Customer Reviews

23 Minutes in Hell

5 star:		(229)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(98)

 

 

Whether or not the author really did go to hell is immaterial. What matters more is that what he said about the existence of hell and its horrors are found in scripture. The first part of the book deals with his own testimony, and what he claims happened to him in hell. The second part of the book is a citation of scripture on hell.

I found the second-half to be heart-convicting. According to the author, there are about 150 verses on hell in the Bible. Many are listed down in the book. I checked the verses in his book against those in the Bible. All tallied. And then the reality sinks in: hell is really a place. It is not to be trifled with. There is no good thing there, no flower, or leaf, or even mercy, because God is not there. And all good things are from God. But the starkest and saddest truth is this: it was never meant to be a place for people, whom God created for eternal fellowship with Him. Such a horrible place was only meant for Satan and his fallen angels. Yet, so many souls are there, people who never heard about God, or who turned their backs to God. What this book did for me was point me back to the importance of evangelism - in God's loving plan, no one, not a single soul, should have to go to hell.

With a heavy heart, I must give an honest review of this book. Before I begin, I want to start off by stating upfront that I am a born-again Christian, and I do believe that unbelievers who die without Christ will suffer eternal torment in Hell. However, with this said, I must say that I do not believe Bill Wiese' account.

I had heard about this book for quite some time before I had actually read it. At first I thought this was going to be a story about a man who wasn't a Christian, clinically died and went to Hell, came back to life and is now a Christian. Instead, I was surprised to find out that not only was Wiese already supposed to have been a Christian, but he didn't even die. Instead, he just went to bed at 3:00a.m. one night, fell into a pit and ended up in literal Hell. In this Hell he was tormented by demons, heat so intense that he should have been dead, and he witnessed a pit of fire where souls were being tormented. During his time in Hell, Wiese claims that he didn't know about God and had "forgotten" he was a Christian. He later supposedly gets rescued by Jesus and is told that he was purposely made to forget that he was a Christian. The entire reasoning behind this experience is so that Wiese can know that Hell exists and he can now tell others about it. He wakes back up in his living room where he fell asleep at 3:23a.m.

Right away, one would think that Wiese just had a nightmare, but Wiese is convinced that he had an out-of-body experience where his soul literally descended into Hell. Wiese insists that this wasn't just a dream.

This is all told in the first three chapters of the book, and the rest of the book is simply accounts of Wiese' evangelistic testimonies and answering a few questions about Hell. But the first three chapters are really the "highlight" of the book. In fact, I found myself getting bored after the third chapter, because the rest of it becomes testimonies of Wiese being invited to speak about his experience, and then the book going into answering standard philosophical questions about Hell that can be found in many other books.

The main problem I have with Bill Wiese' story is that it just simply isn't consistent with what the Bible teaches about how God operates.

In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells a story about a rich man who dies and ends up in Hell. The rich man becomes concerned that his family might end up in Hell too. So he asks Abraham (who is in paradise but is able to communicate with the rich man) if he can go and tell his family about Hell. And Abraham responds with, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead" (v. 31). So, knowing that Jesus told this story of the rich man, and the Bible teaches that if someone isn't persuaded by the Scriptures, then they will not be persuaded by someone returning from the dead, why would Jesus send Wiese to Hell to basically do what Abraham says won't persuade unbelievers anymore than the Scriptures will? The simple answer is, Jesus wouldn't do that.

There is also the issue with the demons that supposedly tortured Wiese. Jesus said that Hell is prepared for Satan and his demons. They will be eternally punished in Hell (Matt 25:41). Yet, Wiese claims that demons are in Hell feeling pleasure from torturing him and the more they tortured him, the more pleasure they felt. This doesn't make sense if the Bible teaches that Hell was created to punish the demons. In fact, Wiese makes it sound like the demons have a nice playground in Hell and are the ones administering the punishments rather than being punished themselves.

Another problem I have with Wiese's account is that Jesus said that anyone who believes in him will not see death (John 8:51).

After reading the book, I must admit that I am really disappointed. And while I am a born-again Christian who believes in the existence of Hell (and by that I mean eternal punishment, not annihilation), I must tell the truth of what I believe about this book. I had thought about not writing a review at all, but Christians need to stand on biblical truths, not lies. I'm still not even sure why Wiese is so convinced that he didn't just have a really bad dream... which is what I think he had if he's not just making this whole thing up.

