Visions Of Heaven And Hell

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was an English writer and Baptist preacher; he is best known for writing the allegory,  The Pilgrim's Progress . His autobiography (written while he was in prison preaching with being ordained in the Church of England) is  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners .He begins, “I [once] had the unhappiness to know someone … who would always be telling me there was neither God nor devil, and no heaven or hell… my false friend … only laughed at my fears and pretended to pity my weakness. His talks only made me more confused, until life became a burden to me… So I decided to kill myself… But before I tried to use the knife, I heard a secret whisper say, ‘Do not fall into everlasting misery to gratify the enemy of your soul.’ … I recognized my deliverance to have come from the Lord, and in gratitude I returned thanks… Suddenly I was surrounded by a glorious light… I saw coming toward me a glorious person like a man, but circled with beams of light and glory…” (Pg. 5-6)He continues, “The heavenly messenger then said, ‘…I will show you things never yet seen by mortal eye, and to that end your eyes shall be strengthened and made able to behold heavenly things.’” (Pg. 8) He adds, “I will give you the best account I can of what I saw and heard, as near as I can remember.” (Pg. 11)He says, “My shining messenger… conveyed me past thousands of angels, and presented me to that great saint, the prophet Elijah. Though he had lived in the world many hundreds of years ago, I knew him at first sight.” (Pg. 13) He goes on, “The prophet continued, ‘… It was sin that defaced God’s image in man’s soul… It is sin which can also plunge them into an ocean of eternal misery from which there is no redemption. It is an invaluable mercy that in this happy place all the saints are forever freed from sin through the blood of our Redeemer. In the earth below, the best and holiest of souls groan under the burden of corruption.’” (Pg. 16)He continues, “After saying this, the holy prophet was pleased to give me his hand. ‘They [in heaven] will be bodies that are purified from all corruption, yet will not be like wind or air, as people on earth sometimes foolishly imagine.’ Then I said to him that I always understood spiritual as the opposite of material, so I thought that a spiritual body must be immaterial, and not capable of being touched or felt as I found hand was. To this the prophet replied that their bodies were spiritual, not only because they were purified from all corruption, but as they were sustained by the enjoyment of God without needing food, drink, or sleep.” (Pg. 19-20)Elijah says, “I have seen the mercifulness of those very afflictions that I once (when upon earth) thought to show His anger. I am now fully convinced that no affliction that I met with in the world below (and I met with many) either came sooner or fell heavier or continued longer than was needful. My hopes were disappointed, but God used all things to prepare me for a better eternal reward than what I had hoped for.” (Pg. 23-24)Then, “the bright messenger who had brought me to heaven returned. ‘I have, ‘said the angel, ‘a commission to return you to the earth from where I took you, after first visiting among the regions of the prince of darkness.’” (Pg. 27) In Hell, “I saw two wretched souls being tormented by a demon. He was continually plunging them in liquid fire and burning brimstone, while at the same time they accused and cursed each other. One of them said to his tormented fellow sufferer… ‘Though you learned how to cheat from me, yet you taught me to lust, to lie, to get drunk and to scoff at goodness. So although I stumbled you in some things, you stumbled me as much in others…’ From this sad conversation I learned that those who are companions in sin upon earth shall also be punished together in hell. I believe that this was the true reason why the rich man seemed so charitable to his brethren (Lk 16:27-28). The reason he did not want them to join him in hell was because they would have increased his torments.” (Pg. 30-31)He says, “I spoke to [a] sorrowful complainer… and told him I would willingly hear more about it if this might possibly help lessen his sufferings. ‘No, not at all; my pains cannot be relieved even for one small moment… had I but the least hope still remaining, how I would kneel and cry and pray for ever to be redeemed from this hell! But it is all in vain, I am lost forever.’” (Pg. 35)The man explained, “Here is an unquenchable fire which burns us; a lake of burning brimstone that ever chokes u, and eternal chains that bind us. Here there is utter darkness to frighten us, and a worm of conscience that gnaws upon us everlastingly. Any one of these is worse to bear than all the torments that mankind ever felt on earth! But our torments here… afflict every part of the body, and torment all the powers of the soul. This makes what we suffer the worst of tortures. In those sicknesses which men have on earth, though some members of their bodies will suffer, yet other parts will have no pain, Here it is different; every member of the soul and body suffers at the same time.” (Pg. 37)He continues, “Another thing that makes our misery so awful is the sharpness of our torments. That fire that burns us is so violent that all the water in the sea can never quench it. The pains we suffer here are so extreme that it is impossible for anyone to know them except the damned. Another part of our misery is the ceaselessness of our torments… We have no rest from them. If there were any relaxation, it might be some relied. But there is no easing of our torments, and what we suffer now we must suffer forever.” (Pg. 38)Bunyan said to the demon tormenting the man, “Since they have been such great helpers for you, I would think that in gratitude you would treat them a little more kindly.’ To this the [demon] answered me in a scoffing manner, ‘…Gratitude is a virtue, but we hate all virtue. Besides, we hate all mankind, and were it in our power not one of them should be happy. It is true we do not tell them so upon earth, because there it is our business to flatter and deceive them. But when we have them here where they cannot escape, we soon convince them of our foolishness in serving us.’ From this I could only think about what infinite grace it is that any poor sinners are brought to heaven, considering how many traps are laid by the enemy to ensnare them by the way.” (Pg. 42)He then recounts an encounter with the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who told him, “I am that unhappy man indeed. But I am so far from being great that I am one of the most wretched persons in all these dirty territories. For now I know that there is a God… It was that proud confidence I had in my own wisdom that has so betrayed me… that stings me to the heart, to think how many will perish by my influence… I did not want you to be cast into hell, because every soul that is brought here through my deceptions increases my pains in hell… At first I believed there was a God… but as I turned to sins which would lead me to His judgment, I hoped there would be no God. For it is impossible to think there is a just God, and not also remember that He will punish those who disobey Him.” (Pg. 45-46)He concludes, “In a very little space of time I found myself on earth again… The shining angel disappeared and I was left alone… When I returned back to my house, my family was very surprised to see how my countenance had so greatly changed… They told me, ‘Yesterday you looked so depressed that you seemed the very image of despair. But now, your face appears radiantly beautiful, and seems full of perfect joy and satisfaction.’ ‘If you had seen,’ I said, ‘what I have seen today, you would not be surprised at the change in me.’ Then I went into my room, took my pen and ink, and wrote down everything that I had heard and seen. And I hope that those who read this will be moved in their hearts just as I have been as I wrote everything down.” (Pg. 50-51)Bunyan’s story will appeal to that ‘remnant’ who still appreciate Puritan works, for their earnestness and straightforwardness.

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A confirmation of the truth. People don't want to believe in hell, but it does exist. We want to believe in God's love, but we must also remember God is holy and no sin can enter into heaven. If we die in sin and cannot enter heaven, there is only one other place we can go (and it's not God's fault if we go there).