Hi John & All:
First and foremost, please allow me to state that my post is not meant in any way, shape or form, to be construed as derogatory against our dear sister in the Lord, Peggy, who yesterday provided the link to a book which was written by Mary Kathryn Baxter, entitled: A Divine Revelation of Hell.
I would like to remind everyone what the Bible says about this area, where a given individual claims to have a personal revelation, that is apparently some kind of extra-Biblical mandate from either an angel or our Lord Jesus Christ:
"That we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and
carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of
men, and cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive ..."
- Ephesians 4: 14
The Baxter book is little more than an imitation of a writing by Dante Alighiere, circa 1312, entitled: The Inferno. The difference between the two writings is that Alighiere's was largely based on his own imagination, whereas Baxter is claiming to have personally visited there on 40 consecutive nights, and in fact
was allegedly taken on a tour of its facilities by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Among many troubling things about the book, is that Baxter takes a handful of Scripture verses, and mish-mashes them together, adhoc throughout her text, in an effort to make her story seem to appear Biblical sounding, and spiritually credible. I've lost count of the number of times our Lord is alleged to have said his well-known "Peace ... be still" statement. Not only that, but most of the text was written to make it sound like it came directly from the Book of Revelation.
What is even worse, is that she attributes to Jesus a series of half-quotes that are either missing part of the text -- or have a different ending. This is certainly very dangerous to say the least, and our Lord specifically warns
us against it:
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of this book, If any man shall add unto
these things, God shall add unto him the
plagues that are written in the book.
And if any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life, and of
the
holy city, and from the things which are
written in the book."
- Revelation 22: 18-19
Here is one very obvious example, where Baxter has Jesus misquoting Bible verses, and twisting it to her own end. It can be found within Chapter 15 of her book, and is titled: The Days of Joel.
"I say, if My people, who are called by My name,
will humble
themselves and pray, I will forgive
them and heal them and restore their losses."
Now here is the actual scripture verse, from the Old Testament:
"If my people, who are called by my name, shall
humble themselves and pray, and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear
from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will
heal their land."
- 2 Chronicles 7: 14
A second example can also be found within the selfsame chapter, where our Lord seems to be having difficulty recalling Old and New Testament verses if Baxter is to be believed. Here is her attribution to our Lord, taken directly from the Book of the Prophet Joel:
"Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather
the elders and all the inhabitants of the lands
into
My house, and cry unto Me.
Alas, for the day of the Lord comes as a thief in
the night - the day is at hand."
Now here is the actual scripture verse:
"Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather
the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into
the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto
the LORD.
Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand,
and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
- Joel 1: 14-15
In yet a very short space there is a third misquote, this time a gargantuan one from
the Book of Joel, where our Lord Jesus is paraphrasing the word greatly out of context from what is actually written. Here is the Baxter version:
"Trust Me, and I will restore unto you the years
the locusts, the canker worm, the caterpillar
and the palmer worm have eaten.
My great army which I have called, will not
break their ranks nor their stride. They will
do marvelous exploits, and they shall not
be conquered, for I am their
strength. Their
voices will sound like I the trumpet, like the
thunders they will sound, and all will hear
and know that I am the Lord your God."
Here is the actual scripture verse in question:
"And I will restore to you the years that the
locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the
caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my
great
army which I sent among you.
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the LORD your God,
that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my
people shall never be ashamed."
- Joel 2: 25-26
In the Book of the Prophet Joel, the Lord God calls those insects which once had destroyed the crops of the Jewish people -- His army. But Baxter made the Lord Jesus twist the "army" portion. to mean a literal army of the Church. Talk about a revised version of replacement theology!
But now things get really bad, where in fact she has the Lord Jesus speaking words which are in direct contradiction to the Word of God itself. In Chapter 9 of her book, which is titled The Horrors From Hell, Baxter has attributed the following (false) words to our Lord Jesus.
According to Baxter, Jesus is describing the position of the former Paradise in relation to Hell, as well as the alleged use of jail
cells in Hell. Baxter has our Lord lying in contradiction to scripture not once .... but twice.
"Jesus said, I took the keys of Hell away from Satan
many years ago. I came and opened these cells, and
let my people out. For in the days of the Old Testament
before I actually gave my life on the cross, paradise
was situated close to Hell. These cells were in
paradise; now Satan uses them
for his evil
purposes and has made more."
