Notes about this rewrite...
Preface
It did. I was fascinated and wondered why the whole world didn't know about it. The answer was palin though - it was almost unreadable. You couldfollow the story if you worked at it, but many parts were completely incomprehensible without a dictionaryin your hand. I wondered why someone had not rewritten it.
For years I took it with me to read on holidays. Each time I did I thought that one day, when work was quiet, I might rewrite it myself. It never did get quiet so I began anyway, hoping to complete it in a year. It took three, labouring first with dictionary and thesaurus and then with a red pen on progressive rewrites. My wife Noeline, seeing my frustrations in the rewrites, joined me. A master of crosswords and word games and a voracious reader, se was invaluable.
In my humble opinion the whole world should read this story. Some will think it wierd. Others will be utterly inspired. But everyone should read it - and with an open mind too. As the original publisher raved in the language of 150 years ago, "to read it is to be benefitted".
Dennis Prince.
Introduction
Her story was put into print and the original publisher observed cautiously, "Edition after edition has been published and passed silently into the hands of the reading public." And so the remarkable story became widely known.
A hundred years later the book was still in print, but the difficult language led to a decline in its popularity. It was wordy, complex and flowery - far more so than the language of the time. Modern readers baulked at words like fain, preponderating, effulgrence, habilments, dissever, behooves, and vouchsafed; and phrases such as a "sable veil of nether night", "indulgence of propensities and reversion of the movement of destructive tendency". Only the most tenacious readers made it to the end and most of them would have missed many gems that were locked away in the difficult words and phrases.
This book is an attempt to capture the original story in the language of today. In making this rewrite, every effort has been made to preserve the original intent of the story. The reader will find some sections still alittle formal, a hangover from the original language that was difficult to erase completely without compromising the integrity of the original. In spite of this, the story retains its interest and fascination.
The following background has been summarised from the supporting testimonials of the original publisher, family, attending physician, Marietta's pastor and other ministers of the day. Their testimonials appear in close to their original form at the end of the book.
Background to the story
Seven months after the revival Marietta suddenly and unexpectedly fell into a trance which, remarkably, lasted nine days. During this time her family and their doctors were unable to arouse her. When she finally regained consciousness she had full control of her faculties and described with almost supernatural perception how angels had conducted her spirit to heaven and hell. She described extraordinary scenes from these places in graphic detail.
Marietta made it plain that her vision was given for a specific reason. She had been instructed to tell the world so that men and women could prepare for the next life.
Marietta died seven months after the vision - at the time and in the manner she predicted.
Supporting Scripture
I was praying and "in a trance I saw a vision".
When I was praying "I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking".
"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to melike a trumpet said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this'".
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.".
Our first child died suddenly when he was four months old. That was a really bad time and family and friends gathered around and supported us. One of these friends was a lady a few years older than us, called Elva. She sidled up to Noeline and myself one day and shyly gave us a brown paper parcel. In it was an old copy of this book. She thought it would help.
Marietta Davis was born in 1823, in Berlin NY, USA, where she lived with her mother and two sisters. At 25 years of age she experienced a vision that made her the talking point of her community and a legend for generations to come.
A religious revival in their home town had impacted the livesof Marietta's mother and sisters but had left Marietta unaffected. Although she had thought about the issues involved, she was not a religious person and was not interested in discussing these things.
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know - God knows. And I know that this man - whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows - was caught up to Paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell."
Paul, speaking of himself (2 Corinthians 12:3, 4)
Peter (Acts 11:5)
Paul (Acts 22:17)
John (Revelation 4:1)
Peter repeating the words of Joel (Acts 2:17)