

I'll give you my answers, since they're definitely going to be considerably different, at the very least, from the ones you'll get from anyone else around here.

>Mainly, I'm interested in hearing the Protestant criticisms of Catholicism, and Catholic criticism of Protestantism.

I can't really speak to this one, as I'm not really either of those. There are Catholics that I would deem to be "true Christians" (e.g. Gustavo Gutiérrez, Óscar Romero, John Dominic Crossan) and there are Protestants that I'd refer to as the same (e.g. Jürgen Moltmann, Reinhold Neibhur, Martin Luther King, Jr.). Heck, I'd even call people who don't profess to follow Jesus yet act in a Christlike manner to be "true Christians" (e.g. Mohandas Gandhi, Ernst Bloch, Slavoj Žižek). I'm much less concerned about one's theology than I am about one's praxis.

>How do you view the "lukewarm" Christians mentioned in the Bible?

You're talking about the ekklesia in Laodicea in Revelation 3:15-16, right?:

>I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

These are Christians that refuse to take a side. James Cone has a good quote that I tend to go back to for those "Christians" that refuse to take a side:
>"Either God is identified with the oppressed to the point that their experience becomes God's experience, or God is a God of racism."

One could substitute any form of hierarchy for Cone's "racism" in that quote; race for him is an ontological symbol of oppression. For God to be a god of liberation (as Jesus' God was/ is) He/She must have an alignment with the oppressed. He cannot be neutral, for neutrality to injustices privileges the status quo. And just as God must take a side, so must Her/His followers. That's what the lukewarm Christians in Laodicea were doing - refusing to take a side. They were unwilling, perhaps afraid to be "hot," and thus were no better than the "cold" rest of the world. Revelation's God is saddened by Her/His followers refusing to take a stand - lukewarm is equivalent to cold, neutrality is equivalent to oppression, but it is much easier to judge active agents of oppression than its passive agents.

> How do you feel about the divide on social and scientific issues - where it seems Catholics are generally more progressive, and Protestants are generally more conservative?

I don't really have a great answer for the science one. If you believe in a Creator (I don't ), and you believe that that Creator is "good," then you should believe that everything that that Creator endowed you with, including the ability to reason, is likewise "good." Thus, denying scientific discoveries and theories because they go against a literal reading of a 2500+ year-old book is spitting on your Creator's gifts to you.

As far as "social issues" go, it should be noted that the metanarrative of the Bible is inherently a political story, one of liberation. Whether God is guaranteeing a "promised land" to slaves in Egypt or guaranteeing that He/She will bring Her/His people home from exile, the authors are making statements against empires. When Mark opens his Gospel with "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," he's making a direct statement against Caesar Augustus, who was said to be the bringer of evangelion ("good news") and whose full imperial name included the phrase Divi Filius ("Son of the Divine/ Son of God.") The anointed (Christos) son of god that brings the good news was not the Emperor of the known world, but a Jewish peasant bastard from rebellious Galilee. He went on a mission preaching a "Kingdom of God" (as opposed to an "Empire of Rome?") where "the last will be first and the first will be last." He attacked the center of social/political/religious/economic power of Judea, the Temple of Jerusalem, and was promptly executed by Rome with a method saved for political radicals. But then, the scandal! He was resurrected, denying the ultimacy of Rome's power and Rome's ideology, ensuring via promise that the "Kingdom of God" was something that can be achieved.

Liberation is the heart of Jesus' evangelion. Thus, as far as social (and economic. Especially economic!) issues are concerned, the God that Jesus professed will always be on the side of the oppressed, not that of the oppressors, for that would be the demesne of the God that named Caesar "Augustus." I hesitate to even affirm "progressivism" as the Christian God's ideology de jure; it's more radical than that. Jesus completely subverts what the Romans considered to be "reality" by presenting a Kingdom of God free of death (oppression). He revealed society's constructed nature, denied the invalid claims to ultimacy (because nothing man-made can truly be "ultimate"), and presented an alternative. Whereas Empire causes oh so many to fall into non-being, Jesus instilled his followers with the courage to be.
>And lastly, why do you think you've found the most correct version of Christianity?

