Is this teaching biblical?
Jesse Duplantis claims to have visited heaven for five hours, met Jesus, Abraham, Paul, and other biblical figures. Unlike Paul who was 'caught up' and could not tell if it was in body or spirit, Duplantis gives elaborate, theatrical details. And conveniently, everything he 'learns' in heaven confirms his prosperity theology. Paul warned against those who 'delight in false humility and worship of angels' based on visions — 'vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.' Duplantis has built an entire ministry on an unverifiable vision that contradicts Scripture.
What did Jesse Duplantis say?
"I went to heaven and I saw Jesus. He showed me around. I met Abraham, I met Paul... I was there for five hours."
Speaker: Jesse Duplantis
Source: Close Encounters of the God Kind, Jesse Duplantis Ministries
What does Scripture actually teach?
2 Corinthians 12:1-4
"It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven... how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
— NKJV
Paul's heavenly experience was marked by RESTRAINT: he couldn't tell if it was bodily, he heard things 'not lawful for a man to utter,' and he rarely spoke of it. Duplantis is the opposite: elaborate theatrical details, five-hour conversations, and he makes it central to his ministry and book sales. Paul's humility versus Duplantis's showmanship reveals which is authentic.
Colossians 2:18
"Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind."
— NKJV
Paul warns about those 'intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.' Duplantis claims detailed knowledge of heaven's layout, conversations with the patriarchs, and five hours of touring. This is precisely the vain puffing up Paul warns against — making claims that cannot be verified but elevate the speaker.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22
"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak... that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken."
— NKJV
How do we test prophetic claims? By whether they align with Scripture and whether their predictions come true. Duplantis's 'revelations' from heaven conveniently support his prosperity theology — which contradicts Scripture's teaching on wealth and contentment. A convenient revelation that contradicts the Bible is not from God.
Galatians 1:8
"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed."
— NKJV
Even if an ANGEL from heaven preaches a different gospel, that angel is accursed. Duplantis claims Jesus Himself showed him around heaven — yet the 'gospel' he returns with is prosperity theology that Paul condemned. If even genuine heavenly messengers preaching false doctrine are cursed, how much more those who fabricate visions to support greed?
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