I consider myself a fair reader of literature, but I have yet to read a book that has had the effect on me as this one has. I was half way through it before being aware of the time. I've read several testimonies of (and about) men and women that have departed this life and found themselves in that Great Abyss called HELL and returned to tell about it. The author's experience is different in that he places the reader along side himself experiencing it as well. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night. Not for myself as I'm a Christian but for all the people I come in contact with everyday who I know... haven't made Jesus as their Lord.

This book will wake up the Dead. I know because I've left it to where anybody could read it and for those that did, their reading experience was similar. A great witnessing tool.

I gave it 5 stars just for that reason.

I was surprised at the diferent viewpoints I have read concerning this book. However I have learned when it comes to Hell.....well things can indeed get hot. The author to me is upfront and honest in his testimony of what happened to him. And also to me, it is not surprising that people are experiencing visions of Hell, after all, we are in the endtimes and God is doing all He can to sound the alarm. And even if we were not, no one is promised tomorrow so why take the chance of ending up in this dreadful place?

This testimony clearly shows that Hell is a place of torment, absent from God, love or any kind of goodness. It is a place of pain and suffering, sorrow and hate. I can't even imagine how difficult it was for the author to relive such an experience and I thank him for sharing it with a world that needs to hear the truth. I have seen this man on TV share his experience and believe me he is truly telling what he saw and felt and he is screaming to all that will listen, "Please, do not go there. You have a choice." Great book! Serious Warning! A read that should awaken some serious thought as to where we will spend eternity.

For the naysayers who believe that God is only a cuddly teddy bear and that no one will experience a hell, then you have missed much of what the Bible has to say concerning it. Bill Wiese brings this out in this page turner of a book. No, Bill Weiss is not a theologian, but then neither were the Apostles that Jesus chose to lead the early church. 12 ordinary men with no special religious backgrounds. Bill Weiss also doesn't need to be an Apostle to have and experience such as this and write about it.

To the one reviewer who talked about Lazarus, I will tell you that the Lazarus mentioned in Luke who was in the bosom of Abraham and the one Jesus raised from the dead were two different individuals who just happened to have the same name.

I highly recommend this book. Even if it were fiction, which I do not believe it is, I would still recommend it because it is scripturally based.

Rev. Carl Kaspick, MDiv

The Keepers Outreach Ministries

As a child I saw many movies about hell and decided it was not a place I ever wanted to be in for eternity. Bill Wiese claims he not only saw images of hell, but that he experienced it physically and emotionally for 23 minutes.

Can you go to hell and live to tell about it?
Do children go to hell?
Will good people only go to heaven?
Are there demons in hell?
Is hell a real place with real fire?
Will you remember your life on earth while in hell?

Bill Wiese answers all these questions and also backs up his own experience with biblical references. His story is convincing and told from the perspective of someone who was placed in a position of extreme stress and vulnerability. He describes his 23 minutes in detail and in a very convincing manner. Dreams can be very vivid and so at the start you have to either believe this is true or decide it isn't something you are willing to believe.

In the first third of the book he explains his horrifying experience of being in hell and then in the second section he talks about near death experiences and why there is hope for anyone who wants to avoid going to hell after they die. In the third section he focuses on verses from the Bible to give a more complete view of hell.

The thoughts in this book are somewhat sobering and the idea of spending eternity in a state of emotional distress and physical pain is more than enough motivation to try to find a way not to duplicate Bill Wiese's experience. Fortunately he does provide a message of hope and explains how Jesus Christ is the answer and the Savior of the soul.

If you are interested in more on Jesus Christ, I can highly
recommend The Gospel According to Jesus

~The Rebecca Review

I find it very relevant whether or not the author went to hell - if he didn't he is not credible, and a liar. I do not believe that Jesus Christ would ever "take" a Christian to hell, and let them experience the absence of His presence and comfort, as this author claims happened to him. A small portion of the book is about what hell was like, and the rest is self-glorifying about what great work he did "scaring people" into the arms of Jesus. As a Christian, who has read too many verses saying nothing can separate us from the love of Christ as believers, and a skeptic, who sees how about 2/3 of this book is self congratualatory about the author's wonderful ministry - not to mention the fact that he never died, claims he was a Christian when he went to hell, and the Bible speaks of a man who wanted to warn his family about hell that was there, and God forbid him to do so, I find this book unscriptural, unChristian, and more of a horror tale based on reality than any "true life experience". I find it shameful and embarrassing. I believe hell is a very real place, but I do not believe this author experienced anything other than a delusion or a dream, based on his own description of his experience. I would recommend Christians denounce this book, IF they bother to read it, and if they do, I suggest they check it out from the library and do not waste their money on lies, when there are plenty of accurate stories of non-Christians who actually died, and were brought back to life, and saved from hell by Jesus Christ, the only Savior - who would never allow any of His children to experience these horrors as a "warning" to others - there are plenty of them in the Bible, and as I said in other, non fiction, non monetarily goaled books out there. John Ankerberg has a very good video of a cardiologist who helped bring a dying patient back from death and descending into hell by calling out to Jesus for help and salvation. THAT is a true story. THIS IS A SHAM. Please do not waste your money in support of his lie.

I received this book as a gift, and it was the worst gift I have ever received. Now, don't get me wrong--I believe that God is still alive, and I believe in visions and visitations. I've had them. However...we are warned in Scripture to test the spirits, and I don't think the author did this. His depictions of hell do not line up with the Scriptures. Pointy demons that torture simply aren't there. Demons don't torment in hell, they are tormented in hell; and in fact, in II Peter 2:4 we're told that most of the demons are in a different part of hell. So, I don't know. I only got a third of the way through it and then threw it. My opinion--if you want to know what hell is like, go to the pages of Scripture. It's free.

Regardless of what you believe, you'd probably think a book about time spent in Hell is going to be awesome. You'd probably think that, but you'd be wrong.

This book has a number of problems. And the audio book has even more.

As far as the book goes, my main comment is that whoever served as editor of this book should lose his job immediately. The portion of the book that actually discusses Hell is incredibly short and the description is very vague. The language is elementary and the tone doesn't provoke any feeling, which is pathetic since it's clear he's trying to get his feelings of fear and misery across. The organization is terrible as well; the story is interspersed with scriptures to "prove" his vision correlates to the Bible, which might sound understandable, but they definitely mess up the flow of the book. Also, some (many) of the scriptures are sort of a stretch from their original context to the vision itself. I can understand why you'd include scripture, but I think perhaps a better layout would have been to tell the story and include scriptures in an appendix or as endnotes. Lastly, there are quotes from other individuals peppered throughout, but they never indicate who these people are, and I only knew a few of them automatically.

For the audio book, my only advice is, for goodness sake, don't get it. If you must experience the book, just read it. The narrator is so bad that I can only assume that he offered to do the job for free and they wanted to save money. His monotone voice and unnatural cadence make it fairly boring, and he mispronounces words throughout (epitome as "eppi-toam"). Finally, the entire CD has annoying and constant music playing throughout, which as times sounds like a discarded soundtrack from Tron.

If you are looking for an inspiring book, get Murdered Heiress: Living Witness. It's not about Hell, but it's another true story that is much more moving.

First I will say that I am not a church-goer, though I do have strong convictions spiritually, they are really not strictly delineated biblically. Also, I am extremely interested in the paranormal and come from the school of thought dictating that man's understanding of truth is a grain of sand held next to a million universes.

This book, a very simply written, and expressly self-important work, might as well be from the hand of an eigth grader. The constant drone of his being chosen to carry the message brings the first questions and, I believe, points clearly to an egomaniacal personality. Why is God,as presented in the author's estimation, using "Bill Weise" as a vessel to carry the warning about damnation to all of humanity? 6 Billion people on earth and an omnipotent God. Why not send 1 million from every religion on the same trip at the same time? Imagine the impact? However, the omnipotent omnipresent creator of all has put his trust in one real estate agent from South Carolina, who subsequently put it in book form with a price tag of 12.99. Well, at least God is using the free market.

Next- Weiss mentions the fear and pain of hell in tableaus of seemingly arbitrary exponents. The demon was "1000" times stonger, the pan was "500" worse, etc. However, throughout the unbearable pain, Wiese seems remarkably level-headed and lucid. He says in the prologue "How could I survive in such intense heat? My flesh should disentegrate fom my body at any moment." Wouldn't a more likely thought be "AAGGGGHHHHHH AAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" This type of silly presentation riddles the book. He mightas well be saying "Saaayyyyyy this pain, 1000 times worse than anything on earth, is really bogus! I wonder what my wife will say when I tell her that, right now, I feel like all of my flesh is on fire and I'm being flayed alive?"

At one time, geo-centrism was the paradigm. Then heliocentrism, which is only specific to a solar system. Newton's laws of motion, set a paradigm until relativity revealed that our reality is incumbent on where we are sitting at any given time. Space and Time are bending before our eyes and the future hints at discoveries which will time and again change the landscape of perception. The ultimate truths, may be unattainable to human consciousness. I'd be willing to bet that, at very least, they are well out of reach of Bill Weiss, Realtor and sometimes public speaker.