Most correct? I hesitate to ever claim superlatives, but I am confident that my understanding of Christianity is much closer to Jesus' religious beliefs than the abomination of "mainstream" Christianity is. Why, though? Because I make every effort to read the Gospel with the eyes of a first-century Jewish peasant - Jesus' original followers and original audience. Or, failing that, I read it through the eyes of oppressed classes, after all, they certainly have a hermeneutical privilege. I read the Bible unpolluted by Plato's doctrine of the eternal soul or by the obscenity that is Constantine's in hoc signo vinces. I divorce myself from the assumptions of "nature" that our society makes, just as Jesus himself did. I reject the inherently flawed assumptions about a "just world" and those that affirm the powers-that-be as infallible.

What does that leave me with? Hope. Energization against an unjust world because Christ's gospel screams that there shall be a real, just world that we can bring about. Not just can, but must, for
>"Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.".

So, am I confident that I've "found the most correct version of Christianity?" No, and I don't think that that's possible. But I have been to the mountaintop, I have seen the Promised Land, and I know the Kingdom of God. Exegesis, coupled with the hermeneutic of the oppressed, offers no reasonable alternative "Christianity" to the gospel of liberation. Sadly, instead of this "bottom-up" model, Christianity has long been co-opted by "top-downers" more interested in either explicitly imposing their will further upon the downtrodden or simply pushing their legitimate grievances aside in favor of otherworldliness. But again, God cannot be neutral, and what use is a God on the side of the powerful? Why let them continue to stack the deck, to stack their team? The only God worth believing in is the God who evens the score, who stands on the side of true (distributive, not retributive) justice, the God who killed all oppression and bought us liberation at Calvary.

Others have provided a good immediate response, but if you want to do more reading, then Edward Fudge has written several books on the matter. The most recent one that is supposed to summarize all his work for a popular audience is called Hell: A Final Word. Please note that he comes down pretty strongly on the side that says eternal conscious torment (aka, the modern version of Hell) is not biblical.

Here's a good book to read on the End Times...The End is Near...Or Maybe Not. I think you'll find it somewhat informative and interesting. It's pretty easy to read and tries to not get bogged down in semantics too much. Whether you agree with all of it or none of it or some of it doesn't matter as much as the fact that you'll be more informed.

For what it's worth to me a wrathful God goes against everything that Jesus did by dying on the cross. Judgment does not mean wrath. Also, tried really hard to find anything about trans people and bathrooms in the Bible. Pretty sure it's a non-issue.

Yes, I was going to recommend a Bart Erhman book. Jesus, Interrupted is another great title that he has put forth.

If you want one specifically dealing with the modern ideology of the Rapture, I would recommend The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation by Barbara Rossing.

Hairsplitting or not, I am quite excitted that we have two new books on the Beatific Vision by leading Reformed theologians coming this year: Hans Boorsma's Seeing God and Mike Allen's Grounded in Heaven. Throw in Todd's new book Remembrance, Communion, and Hope (released today!) which I am told has a fair amount to say about it as well and it is a good year for reading about heaven.

I also read this book a couple weeks ago because my friend loaned it to me. It was a bit more technical than John Burke's book so you might actually like it better, but of course I am already convinced that God is real and I believe in Jesus so I probably prefer the more experiential stories because of that. Here is the link if you are interested: http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Near-Death-Experience/dp/B009UX6NGI

I recently finished reading "Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife". Pretty good book, I think most psychonauts would really enjoy it.

The jist of it is, some brain surgeon doesn't believe in NDE or God or Heaven, then he has meningitis, goes into a comma for 7 days during which the part of his brain responsible for human activity shuts down entirely. He wakes up miraculously after experiencing fantastic, timeless realms, meeting angels, the creator (he calls it Om), and now he believes in NDEs.

His book is freakishly convincing. I'm too afraid to believe in it, because it's just too good to be true. He basically met God and was told that we are always loved and we can't do anything wrong, and that the evil on Earth is only allowed because it makes us grow.

