What do you think?
Rate this book
Heaven and Hell Unveiled: Updates from the World of Spirit
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 Stafford Betty, a university professor and international expert on afterlife research, answers these questions.
- GenresNonfictionSupernatural
170 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2014
31 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Stafford Betty
16 books12 followersI taught undergraduates religion and philosophy for 35 years before discovering what I came on Earth to do: write books about the meaning of life and beyond. With a Catholic background and a Ph.D. in theology from Fordham University, I was well equipped to do this but had been bogged down by the demands of a professorship. Once freed, the books began to flow, both research books and novels based on the research. My most popular book, The Afterlife Unveiled, describes the word beyond death in the words of those who are there. The Womanpriest, my latest book, a novel set in the future, tells the story of the first female pope and the radical changes she brings to the Catholic Church. It will offend strict traditionalists but reward progressives who, like me, are never quite satisfied with things the way they are and are eager to make them better. I have five children, three of whom are very close to me and keep me young, and my wife keeps me solidly grounded in the reality of the moment.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 9, 2014
Stafford Betty, as a professor of religious studies at a major State university, has been able to watch religious history unfold from one of the most prestigious vantage points in American spirituality, and that perspective is evident in this book with impressive source material and a very useful Index.
"Heaven and Hell Unveiled," is the latest in a number of acclaimed afterlife books by Dr. Betty; and this one flows with perceptiveness and an instantly captivating appeal while it dissects without apology messages purported to come to us from the departed. As a tantalizing collection of spirit-world experiences relayed through mediums—spanning primarily the 19th to the 21st centuries—this book covers a telling void in our culture’s struggle to redefine its unfolding spiritual identity. The research that has gone into it renders the subject exhausted by no means, but it is solid, concise and will leave one in admiration of the author’s solicitude for what lies behind death’s door.
From the Judeo-Christian perspective, however, it may be for some a challenge to read, due primarily to a culturally entrenched fear of “the dead”, and an inherited Puritan disdain for spiritualism (the belief that the dead can communicate with the living, especially via a medium). Whether one holds it in disfavor or can be open enough to hear him out, I’d say the book is safe enough unless faith or constitution is just too brittle. But a quick look at just one other national pastime should signal an important self-reflection: films abound today (which we admit we watch!) taking far greater liberties with who and what spirits are and what it’s claimed they are saying—and that’s just for the sake of terrifying and entertaining us. Here, we are offered something besides Hollywood fluff; and Stafford Betty truly tries to educate on this unique and important issue.
Included are sensitive subjects many readers may be troubled with and perhaps unsuccessfully have sought answers to, with chapters covering Judgment, Suicide and the “Dark Side” to name but a few, with relevant afterlife messages relayed quite persuasively. True enough, the author is unafraid to sprinkle his viewpoints throughout, too, as in the Conclusion where it’s offered that Christianity has turned to an impoverished preoccupation with “believing” and “beliefs”, and that Christ “is not some unique supernatural eruption of Godhead…but a prototype of what we all are.” Granted this is heady stuff for some; and perhaps a bit of acid on steel for others.
Overall, the book’s message is that our beloved departed are telling us something vital—they “advance” after death, away from formulaic views and staid orthodoxy, toward a consistent “meta-religion” bearing one simple truth: it is character, not belief, which governs one’s place in the next life. But haven’t right character and moral codes seen tumultuous variation over time: from freed Israelite slaves’ subduing of Palestine, to desert monks, Crusaders, and Inquisitions, to Witch-burnings, Conquistadors, and the Moral Majority, to the Jesus People, televangelists and pro-life nuns? Certainly if one’s credo is entirely inconsequential, readers will wonder how doctrinal religion got it all wrong. Does it really boil down to a final score sheet balancing selfish or openhearted lives? The book offers few hints to these keenly relevant questions, and no windows open up on how “good people doing bad things they truly believe are for good” will play out in the Big Picture.
Still, the book's scope and richness compensate for these minor omissions, and keeping to a non-sectarian outlook and a conversational tone, Dr. Betty presents a revelatory vision, for better or worse, of what may be expected when we breathe our last and come face-to-face with the approaching eschaton. His book is thought-provoking, at times unsettling, but never lacking in power, beauty and utter sincerity. I would say it’s seldom that—if indeed the dead do speak to us—a book conveying such preternatural things could be presented with more vivid persuasiveness. In the final, “Heaven and Hell Unveiled” is an example of what I have in mind when I think of what Jonathan Swift once said: “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Indeed, this book is vision.
