Heaven and Hell Unveiled by Stafford Betty
I interviewed Stafford Betty, professor of religious studies at California State University, for a piece I wrote about reincarnation for Reader’s Digest (it will be in the October issue). He provided one of my favorite quotes for the piece, and I would have loved to use every word he gave me but I had to stay under a strict word count, alas.
But I just learned he recently came out with a new book, Heaven and Hell Unveiled: Updates from the World of Spirit. It will be wonderful to have access to all his thoughts! From his email to me:
“Heaven and hell—are they real places, or are they fantasies invented to inspire good behavior and overcome our fear of dying? In this book I share what thirty years of research have taught me. I allow deceased human beings, our “spirit friends,” speaking through reputable mediums to describe their actual worlds. And what they tell us would revolutionize the world’s religions if they would listen.
“They tell us our brothers and sisters in the afterlife are not “resting,” as Christian theology often asserts. Those we call “the dead” live in a world of infinite possibility, and their wills are as free over there as here. They are busy beings, and some are climbing toward higher realms while others languish. Suffering in the afterworld, not just joy, can be intense; it exists to awaken souls to their mistakes so they will long for the happiness of those higher spheres, where corruption doesn’t exist …
“The religions we’ve fashioned here on earth could all use an upgrade. They are moons that derive their light from the central sun. This book is about that sun.”