I took salvia multiple times, and there were beings there, or it looked that way anyway. It was always unpleasant and confusing as fuck, so I decided not to integrate anything I learned during these trips. Except for a single trip which had a profound impact on me. I left my body, and could clearly see my entire life, somehow, outside of time, as being such a tiny speck in contrast with who or what I really was, as though it was a short experience I was going through, but that which I really am is so far beyond this human life. A bit like if my entire life was just a game or a play or a dream, although that analogy really doesn't do the trip any justice. That was first hand experiential proof, as scientific as it gets, except for the somewhat alarming matter than it's not easily reproducible (until I get my hands on DMT). Still, I know what I experienced.

I think NDEs are peaks beyond the veil. I think life is in a way death, and death is in a way life, in a way that death makes life look like, well, death. And I think this is why I've had, for years now, this creeping suspicion that life isn't real, it's bogus, it's odd and something is up. The splinter in your brain, as The Matrix's Morpheus said (Morpheus is the God of Dreams haha).

Scientists assume that consciousness arises from matter. I think it's the other way around, or at the very least, they arise mutually. This is how science progresses: they come up with a rule, and roll with it until they encounter an exception or anomaly, at which point they need to come up with a better rule. Dogmatic scientists are hopeless, but true scientists will notice that exception and dare to question the depressing assumption that consciousness is an accidental derivative of matter. And when they do, they'll only be several thousand years behind Eastern philosophy.

Scholar of universes and also non-atheist here. I believe in a God, and from the books I've read on the matter (some Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, and also this book written by a neuroscientist), the possibility of a multiverse is very real. I think we live in one. A lot of the evidence for multiverses is supported by the mathematics behind string theory (read this), but it can't be proven because "strings" are 10^-35 meters long (the Planck length). (We can currently only see things as small as 10^-16 meters long--or centimeters long, I forget.)

It is all very interesting to me. In the last book mentioned, the author, a neuroscientist with presumably no idea of a multiverse, said that he saw (I forget how he worded it) "our world as one among many" when he experienced his out-of-body experience. It's a great read for sure.

Everything that I've read or learned points to the idea of multiple universes inhabited by life but no other intelligent life than that which is on our home planet.

EDIT: grammar

From my perspective, no, it does not. I'm an amillenialist and partial preterist, and I reject the ideas of a pretribulation rapture and a literal millennial kingdom. I don't think people who hold these views are heretical or anything, but I strongly disagree with them.

What is heretical, and directly contrary to Scripture, is making detailed predictions of the when, where, and how of the End Times (e.g. Harold Camping). This particular page does not appear to engage in this, fortunately, but it's quite common.

Growing up, I'd never held to any set theory on the End Times; I believed in some sort of nebulously-described "rapture" and coming tribulation, and thought the Revelation of John was entirely about future events.

After coming to Reddit I read a book entitled The End is Near...Or Maybe Not! written by /u/Im_Just_Saying. It's an excellent and concise study of the End Times, and it pretty much single-handedly made me into the solid amil partial preterist I am today.

I'm Amill, so take recommendations with a grain of salt:

Premill: A Case for Historic Premillenialism by Craig Blomberg, The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture by George Eldon Ladd

Postmill: Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope by Keith Mathison, The Millennium Loraine Boettner

Amill: The Bible and the Future by Anthony Hoekema, The Promise of the Future by Cornelis Venema

This book will blow your mind. A great read for what's waiting on the other side for good hearted people. No doubt there is a God and that he's Great in every way possible.

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife https://www.amazon.com/dp/1451695195/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_Doq.Ab11JC0M5

Dispensationalism^[1] is the driving force behind the Zionist movement. Most Dispensationalists believe that modern Israel is the eschatological Israel and is connected with the End Times. So, they believe that if the United States does not politically support Israel, then God's wrath will be poured out over the United States. Dispensationalism greatly influences US politics and foreign relations. John Haggee, a Dispensationalist pastor, once said

> "The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West... A biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ." - [source: The Last Days of Dispensationalism by Alistair Donaldson pg. vii](https://books.google.com/books?id=x49MAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+last+days+of+dispensationalism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7pOLb9qziAhWHMd8KHS_BDKgQuwUIKjAA#v=onepage&q=The%20last%20days%20of%20dispensationalism&f=false/ The Last Days of Dispensationalism by Alistair Donaldson pg. v)

So, Dispensationalism has had a huge influence on American politics that also affects our foreign policy and military influence in the rest of the world.

