On Dr. Richard Eby and others who claim to have been to Heaven
I admit it, I got the books by Richard Eby (Caught Up Into Paradise and Tell Them I Am Coming). In the early 90s, I watched him on The 700 Club and some other show I now forget.
I believed he told us the truth: That in 1972 he died from a head injury, went to Heaven, and was returned to Earth because it was not his time yet; that Christ had then shown him Hell.
One of the things Christ told him was that he would not die before Christ returned for His church. Since he was already in his 80s, that meant the Rapture could not be far off.
A few years ago, I checked up on this story, wondering if Richard Eby was still alive and waiting for the Rapture.
Richard Eby died on December 26, 2002.
His followers have, of course, tried to say that Christ’s words were misinterpreted, or used other explanations such as the ones here (Christ reincarnated) and here (reworking past claim to mean that Rapture will come right after his death).
Check out the false prophecies used to explain it here.
But it’s more likely that Christ never said any such thing to him, that Eby either wanted fame and money, or his severe head injury gave him hallucinations.
So I have to forget everything Eby told us about Heaven and Hell because it is speculation–just as everyone else speculates on what Heaven and Hell will be like.
His books can still be bought from Amazon.com; comments there claim that Eby was misquoted. But I read his books and I heard his account on TV: He was not misquoted.
Heaven Can’t Wait: A Survey of Alleged Trips to the Other Side by William M. Alnor critiques various accounts of Heaven and Hell, putting them through the grinder of biblical truth–including those of Richard Eby. It even describes a racist one from the turn of the century, in which all black people become white in Heaven.
Written around 2005
Index to my theology/church opinion pages:
–Tithing
–End Times and Christian Zionism
–God’s Purpose/Supremacy of God Doctrine
–Cat and Dog Theology
–Raising One’s Hands in Worship
–Christian Music
–On the “still, small voice” and Charismatic sign gifts
–On church buildings
–The Message Bible
–The Purpose-Driven Life
–The Relevance Doctrine, i.e. Marketing Churches to Seekers
–Republican Party
–Abortion Protests
–Creation
–The idea that God has someone in mind for you
–Literalism in Biblical interpretation
–Miscellaneous
–Name it and Claim It Doctrine, Prosperity Doctrine, Faith-Formula Theology, Word-Faith Theology, Positive Confession Theology, Health and Wealth Gospel, and whatever else they call it
–More about Pat Robertson
–Dr. Richard Eby and others who claim to have been to Heaven
–Women in Marriage/the Church
–Spiritual Abuse
–Other Resources
–Why do bad things happen?
–Should we criticize our brethren’s artistic or evangelistic attempts? Or, how should we evangelize, then?
–Angels: Is “This Present Darkness” by Frank Peretti a divine revelation or fiction?
–Halloween: Not the Devil’s Holiday!
–Hell and the Nature of God
–Is Christmas/Easter a Pagan Holiday?
–Is everybody going to Hell except Christians?
–How could a loving God who prohibits murder, command the genocide of the Canaanite peoples?
–What about predestination?
–Musings on Sin, Salvation and Discipleship
–An Ancient View which is in the Bible, yet new to the west–Uncreated Energies of God
–Dialogues
–The Didache
–Technical Virginity–i.e., how far should a Christian single go?
–Are Spiritual Marriages “real”? (also in “Life” section, where it’s more likely to be updated)
–Does the Pill cause abortions, or is that just another weird Internet or extremist right-wing rumor?
–What about Missional Churches, Simple Churches, Fluid Churches, Organic Churches, House Churches or Neighborhood Churches?
–Is Wine from the Devil–or a Gift from God?
–What is Worship?
–Evangelistic Trips to Already Christianized Countries
–Fraternities, Sororities, Masonic Lodge
–Was Cassie Bernall a Martyr?
–Some Awesome Things heard in the Lamentations Service (Good Friday evening) during Holy Week