Week 1: Introduction — Imagine Heaven

1.Burke opens by admitting that many Christians have a vague, boring, or even unappealing picture of Heaven — sitting on clouds, playing harps forever. How would you honestly describe your mental image of Heaven before picking up this book? Where did that image come from?

2.Burke distinguishes between using near-death experiences as a *theological source* and using them as an *illuminating window* into what Scripture already teaches. Why is that distinction important? How does it protect against both dismissing NDEs entirely and over-relying on them?

3.Burke states that his goal is not to prove Heaven exists through NDEs, but to help readers *imagine* it more vividly so they can live differently now. Do you think vivid imagination of Heaven has a practical effect on daily life? Why or why not?

4.The introduction raises the question of why so many NDE accounts from wildly different cultures, backgrounds, and time periods share remarkable similarities. What do you find most surprising or compelling about that consistency so far?

5.Burke notes that skeptics offer naturalistic explanations for NDEs (oxygen deprivation, hallucination, etc.). Without yet having read the whole book, what questions would you want answered before deciding how seriously to take NDE accounts?

6.First Corinthians 2:9 says that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him — yet Paul goes on to say the Spirit *has* revealed these things. What does that tension suggest about how much we can and cannot know about Heaven?

7.Burke's overarching argument is that Heaven is even more amazing than we've imagined, and that getting a better picture of it changes how we live. How does that connect to the biblical call to 'set your minds on things above' (Colossians 3:2)?