[1] By Dispensationalism, I mean the Classical Dispensationalism espoused by Ryrie and Scofield, although it may include more extreme forms like Hyper-Dispensationalism.

Edit: I highly recommend the book I quoted earlier. I don't agree with the author on every point, but his book is a nice critique of Ryrie's Dispensationalism.

You might enjoy the new book by redditor I'm_just_saying, titled The End Is Near - Or Maybe Not!. It's a very quick read, but it's very good.

He's an Anglican and I'm Orthodox, but both of us (and the Catholics, and most other Protestants) agree with his teaching. In fact the only folks who have a different view on the end times are the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Adventists, and Dispensationalists - none of whom existed more than 150 years ago.

____

(edit - I just noticed he's already linked to it in these comments. Ah well. Out of the mouths of two or three witnesses...)

Since I'm not taking classes this semester, I'm taking the time to read several books:

Reformation Theology: A Systematic Summary by Matthew Barrett

The Apostolic Fathers in English along with Reading the Apostolic Fathers

Dispensationalism by Charles Ryrie

Covenant Theology: A Reformed Baptist Perspective by Phillip Griffiths

Philosophy for Understanding Theology by Allen and Springsted

The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy by Cowen and Spiegel

And Wheelock's Latin

I'm already into Reformation Theology and the Apostolic Fathers. I highly recommend both books, but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Apostolic Fathers. I've learned so much about the Early Church and its diversity of beliefs and practices. These were works by people who knew and studied under the Apostles themselves.

"Sadly too much evidence against it."

hmmm that's interesting. As a computer scientist and mathematician who has a fascination with quantum computing and it's implications with regard to the loosely defined phenomenon we call consciousness, it seems there are many recent theories that point a metaphysical connection to what we describe as being self aware. To name few: Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, quantum consciousness studies by Dr. Stuart Haneroff, and of course the many anecdotal studies like Dr. Eben Alexander.

I'm interested to hear your specifics of "too much evidence against it."


God Bless

Paul thought he was in the last days. Every generation has had people think they were in the last days. For over 2,000 years we've been 100% wrong about that, but this time we're super smart and finally figured it out, just like we did in 1988

My family has been passing this book around lately, and my mom keeps hinting I should read it because "it's by a neurosurgeon so he knows what he's talking about." I imagine it would at least have some more credibility than The Case for Christ.

I would have recommended that OP gives her a book like The Magic of Reality if he wanted to go with Dawkins. It's at least a more indirect criticism of a lot of the beliefs of different religions, and does a good job of explaining some of the key concepts. Bonus points for the iPad version, because it's got some neat interactive stuff as well.

I don't know if you would be interested but there is a book written by a brain surgeon who believes that visited the after life. Basically this brain surgeon who knows the inner workings of the human brain has to have a surgery done on himself in which he does die for a few moments. In these few moments he experienced a world in which he could only describe as heaven.

Anyways during all of this they had machines doing extensive monitoring of his brain patterns in which he concluded that this couldn't have been a dream of hallucination because the brain patterns didn't line up to create them. I haven't read the book but my mother has and she said it is definitely worth the read.

Edit: you people will down vote anything with the word 'Heaven' in it won't you?

http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195 < theres the book for those interested (if any)

>Personally, I'm of the opinion that Revelation is a coded pep-talk to the various churches that John of Patmos deigned to correspond with

I agree in part. After Revelation 20:6, I believe it jumps to futurist thinking/prophesy.

>What good is the book for Christians who aren't living in the end times?