"Heaven and Hell Unveiled," is the latest in a number of acclaimed afterlife books by Dr. Betty; and this one flows with perceptiveness and an instantly captivating appeal while it dissects without apology messages purported to come to us from the departed. As a tantalizing collection of spirit-world experiences relayed through mediums—spanning primarily the 19th to the 21st centuries—this book covers a telling void in our culture’s struggle to redefine its unfolding spiritual identity. The research that has gone into it renders the subject exhausted by no means, but it is solid, concise and will leave one in admiration of the author’s solicitude for what lies behind death’s door.
From the Judeo-Christian perspective, however, it may be for some a challenge to read, due primarily to a culturally entrenched fear of “the dead”, and an inherited Puritan disdain for spiritualism (the belief that the dead can communicate with the living, especially via a medium). Whether one holds it in disfavor or can be open enough to hear him out, I’d say the book is safe enough unless faith or constitution is just too brittle. But a quick look at just one other national pastime should signal an important self-reflection: films abound today (which we admit we watch!) taking far greater liberties with who and what spirits are and what it’s claimed they are saying—and that’s just for the sake of terrifying and entertaining us. Here, we are offered something besides Hollywood fluff; and Stafford Betty truly tries to educate on this unique and important issue.
Included are sensitive subjects many readers may be troubled with and perhaps unsuccessfully have sought answers to, with chapters covering Judgment, Suicide and the “Dark Side” to name but a few, with relevant afterlife messages relayed quite persuasively. True enough, the author is unafraid to sprinkle his viewpoints throughout, too, as in the Conclusion where it’s offered that Christianity has turned to an impoverished preoccupation with “believing” and “beliefs”, and that Christ “is not some unique supernatural eruption of Godhead…but a prototype of what we all are.” Granted this is heady stuff for some; and perhaps a bit of acid on steel for others.
Overall, the book’s message is that our beloved departed are telling us something vital—they “advance” after death, away from formulaic views and staid orthodoxy, toward a consistent “meta-religion” bearing one simple truth: it is character, not belief, which governs one’s place in the next life. But haven’t right character and moral codes seen tumultuous variation over time: from freed Israelite slaves’ subduing of Palestine, to desert monks, Crusaders, and Inquisitions, to Witch-burnings, Conquistadors, and the Moral Majority, to the Jesus People, televangelists and pro-life nuns? Certainly if one’s credo is entirely inconsequential, readers will wonder how doctrinal religion got it all wrong. Does it really boil down to a final score sheet balancing selfish or openhearted lives? The book offers few hints to these keenly relevant questions, and no windows open up on how “good people doing bad things they truly believe are for good” will play out in the Big Picture.
Still, the book's scope and richness compensate for these minor omissions, and keeping to a non-sectarian outlook and a conversational tone, Dr. Betty presents a revelatory vision, for better or worse, of what may be expected when we breathe our last and come face-to-face with the approaching eschaton. His book is thought-provoking, at times unsettling, but never lacking in power, beauty and utter sincerity. I would say it’s seldom that—if indeed the dead do speak to us—a book conveying such preternatural things could be presented with more vivid persuasiveness. In the final, “Heaven and Hell Unveiled” is an example of what I have in mind when I think of what Jonathan Swift once said: “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Indeed, this book is vision.
April 3, 2018
Stafford Betty has probably done more research into heaven and hell than any other university professor on the planet. What is unique about his research is that he has based his understanding of what heaven is like from actual spirits who have crossed over and communicated through clairaudients, often gifted people they knew while still on earth. And this communication is not something novel or new, it was been going on for centuries. Many, many souls who have crossed over have a longing to keep the channels of communication open, and to help us understand what heaven is like, so that we can prepare while we're still on earth. A common theme is that the more service we can perform to others while on earth, the better prepared we will be once we cross, since service to others doesn't stop when we get to heaven, and is essential for the evolution of the soul and our own sense of peace, love and fulfillment. Heaven is definitely not a place of idle pleasures where we constantly sing praises to a lofty Creator. It is a place of infinite joy and possibilities, and many levels or mansions that our soul can aspire to. Important reading if you're curious as to what awaits us on the other side.
July 29, 2015
The rating says just about everything that needs to be said.
Heaven and Hell Unveiled is littered with half-baked theories; pseudo-intellectual posturing, and new age, self-help mumbo jumbo.
Give it a miss and spend the time with the kids...or doing jello-shots.
Rating 1 out of 5 stars.
Heaven and Hell Unveiled is littered with half-baked theories; pseudo-intellectual posturing, and new age, self-help mumbo jumbo.
Give it a miss and spend the time with the kids...or doing jello-shots.
Rating 1 out of 5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews