Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven is a current bestseller amongst Christian books. Its premise is that Piper (pastor at South Park Baptist Church, Houston) “died” in a car accident as he returned from a pastor’s conference in 1989. Whilst apparently dead for 90 minutes, he experienced what he believed to be Heaven. His description of Heaven includes an immense feeling of happiness, the sound of angels’ wings, a reunion with people he had known in this life, and praise as he had never known. He was led toward some gates, but before he got there, he was brought back to earth through the intercession of another pastor who had stopped at the accident and prayed for Piper as he lay trapped in the car. Despite having been pronounced by the police (albeit unofficially) to be dead at the scene, Piper came “back to life”.

The 90-minute experience of Heaven accounts for a surprisingly short part of the book. The rest is a detailed and honest account of Piper’s long and painful process of recovery from horrific injuries: a process that left him, even to this day, in poor physical condition.

The weaknesses in Piper’s story are, firstly, his emphatic denial of the very real possibility that he was not actually dead. Furthermore, Piper leaves no room for the possibility that his “Heaven” experience was either hallucinatory or an extraordinary dream in a state of unconsciousness.

More Regressive Than Real⤒🔗

Piper’s account is also overly located in himself and what was familiar to him in his own earthly life. His own personal feelings (warmth, happiness, joy, feeling “fully alive” and more loved than ever before) dominate his recollection, rather than any concrete description which might be more persuasive. Moreover, the fact that the people he met were specifically those whom he had known and who had had a particular influence in his life does somewhat suggest something more regressive than real.

No Sad Songs in Heaven←⤒🔗

The music he “heard” also raises interesting questions. Amidst the praise being sung in a whole variety of ways (all at once but not a confusion; hymns of praise along with modern-sounding choruses) Piper specifically tells us, ‘None of the Hymns that filled the air were about Jesus’ sacrifice or death ... I instinctively knew that there are no sad songs in Heaven’ (pg 31). However, according to the Apostle John, the theme of Jesus’ death is precisely what is sung around the throne:

Worthy are You to take the scroll ... for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God.Revelation 5:9

The absence of any such song in Piper’s experience is highly suspicious.

I Didn’t See Jesus←⤒🔗

So too is Piper’s admission: ‘I didn’t see Jesus’ (pg 22). According to the New Testament, the presence of Jesus is what defines Heaven.

I go to prepare a place for you ... that where I am there you may be also.John 14: 2, 3

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given Me may be with Me where I am.John 17: 24

If Piper didn’t see Jesus (and perhaps it is better that he didn’t), no matter how extraordinary an experience he may have had, he just wasn’t in Heaven.

The last criticism is possibly the most obvious. You just don’t come back from Heaven. By definition, death is the end of life in this world and constitutes the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring His people forever to be with Himself. To suggest a tinkering with this event in the experience of some people is not least a heartbreaking implication that perhaps God might just bring someone back through prayer.

That said, there is no obvious reason to doubt the integrity of the author. Neither is there reason to doubt that for him the experience of being taken into Heaven was a real one, whatever the more natural explanation. While I doubted the actuality of the initial account, I’m not entirely negative about the rest of the book. Leaving aside the first three chapters as a sincere but misguided account of Piper’s “death”, the frank account of his recovery is a valuable insight into how a very ordinary Christian came to terms with hugely debilitating circumstances and could be a valuable help to others going through similar things.