Personally, and I know I'm n the minority based on other threads, I feel that we're in the Revelation 20:7-8 portion of the letter. An interesting read if you are curious about diving more in to these ideas is the Partial Preterist view

Here are their top picks for each category:

​

Apologetics/Evangelism - Evangelism in a Skeptical World: How to Make the Unbelievable News About Jesus More Believable

​

Biblical Studies - Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels

​

Children and Youth - The Friend Who Forgives

​

Christian Living/Discipleship - The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World

​

The Church/Pastoral Leadership - Preaching as Reminding: Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness

​

CT Women - Perfectly Human: Nine Months with Cerian

​

Culture and the Arts - Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?: Larry Norman and the Perils of Christian Rock

​

Fiction - An Extra Mile: A Story of Embracing God’s Call

​

History/Biography - The Spirit of Early Evangelicalism: True Religion in a Modern World

​

Missions/Global Church - Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective

​

Politics and Public Life - Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women

​

Spiritual Formation - Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World

​

Theology/Ethics - Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition

Woohoo! A-mil fist bump!

Also, did you know a redditor wrote a great book on the subject? Here it is!

Dr. Eben Alexander is his name.

His book http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Near-Death-Experience/dp/B009UX6NGI

"Proof of Heaven" is a great starting point for theist/atheist debate.

I would like you to read this:http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0813343143. I think it does a very good job of explaining why the rapture is not a doctrine founded on the Word of God.

I suggest you read the following books

A Travel Guide to Heaven: 10th Anniversary Edition by Anthony DeStefano

And

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven by Peter Kreeft

>Though we cannot imagine exactly what the Manifestations

Np! This is a friend's book and wonderful study on the subject

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879612673/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

I invite you to investigate N.T. Wright's take on "Kingdom Eschatology", a branch of Inagurated Eschatology. There is also a wonderful book on the topic written by /r/Christianity regular /u/Im_Just_Saying, entitled The End is Near: Or Maybe Not!

Eschatology should be good news for the world. Rapture theology is escapism and triumphalism wrapped up in American Exceptionalism, and it's a really weird eschatological development IMO.

Why the downvotes? Would you credit a neurosurgeon's near-death experience? "Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife" http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195

Have a good day! If you have the time, check out this book to see a much better presentation of what I'm talking about.

Some good info here.

Read Alex Gottdank's book Christ's New Name. This guy (imo) is the authority on Christianity as it relates to the Faith, and vice versa.

[insert meme about last name]

A quick but fascinating read is Preparing for Christ's New Name.

Also, those end times books aren't going to sell themselves.

I can get you all a great deal on 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.

I'm honestly not a big fan of self help books..

I've been reading a lot of books on the afterlife and rebirth these days.

Downloaded this on my kindle..

Best book on Amillenialism, hands down. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLRRBO8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Sam Storms book Kingdom Come does a good and (I think) fair job of breaking down most of the different end times perspectives. Even if you don't end up adopting Storms' Amillennialism--I did not--you'll come away understanding the basics of most different positions.

It's true! But you got the year ALL WRONG. I heard of a wonderful book about it: 88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988!

What makes you think YOU are right this time?

Um.. Harry Potter and his friends carefully investigated Hogwarts, ergo it exists. Right?

This guy carefully investigated the Rapture and came up with 88 reasons why i'll happen in 1988.

There's this one of course: http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Near-Maybe-Not/dp/1470001772

I'm not in 100% agreement, but he does a good job.

> Except that that isn't really an option. If he's ruling here and now, then we're in the millennium.

Yup. The Already-Not-Yet doctrine means that we are in the millenium right now.

> So during the millennium, he rules on earth as much as he is ever going to. There isn't really any option for "He's kind of ruling now, but he'll rule more later".

There is no scriptural support for this.

> Umm. . . no it doesn't? Not in any version that I've ever heard described anyway.

Hmm. Maybe you should do some research into the doctrine of the Already-Not-Yet, because that is the central tenant of the doctrine: we live in the present age AND the age to come. Even just a quick google search will show you that the majority of Already-Not-Yet subscribers believe this.

This concerns me a bit. You seem to espouse that you understand pre-millenialism and yet even this most basic part of it, you have admitted that you are completely unaware of, even though a quick google search will pull up plenty of examples of the very thing I am speaking of.

> More to the point, I've never heard anyone, anywhere, describing the particular set of beliefs that you put forward here. I just see too many points of internal tension and inconsistency. If you can refer me to theologians that advance your particular mix of theological positions, I'll look into it, but I simply can't get my head around where you say you're coming from. Doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Just look into any theologian that espouses historical premil and the Already-Not-Yet doctrine. All of them have my view. Wayne Grudem for instance.

