Our day is rampant with blatant outlandish religious deception. Such deceit often comes through various types of religious leaders cloaked with authority. For example, Stephen Scheier, a Catholic priest, gives his alleged NDE testimony of what he claims happened after he died. He states how Mother Mary saved him from hell after Jesus condemns him there:
At the end of his speaking, he [Jesus] said, “The sentence that you will have for all eternity is Hell.” I thought internally, “I know this is what I deserve.” Um, at that moment, I heard a female voice. The voice said, “Son, would you please spare his life?” Our Lord said, “Mother, he has been a priest for 12 years for himself and not for me. Let him reap the punishment he deserves.” At that I heard her say in response, “But Son, if we give to him special graces and strengths and come to him in ways that he is not familiar with and see if he bears fruit. If he does not, then your will be done.” There was a very short pause and he said, “Mother, he’s yours.”
The Bible says:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
Mythical Most Gracious Advocate
Stephen Scheier’s NDE testimony is truly appalling to anyone with even a basic understanding of God’s word. That same Catholic priest also said the following, which centers around the mythical Mary of Catholicism and deifies her:
We have an advocate in Heaven, an advocate to whom God the Father and his Son, and the Holy Spirit, her spouse, are unable to say “No” to. They, it’s impossible for them to say No to her. Isn’t that the kind of person that, that we would like on our side a whole time …
Biblically Tested and Shown Wanting
1. Jesus is our only advocate (1 John 2:1, 1 Tim. 2:5), not Mary.
2. To elevate Mary to such a degree that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit can’t say “No” to her makes Mary the sovereign ruler instead of God! Only God is sovereign.
3. If his experience was true, then Mary becomes the focus and savior instead of JESUS! However, in the Bible God himself and all his servants make Jesus the focus for salvation and other important things, without including Mary.
Possible Reasons For Him Failing The Test
We can’t be sure why that Catholic priest was so far from spiritual reality with his NDE, but such is proof in itself that NDEs are NOT reliable. It is possible that:
1. The priest flatly lied.
2. He had a hallucination, but thought it was real.
3. Demons gave him that Marian vision.
4. Something else occurred, which wasn’t from God.
One thing is absolutely certain. It is impossible that what he stated is from God. Why? Because his testimony and message violently contradict the Biblical message and elevates Mary to an idolatrous level! Since the Holy Spirit inspired the writings of the Bible, for any person to give a testimony, experience, teaching, etc. which is out of harmony with the Bible, proves that the spiritual source was NOT the God of the Bible and void of truth. The Bible teaches devotion to Jesus Christ, not devotion to Mary. The Bible is final authority (2 Tim. 3:16,17). DO NOT BE DECEIVED.
