This year for our Bible class in school, we’re doing a study of heaven! We’re only three days into it, but it’s been good and thought-provoking so far. The book by Randy Alcorn has an accompanying study guide, so my brother and I fill out answers in the morning and then we’ll discuss it with my mom later. Today, I’d just like to share some of the best questions from the study guide so far, and get your thoughts on them.
- Read Acts 17:11. What does this passage say, and how does it relate to how we should view claims about the afterlife based on near-death experiences and personal speculation? Acts 17:11: These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. My thoughts: it says we should read and study the Bible, and we should only listen to what the Bible says because we can trust what it says more than what people say.
- Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:21: “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” How should this principle be applied to reading any book other than the Bible, including Heaven? My thoughts: Does the Bible say this? If it does, it is true and we should believe it.
- “The sense that we will live forever somewhere has shaped every civilization in human history…. Anthropological evidence suggests that every culture has a God-given, innate sense of the eternal–that the world is not all there is” (Heaven, xix). do you think this statement is significant or revealing? In what way? My thoughts: well, all people obviously come from Noah’s family, so maybe they knew the truth and it just got twisted through the generations?
- Ancient merchants often wrote the words memento mori–“think of death”– in large letters on the first page of their accounting books. What perspective did this being to their daily lives? Is anticipating death unhealthy, or can it be healthy? My thoughts: it meant, “Hey, get out and do things! Be someone, because your time could be short.” Constantly dwelling on death isn’t necessarily good, but it’s healthy to be reminded that you don’t have all the time it the world.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to ponder these questions yourself, or comment below if you’d like to share your thoughts with me. I love hearing from you! God bless, BibleBloggerGirl
Teen, Meet God 
Testing everything is definitely something I try to bear in mind. Making sure that those who claim to be of God are. There was a book years back, I really thought was based on a true story, because that was claim of the book. It was titled, “The boy who came back from Heaven.” A story about a young boy Alex. He and his father get a in a wreck, a bad one, and Alex, internally gets decapitated. There is a huge amount of prayer from the community going into this boy and his family, and miraculous things happen. Alex wakes up and claims he went to Heaven, saw angels, etc.
The truth of the story was the wreck was real, Alex was internally decapitated and prayer helped this family for sure, but the father, the main writer for the book, elaborated a lot on claims about Alex going to heaven, talking to angels, etc. Alex and his mother says he never claimed that, and that everyone needs to read the Bible to know God and the truth. The book has a caused a lot of problems for the family because the father continues to claim it is all true while his wife and son say, “No.” Considering the material now, there were parts that I wondered if they were elaborated on, and now I know the truth.
Something always to bear in mind, and as Alex said, “Read the Bible.”
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That is kind of a sad story, that the family disagreed, but also amazing that Alex survived! Thanks so much for sharing 😊
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Thanks for reading and responding ☺. That is kind of an amazing story and kind of a sad one… The amazing part is that Alex survived, and the sad part is that the family disagreed on what happened. Also a bit strange. Thanks again for sharing, though!
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Sorry! Just realized that I wasn’t replying to T. R. Noble, but my own post. Silly me.
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My favourite Christian band, Flyleaf, have an album called ‘Memento Mori’
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That’s cool. Did you know what it meant before?
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Yeah I googled it at the time. Lacey Sturm was their vocalist. She wrote all the lyrics and has written two books as well.
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Cool! I’ve never actually heard of them. What style of music is it?
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Rock/Grunge
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Ok!
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