Other resources on Already-Not-Yet (not all I agree with, but just examples). They are all pre-mil and affirm that we live in the present age AND the age to come:

• http://baptistmessenger.com/historic-premillennialism/
  
• A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to Left Behind Eschatology, Sung Wook Chung and Craig L. Blomberg, editors.
  
• George Eldon Ladd
  
  > I just see too many points of internal tension and inconsistency.
  
  Don't dismiss something too quickly before you come to a proper understanding of it. And I can assure you, from your assertions, you have a lot of researching to do before you can make a judgment about this particular doctrine. You're at stage 1: You don't know what you don't know.

I hope you and your fiancé are able to get out of there soon.

I remember being in my Grandpa's house with a pile of books strewn across their home office entitled, "'88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988". The person who wrote the book sent out copies to churches to distribute to their congregations. My Grandpa was a pastor at the time, so I'm assuming these copies were left over from that distribution.

It was the early 90s by this time.

There will always be people predicting the world's end, and they will always look foolish when the appointed date comes and goes.

Traditional Dispensationalism:

http://www.amazon.com/Dispensationalism-Charles-C-Ryrie/dp/080242189X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344919159&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=DiSoensationalism

http://www.amazon.com/There-Really-Difference-Comparison-Dispensational/dp/0915540509/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.com/Things-Come-Study-Biblical-Eschatology/dp/0310308909/ref=pd_sim_b_9

Progressive Dispensationalism:
http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Dispensationalism-BridgePoint-Books-Darrell/dp/0801022436/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344919422&sr=1-1&keywords=progressive+dispensationalism

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Central-Issues-Contemporary-Dispensationalism/dp/0825420628/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Covenant (sorry, my seminary was staunchly dispensational so I am less knowledgeable here):
http://www.amazon.com/Christ-Covenants-O-Palmer-Robertson/dp/0875524184/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344919539&sr=1-1&keywords=christ+and+the+covenants

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Dispensationalists-Vern-Sheridan-Poythress/dp/0875523749/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

Hope this helps.

>As much as someone might want to believe in heaven, it's not a belief that the evidence around us supports well.

Ehm...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

And that's just a start. We are literally drowning in evidence of an afterlife, it's just that, as the last link I provided argues for at length, it gets ignored because it goes against the dearest tenets of both the materialists/atheists and the religious people. To quote one of his passages,

"One conclusion I have come to over the years is that both the atheist and the believer, from the fundamaterialist to the fundamentalist, share something in common. In fact, from an epistemological perspective, what they have in common is much more significant than what they disagree about. What they agree about is this: beliefs pertaining to the possible existence of a transcendent reality — God, soul, afterlife, and so on — are based on faith, not fact. If this is true, then there can be no factual evidence that pertains
to such beliefs. This metabelief — that beliefs about a transcendent reality cannot be empirically based — is so deeply entrenched in our culture that it has the status of a taboo. The taboo is very democratic in that it allows everyone to believe whatever he or she wants to believe about such matters. This allows fundamaterialists to feel comfortable in their conviction that reason is on their side, that there is no afterlife, and that those who believe otherwise have fallen prey to the forces of irrationality and wishful thinking. But it also allows fundamentalists to feel comfortable in their conviction that they have God on their side, and that those who believe otherwise have fallen prey to the forces of evil. Thus, although the fundamentalist and the fundamaterialist are on opposite extremes of the spectrum of possible attitudes towards an afterlife, their extreme positions unite them as strange bedfellows in their battles against the possibility that there are matters of fact about the afterlife that empirical research might discover. The very suggestion that empirical research might be relevant to beliefs pertaining to a transcendent reality—that such beliefs are subject to empirical constraint — runs strongly against this taboo, and is hence very threatening to most elements of our culture."

The actual title is Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife.

Be careful to not confuse neurosurgeon with neurologist or neuroscientist. It's like the difference between an engineer and a scientist. I don't see any reason that a surgeon who knows how to operate on brains would have any special authority to write on the existence of an afterlife.