Here according to Baxter, Jesus is explaining that the cells now used in Hell, have been confiscated by Satan from when they were used in Paradise prior to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. But is this idea scriptural? Does it line up with the Word of God?
The answer to both questions is a resounding -- NO!
All we need do is examine the Gospel of Luke to get definitve proof. In it our Lord Jesus is recounting the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. As you might recall, eventually both men died.
The rich man found himself in the pits of hell, while Lazarus wound up in Paradise. Here is the description:
"And it came to pass that the beggar died, and
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom;
the rich man also died, and was buried ...
But Abraham said [to the rich man], son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he
is
comforted, and thou art tormented."
- Luke 16: 22, 25
Clearly, neither Abraham nor Lazarus are in any type of jail cell in Paradise, and in fact Lazarus is being comforted in Abraham's bosom.
But their is another falsity within this statement Baxter attributes to Jesus. She claims that Jesus told her that Paradise was situated "close to Hell", prior to his crucfixion. Not only is this not true,
but proof is clearly found within the this same scripture verse, found in the part where the rich man asks Abraham if he can arrange for Lazarus to bring him a cup of cold water.
Here is Abraham's reply to the rich man:
"And beside all this, between us and you there
is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would
pass from hence to you cannot; neither can
they pass to us, that would come thence."
- Luke 16:
26
But there are yet more instances, where Jesus is alleged to have acted and spoken in contradiction to the Word of God. Twice in her book Baxter says that Jesus abandoned her to the demons of hell, who caused her to both feel torment and suffer. So what was the reason for Jesus to do this, and again is it scriptural? Here is what Baxter claims Jesus gave as the reason:
"Tenderly Jesus spoke and said, My child, hell
is real, but you could never know for sure until
you had experienced it for yourself. Now
you
know the truth, and what it is really like to be
lost in hell. I had to let you go through that so
that you would know without a doubt."
First of all, it is ridiculous that we have to go to hell to know that it happens to be a real place. Whatever happened to walking by faith and not by sight? But secondly, please show me the Bible verse where God tells us we must know what it's like to be lost in hell. What part of the salvation experience is this? It also clearly goes against the Word of God to tell people that Jesus would, in any season and
for any reason, abandon us -- ever. The scriptures say:
"Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with such things as ye have: for
he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."
- Hebrews 13: 5
Furthermore, the scripture states --
"Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
- Matthew 28: 20
In another example of where Baxter attributes misquotes of Scriptures to our Lord Jesus (and where she inputs the flavor of the Book of Revelation), is in Chapter 18 of her book, titled, Open Visions From Hell, where she claims Jesus made the following statement:
"Jesus said, Come, see what the Spirit
is saying to the world."
In fact it is a misquoted spin-off from the noted Book of Revelation, where the scripture verse actually reads:
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith to the churches."
- Revelation 2: 7, 11, 17, 29
- Revelation 3: 6, 13, 22
In fact the very statement that the Spirit is speaking to the world, is once again in direct contradiction to the Word of God, which states:
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another Comforter, that he may abide
with you forever;
Even the Spirit of
truth; whom the world
cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
- John 14: 16-17
But the charade doesn't stop. For in Chapter 16 of her book, titled: Into Hell, Baxter claims that Jesus told her why she must write this book:
"The book you are about to write will
save many from hell."
Once again, the words Baxter claims Jesus spoke are not scriptural. You will not find anywhere in the Bible where God saves people by giving them some type of vision or insight into hell -- or anything else. Instead it clearly states the one and only plan of salvation:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemened
already, because he hath not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God."
- John 3: 16-18
Yet again, it is spoken of by the Apostle Peter:
"Be it known unto you all, and to all the
people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye
crucified, whom God raised from the
dead, even by him doth this man stand
here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nought
of you builders, which is become the head
of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven
whereby we must be saved."
- Acts 4: 10-12
In closing, let me address the issue which I know is coming -- God is certainly not using this book in the same way He uses the scriptures, to direct them to Jesus by indirectly scaring them with Hell. This very thought contradicts once more the Word of God, which plainly states:
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
- 2 Timothy 1: 7
This is just a very tiny sampling of the highly unscriptural nature of the book. I don't have enough time (nor desire), and there surely isn't enough bandwidth on this site to cover everything.
The scary part is knowing there will be those who read all of the contradictions to the Word of the Living God, and still suggest there is nothing wrong with the book.
See ya in the air,
Eric