Man Visits Heaven, Returns with No Wisdom to Speak Of

Neurosurgeon Dr. Eben Alexander recently fell into a coma as a result of Meningitis. When he woke up, he recounted a "hyper-vivid and completely coherent odyssey" of a journey to heaven:

Alexander says he first found himself floating above clouds before witnessing, "transparent, shimmering beings arced across the sky, leaving long, streamer like lines behind them."

He claims to have been escorted by an unknown female companion and says he communicated with these beings through a method of correspondence that transcended language. Alexander says the messages he received from those beings loosely translated as: "You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever."

"You have nothing to fear."

"There is nothing you can do wrong."

From there, Alexander claims to have traveled to "an immense void, completely dark, infinite in size, yet also infinitely comforting." He believes this void was the home of God.

Wow. I mean, what as astonishing revelation! It's all ok! Whatever little problems are troubling your life, God has you covered! And you, yourself, sinful creature that you may be, can do no wrong!

It's actually this last bit that interests me. The belief that the saved cannot sin, which used to be called the Heresy of the Free Spirit, is now a widely accepted tenet of American evangelical Christianity, espoused by millions of megachurchers. A happy theology for an age that can't cope with the evil within all of us.