Here's a description of the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife-ebook/dp/B008AK8FHM

tl;dr: He didn't believe in an afterlife until after he suffered some brain damage.

Here is a good book on this subject.

http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Near-Maybe-Not/dp/1470001772

Our own /u/im_just_saying wrote this book on the topic, which I think fits your criteria nicely. Also check out Victorious Eschatology if you're looking for a couple options. Neither are overly-complicated/scholarly.

I recommend a book by /u/im_just_saying called "The End is Near...Or Maybe Not!", which is about this question. Basically, all of these end times/rapture/Left Behind beliefs are a very new, and amillenialism is much more accurate to what the church has believed historically.

Some other books on the topic of eschatology (the "end times") worth reading (or listening to):

NT Wright's Surprised by Hope

Kenneth Meyer's The End Is Near...Or Maybe Not!

Because its what Christ promised us, during his mission on Earth.

Because it makes sense in the context of scripture.

Because it is reasonable to believe based on our theories of the soul.

I mean there's books on this stuff and there are plenty of online resources about this stuff. Which goes into detail.

It seems that being under surgical anesthesia makes one a perfectly reliable witness, so I can't imagine that DMT would be a problem.

Those are kooky fundamentalist views. We've simply never made a big deal of Revelation, we were suspicious of even having it in the canon.

A book I found useful for getting out of the dispensationalist mindset is this book by the Anglican (kindof) Bishop of Reddit [tagged the wrong user].

The tone can be a little informal at points, but it's written to help people open up to an alternative view, not as an exhaustive scholarly work.

Long story short, the Revelation was written in 90ish-AD to believers in 90-ish AD. It is as timelessly and endlessly applicable as any other teaching of the Scriptures, but it was not written to us. What arrogance on our part to assume such a thing.

Anyway, as a recovering Evangelical dispensationalist, I found it useful even if it's not EO doctrine.

If you really want to learn this more traditional view, here's the book that bulldozed my rapture theology: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0813343143?pc_redir=1406544782&robot_redir=1#

Are you into healing at all?

[Spiritual Healing] (http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Healing-Guide-Yourself-ebook/dp/B00AV4Z104/)

[Medical Herbalism] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Herbal-Handbook-Medical-Herbalism/dp/0892817828/)

[Natural Remedies] (http://www.amazon.com/Rosemary-Gladstars-Herbal-Recipes-Vibrant/dp/1603420789/)

[Proof of Heaven] (http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Afterlife-ebook/dp/B008AK8FHM/) - about life after death.

[ARGO] (http://www.amazon.com/Argo-Ultraviolet-Digital-Copy-Affleck/dp/B00AHTYI5M/) - THE best movie I've seen in a while. It's a movie within a movie. I saw it 3 times in the theater.

Oh, and I really really want it: [$10] (http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-GIGP-93-Progressive-International-Garlic/dp/B0000DZ10V/) and [$5] (http://www.amazon.com/Mattel-W4729-Phase-Card-Game/dp/B004MU9V8Q/)

Proof of Heaven: Neurosurgeon gets bacterial meningitis, is stuck in a coma for months, then comes out of it. No one thinks he was going to live due to the condition of his spinal fluid (He claims it was a yellow pus color) Great book.

> a mass forever

Yes but without guitars.

Try this: www.amazon.com/Everything-Wanted-Heaven---Dreamed-Asking/dp/0898702976/

Can we start a book group and read through 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988?

Haha. I'm sorry man, but that will totally not work. This one Jackass wrote a book 88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988. Not to mention all of the theories from 2000. Nothing happened.

It's rather strange, but people tend to have more faith after the failed claim of the end of the world. I don't understand it, but then I don't understand religion to start with. :)

Certainly not reformed. But interesting theory. Not saying I believe it, but I'm more than 0% open to thinking about it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IGGZRJY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Yeah, actually most Christians don't believe in it and never have. It's really restricted to evangelical circles (like Southern Baptists). This book by our own /u/im_just_saying covers the topic well. He grew up pre-trib and became a-mil: http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Near-Maybe-Not/dp/1470001772

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-Afterlife-Science-Near-death-Experiences/dp/0061452572

http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-24509/Near-death-patients-afterlife.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-89926/Scientists-discover-near-death-evidence.html

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence02.html

A quick google search brings up more results.

