I tend to agree with this amazon review, about Roundtree's 'The Heaven's Opened'.
I have been greatly encouraged by reading numerous accounts of people who have either clinically died & went to heaven before being resuscitated, or who were caught up to heaven either bodily or in the spirit.
Of the 16 or so books that I have read, this is one of two or three that leave me at least some what unsettled. I am not among those "Bible Answer Man" types who contentiously & flatly reject any & all spiritual encounters, even though the Bible speaks of them as being equally as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago, while condemning all Charismatic & Pentecostal believers to hell as heretics for believing that God still speaks by his Spirit through revelations, dreams, visions & prophecy, & not just the written Word. After all, the Bible itself speaks of these gifts. But I am also not the type of sap who thinks that anything that comes in the name of being a gift of the Spirit or Divine encounter or revelation just has to be God, no questions asked.
In addition, I won't just arbitrarily believe them any more just because the minister or ministers who wrote the forward happen to be people like David "Paul Yongi" Cho, Benny Hinn or his wife, just because they are often correct in their analysis & are anointed men & women of God.
First off, this supposed encounter is not entirely consistent with my understanding of what the Bible says, nor is it consistent with the 11 or 12 other books that seem to be much more credible.
Paul speaks of Divine encounters which are genuine, & he also warns of those which are fabricated by those who want a forum to be recognized as spiritually important individuals without having the certain genuine experiences that they claim they have had. Not to say that I know for sure, but if I were to guess, this would fall into the second category.
It would stand to reason that there would be vast similarities & consistencies between all the genuine accounts, whereas "The Heavens Opened"-Rountree, & "Heaven is so Real"-Thomas, actually seemed to illustrate numerous contradictions while the story's landscape possessed few similarities, with the exception that they are all at least supposed to be referring to the same place. The numerous other apparently credible accounts conversely possessed no contradictions, not only with each other, but with the Bible.
Every other account possessed no instance of death, ageing or decay, & several even mentioned that death, ageing & decay do not exist in Heaven. There is at least one account in each of these books of death (frying a fish to eat in Thomas' "Heaven is so Real,") & ageing & decay (in Rountree's "The Heavens Opened," an older balding angel). In all of the other books, no living thing was ever killed, & all the angels & humans appeared youthful, with the physical features of that of a thirty year old or younger. Even those who died in their elderly years on earth regained their youthfulness when they went to heaven. Every one had a full head of hair, & balding would have been considered a form of decay. This distinction is also consistent with the Bible, which says that "death is swallowed up in victory," (I Cor. 15:54-56) & "there shall be no more death, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4). These references are referring to the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Heaven, as well as the age to come.
Here is a list of books & material on Heaven that I have read or reviewed, some of which I think are credible, some which have left me unsettled, & some which I just have to leave with a question mark.
Unsettling: The Heavens Opened-Anna Rountree / Heaven is So Real-Choo Thomas
Credible: Intra Muros, Within the Gates-Rebecca Ruter Springer / Paradise, the Holy City & the Glory of the Throne-Scott Elwood / Visions Beyond the Veil-H.A. Baker / I Died & Went to Heaven-Gary Wood / 90 Minutes in Heaven-Don Piper / Scenes beyond the Grave-Marietta Davis & Gordon Lindsay / 6 Big Big Big Angels-Mary Jo Pennington / Heaven, Close Encounters of the God Kind-Jesse DuPlantis / My Glimpse of Eternity-Betty Maltz / Beyond Death's Door-Maurice Rawlings / Voices from the Edge of Eternity-Thea Carter & Tommy Bates with Perry Stone (DVD) / The Mystery of Paradise-Curtis "Earthquake" Kelley with Perry Stone (DVD) / What Jesus Revealed About Death-Walter Hallam with Perry Stone (DVD) / Questions About Heaven & Paradise-Walter Hallam & Fred Stone with Perry Stone (DVD) / More Secrets of Paradise-Curtis "Earthquake" Kelley & Walter Hallam with Perry Stone (DVD)
Question Mark: A Divine Revelation of Heaven-Mary K Baxter (I would be more inclined to put this in the "Credible" list, but certain things about it left me unsure) / Home is Where the Throne Is-Wayne C. Anderson (Same) / I Saw Heaven-Roberts Lairdon / Caught Up into Paradise-Richard E. Eby (If for no other reason than the Lord did not return for His Bride before the author passed away, which is what he said the Lord told him. There could be extenuating circumstances & reasons consistent with the Bible for this, such as the vessel's disobedience, God extending time because of the prayers &/or repentance of His people, His mercy, as with Jonah & the people of Nineveh, etc., but I am only speculating.)
Overall, I would not with certainty classify this as a genuine eye-witness account of Heaven. I'll admit I could be wrong. I am sure the author is a true believer, but there was also way too much emphasis on her importance & position in God's Kingdom in comparison to the other books that I thought were credible. In the other accounts, there seemed to be much more humility by the author & consistency with Scripture. There were also some just plain bizarre accounts that went way beyond Heavenly & supernatural to extremely weird & far-fetched.
Winston Sanders
