Behind 90 Minutes in Heaven

Behind 90 Minutes in Heaven is a book written by Rene Jorgensen, a philosopher of religion and researcher of near death experiences. In the book, Jorgensen goes behind Don Piper’s personal interpretation of heaven in 90 Minutes in Heaven and he does so based on over 30 years of research into near death experiences. Jorgensen is a member of the International Association for Near Death Studies and he says in the introduction of the book that his intention is to correct misinterpretations of the near death experience.
Both in the book 90 Minutes in Heaven and through his ministry, Don Piper interprets his experience of heaven as an exclusive place for Christians. In the book, Piper says that “I don’t want to see others die without Christ,” and on the Don Piper Ministry website in the section on “How to go to Heaven,” Piper says that “those who die without Christ will sadly go to Hell.” Since Piper did not meet Jesus and admits in the book that he "did not see God" in heaven, he uses John 14:6 “No man comes unto the Father but through me” to support this claim, and he seems to rely on his meeting with fellow Christians and the hearing of songs praising Christ in heaven.
In Behind 90 Minutes in Heaven, Rene Jorgensen argues against this claim and Piper’s interpretation of his near death experience. Jorgensen points out that within the research of near death experiences it is common for people to meet loved ones or people that have been of great significance in the life of each individual. As Piper has been a Christian most of his life it is therefore natural for him to meet fellow Christians in his personal experience of heaven, but this does, however, not mean that heaven is a place only for Christians.
Jorgensen explains that “heaven-like” experiences are found in most religions and cross-cultural research of near death experiences reveals that the content of these experiences differ according to culture and religious conditioning. E.g. in Buddhist near death experiences people meet the Lord Buddha or the Buddhist Lord of Death, Yama, in heaven and people also experience multiple heavens according to Buddhist belief together with hearing Buddhist chanting.
Based on the evidence from cross-cultural studies of near death experiences, Jorgensen writes that “each individual integrate their pre-existing belief system based on their culture into their near death experience,” and explains that within the research of thousands of near death experiences there is “absolutely no generally accepted evidence to support that any one religion is ‘the only way to heaven.’”
Besides going behind Piper's experience of heaven and shedding light on religious fundamentalism, Jorgensen also uses personal research in Behind 90 Minutes in Heaven to investigate Heaven’s gate. In chapter seven - “How to go to Heaven” - Jorgensen uses testimonies from the other side with scriptural support, such as the Blasphemy Test, to describe Heaven’s gate, and he explains what heaven is like based on direct experiences of heaven by people who have had near death experiences.
Further reading
* Jorgensen, Rene. Behind 90 Minutes in Heaven. 2009-12-07, Create Space. ISBN 978-1449914691

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