The End Is Near...Or Maybe Not!

Depends on how open-minded you are

http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195

Why, that could fill an entire book on its own.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1470001772?pc_redir=1398314532&robot_redir=1 is the book I read about it.

> "Proof of God."

“Proof of Heaven”?

Reviews

No ,Ive got 88 reasons why the Rapture will happen in 1988.


https://www.amazon.com/reasons-Why-Rapture-Will-1988/dp/B00073BM8O

Heh

https://www.amazon.com/reasons-Why-Rapture-Will-1988/dp/B00073BM8O

> This makes Colton Burpo the only little adorable liar to still claim he died, saw God, and then came back and cashed in.

Hah! What?

Richard Sigmund

Trudy Harris (on behalf of others)

Mary Neal

Eben Alexander

Marvin Besteman

Crystal McVea

Dale Black

James Garlow (on behalf of others)

Seneca Sodi

Sid Roth (on behalf of others)

Reggie Anderson


and on and on and Ariston...

I believe, that, following the logic of quantum mechanics, the electrons firing in our brain exist somewhere else in the infinite multiverse, and that when we die, our consciousness transfers from here to there.
Read this book.

> Sure we can! I'm going to need to see your evidence of a "soul" or "spirit" that lives on after one dies, though. There's plenty of evidence that we're flesh and blood, just cut into someone and it's right there.

https://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Near-Death-Experience/dp/B009UX6NGI

> Once again, present your evidence; I can point out that many, many people have died over our history, and not one of them has shown any indication that they are still somehow "alive".

Christ was resurrected.

> No circular reasoning going on here, sir.

the circular reasoning was that there is no spiritual because we are only flesh and bone, that is circular reasoning.

I actually read this book right when it first came out. He presents some fascinating ideas, and he presents them well. As a response to Rob Bell's Love Wins, it addressed some issues that Bell didn't do an excellent job covering accurately.

Even though I didn't find the book to be particularly persuasive for me, I would second that recommendation.

And for those who struggle with the idea of Hell, but are not going to accept that everyone will get in, I recommend Edward Fudge's Hell, A Final Word, which argues quite persuasively that Hell is indeed real and eternal, but not everlasting, that is, Hell is a place of annihilation, rather than eternal, conscious torment.

Very enlightening.

Well I'll explain the difference or at least try to.
Government you have two options
Do it (some legal mandate) or end up in jail (forcefully imprison you do to your actions)

Do it (some none legal mandate but rather teaching such as 5+5=10) or end up in hell (willfully by choice as a result of free will)

Catholic teaching is that you have free will but naturally there are consequences from them. You live a life where you have free will, the ability to choose, to generally form yourself as a morally good person or bad person. Now when you die you have made a choice through your actions. The choice you have made is directly heaven or hell.

Why is this the case? Well where else would you go? Your soul lives on there cannot be annihilation just like matter can't be destroyed (comparison I'm sure some quantum something or other says it can...). You soul can go to heaven and share in the beatific vision or not. To a person who has formed their life in rejection of god (through bad actions) this would hardly be something desired to share eternally being close to that which you reject. But you're then left with the other choice, that which all those who reject god go. This place is called hell.

On several theories of how hell's punishment is and isn't. In the bible hell is spoken to as a fire in Jesus' teachings but it is also warned that the punishment is much worse then physical fire. So what is it? Some theologians have theorized, as CS Lewis put it

“All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it, or else, that it was within your reach and you have lost it forever.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain


Others have given the theory that there is only heaven, there is no other 'place' to go but that the heaven or hell choice comes from the state of the individual. For those who rejected god it is a pain, seeing their creator causes them pain for in their hearts they hate him.

Here is some more if you want to read up on it

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/heaven.htm
http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hell.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Wanted-Heaven-Dreamed-Asking/dp/0898702976
http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Hearts-Deepest-Longing-Kreeft/dp/0898702283/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Sense-Suffering-Peter-Kreeft/dp/0892832193/ref=pd_sim_b_2