A Great Obstacle to
Overcome ~ Is Jeffrey Dahmer in
Heaven?
Dark Journey, Deep
Grace
A book
by Rev. Roy Ratcliff
Book reviewed by Guy
Adams
At first, I did not want to read this book
because it is not my usual area of interest, but I
did it as a favor to a friend of mine, David Gibbs
III, who wrote Fighting For Dear Life – The
Untold Story Of Terri
Schiavo and One
Nation Under God. I waited a month to even
read the book. It is an awesome book.
I recently
finished Rev. Roy
Ratcliff’s book “Dark Journey,
Deep Grace” about a week ago. It
details the hard to grasp, yet true, story of how
one of the most monstrous killers in our history
was touched by God and as a result, became a
Christian.
The
book details the story of how Pastor Ratcliff
became involved in Jeffrey Dahmer’s life and the
story is one of great interest. Pastor Ratcliff
and Jeffrey Dahmer had what I call a Divine
Appointment – one set up by God Himself.
Chapter One
begins by saying “Jeff confessed
to me his great remorse for his crimes. He wished
he could do something for the families of his
victims to make it right, but there was nothing
else he could do. He turned to God because there
was no one else to turn to.”
Indeed.
Pastor
Ratcliff answered the phone in 1994 when another
minister asked him if he could visit and preside
over the baptism of a convicted killer in prison.
He asked who the man was and the answer was
Jeffrey Dahmer. Imagine
hearing that! What do you
do? Jeffrey had
engaged in torture,
murder, homosexuality, necrophilia and
cannibalism. It
is in that light of these awful things that Pastor
Ratcliff still accepted the offer to minister the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to this man, Jeffery
Dahmer, one of America’s
worst serial killers. It is definitely a book
worth reading. It gives great insight into the
kindness and sincerity of Pastor Ratcliff and of
the unlimited forgiving character of the God who
called him to baptize one of the worst killers in
American history. I have been asked a number of
times: could Hitler have been saved? I cannot
answer that wisely enough except to say that it is
God who makes these decisions in concert with the
repentant consent of man.
Similarly,
can Jeffrey Dahmer, one of the worst serial
killers in history; one of the biggest monsters
that humankind can produce, be forgiven and
rescued by God? To our
senses, that seems unimaginable and even
impossible.
It certainly seems unjust. Jeffrey
Dahmer does not deserve salvation. He
deserves an eternal Hell. Yes, he
does.
But
according to the Gospel, Jeffrey Dahmer is now in
Heaven, and that greatly offends our
sensibilities. It seems to breach our sense of
justice -- our sense of right and wrong. How could
God
possibly forgive him? That completely goes
against our grain. But I ask: how could God
possibly forgive me? How could
God possibly forgive you?
Jeffrey does
deserve Hell, but so do all of us. Who among
us has not broken the law? Who among
us has not given the finger, so to speak, to
God?
Who among us has not resolved at some point
or another, to violate God’s laws and do our own
thing?
My pastor is
fond of saying that “A man is going
to do what a man is going to do.” How true.
Dahmer did what he was going to do and yet God
forgave him. Dark Journey, Deep Grace tells
the amazing story of how God’s light reached into
the core of a very dark heart and changed him from
the inside. You will not regret reading this
book.
Jeffrey was
one of those, who for whatever reasons, magnified
his own wickedness. He tortured, abused and
murdered, seventeen men. Jeffrey did not contest
that. How ironic is it that some of his victims
might actually be in hell, yet Jeffrey is now in
Heaven? It doesn’t
seem right, does it? But an
innocent Jesus dying on the cross was not right
either.
God traded
one man (His Son) for another, even though the
trade was not at all equal.
In the end,
how could a God of justice and righteousness come
to reach out to and save a monster of the likes of
Jeffrey Dahmer? Good
question. But He is
also a God of love and forgiveness. Dark
Journey, Deep Grace also shows how one man can
accomplish so much. I highly recommend
it.
The original
title of the book was to be called “I Called
Him Jeff” because Pastor Ratcliff insisted on
calling him Jeff and not Mr. Dahmer, and even in
conversation about him, he always called him
“Jeff”. He mentions that some people have said “If
Dahmer goes to Heaven, then I don’t want to be
there.” Really? What if God holds them to that
remark?
Jesus
said “He who is without sin
among you, let him cast the
first stone.” Jeffrey
committed the most horrific and unspeakable string
of murders in recent memory. Should he
not deserve to rot in prison for the rest of his
life or to burn in Hell forever for it? Yes. He
does.
Fortunately, we serve a God of immeasurable
and unlimited grace. His
capacity to forgive is not bound by human
understanding. Somehow,
beyond the ability of our minds to comprehend, the
all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus is at times, an
affront to our sensibilities.
As Star Trek's Dr. Spock said, “it is
illogical.” And so it seems to
be.
Star Trek III
said “The One for the
many.”
Jeffrey Dahmer going to Heaven is illogical
to us.
But then again, so is my own salvation.
Guy
Adams
Book Title: Dark
Journey, Deep Grace
Author: Roy
Ratcliff with Linda
Adams
Publisher:
Leafwood
Publishers (June 2006)
ISBN-10:
0976779021
ISBN-13:
978-0976779025
Also
available on Amazon.com