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Heaven Is For Real
- 03/28/11
- 120
Embarking on a short tour of the afterlife is all the rage, it seems. Don Piper got it started with 90 Minutes in Heaven, a really bad book that sold millions of copies. Then there was 23 Minutes in Hell, another bestseller and another awful book. And now hot on their heels comes Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. It’s currently sitting atop the New York Times list of bestsellers and has over a half million copies in print. I wonder if I'm the only one who finds it a mite suspicious that now that these books are selling like proverbial hotcakes, more and more people find that God wants them to tell their stories of heaven and hell. Probably not.
Heaven Is For Real is written by pastor Todd Burpo and it tells the story of his son Colton who, at age 4, visited heaven. His visit came while he was on the operating table after suffering a burst appendix. He told his parents his story several months later and his parents then waited 6 or 7 years to record it in a book. That book has shot to the top of the charts, resulting in many of you sending me emails to ask, "Have you read it?" So I went ahead and read it. Because that's the kind of guy I am.
You will probably not be surprised to learn that this is not a good book. What I want to do here is offer a very brief review and then I want to tell you why you can legitimately dismiss this book and all the others like it, because I think that's where many of us feel the tension--what gives me the right to dismiss another person's experience?
I've already given you the broad outline. Colton dies (or something close to it) and visits heaven for an unknown period of time. He returns to his body and over the months and years that follow tells his parents about his time in heaven. He tells about spending time with Jesus, about meeting the sister he never knew he had, about fluttering around with wings, about the pearly gates, and on and on. Along the way you'll get descriptions of Todd's various afflictions and you'll read the fine details of Colton's battles with constipation and the great relief he experienced passing gas. Riveting stuff, this.
Every one of Colton's experiences, or very nearly every one, follows a pattern. He tells his father some little detail. His father experiences a gasp or feels his heart skip a beat. “I could hardly breathe. My mind was reeling. My head was spinning.” A Scripture verse comes to dad's mind that validates the experience. Colton gets bored and runs off. Repeat.
The story is told with short chapters and grade school-level writing. Fine literature it is not. The point of it all is to encourage you that heaven is a real place. Colton went there and his experience now validates its existence. Just like Don Piper went there and his experience validates its existence. Just like Bill Wiese went to hell and can speak with authority to tell you that you really, really don't want to go there. Just like the Apostle Paul went there and told us all about it in order to…oh wait.
Now, what do I do with a book like this one? It seems to me that there are only a couple of options available to me. I can accept it, agreeing that this little boy is legitimate--he went to heaven and is now telling the tale for our edification. Or I can reject what this boy is saying--he did not go to heaven and this book is fictitious. If I go with this second option (which is exactly what I am doing) I now have two choices before me: either the boy (and/or his parents) is a liar or he genuinely believes he experienced something that he did not actually experience. I know which way I would lean, but I suppose that's neither here nor there.
Either option is very uncharitable and each one leaves me with a further problem: on what grounds can I dismiss this as fiction, as a book that is completely unprofitable?
If I wanted to disprove Colton's experience on grounds of logic or consistency I might point in a couple of different directions. In the first place, Colton is a toddler who speaks like an adult. His verbatim quotes sound nothing like a 4-year old, and I think I can say this with some authority as the father of a 4-year old. I'd also point to the fact that dad routinely remembers circumstantial detail that there is very little chance he would remember 6 or 7 years after the fact, something that, at the very least, tells me that he is filling in details where he feels he needs to. But there are better grounds.
The better strategy, I think, is to look to the Bible.
I offer two ways of going about this. First, the Bible gives us no indication whatsoever that God will work in this way and that he will call one of us to heaven and then cause us to return. It is for man to die once and then the resurrection. To allow a man (or a boy) to experience heaven and then to bring him back would not be grace but cruelty. The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it’s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it. And the reason he even mentioned this experience was not to offer encouragement that heaven exists, but to serve as a part of his “gospel boasting.” He saw heaven and was told to say nothing about it. This was a unique experience in a unique time and for a unique reason.
The second ground refers to the reason each of these authors offers--that through their experience we now find confidence that what God says is true. This kind of proof is exactly the kind of proof we should not need and should not want. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. Don Piper insisted that he was called to be the Minister of Hope. If hope is to be found in any person, it will be found in the person of Christ. It is the Spirit working through the Word who will give us confidence in our faith. And what is faith? It is simply believing that what God says in his Word is true. We do not need tales of heaven or stories of those who claim to be there.
If you struggle believing what the Bible says, but learn to find security in the testimony of a toddler, well, I feel sorry for you. And I do not mean this in a condescending way. If God’s Word is not sufficient for you, if the testimony of his Spirit, given to believers, is not enough for you, you will not find any true hope in the unproven tales of a child. This hope may last for a moment, but it will not sustain you, it will not bless you, in those times when hope is waning and times are hard.
So reject this book. Do not read it. Do not believe it. And do not feel guilty doing so.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
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Comments (120)
Amen.
Thanks for posting some thoughts on these types of books. I’ve seen secular and Christian bookstores selling these works for a number of years. Our pastor spoke this weekend on a passage in 1 John 2, where in verse 20 John writes, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you have all knowledge”.
Our knowledge is complete in that we know the truth of God’s precious Word, and with it the revelation of His character and saving work through Jesus. We truly do not need other revelations about heaven in order to be rooted and built up in the faith (Col. 2:6-7).
Thank you for this review. It has been sitting on my bedside table but something has caused me not to pick it up. Thank you, it will now remain closed.
I had the exact same reaction (even though I hadn’t read the book). I had just seen the story on the Today Show. The whole genre of “near-death/I went to heaven”disturbs me.
Like you said, if the Gospel isn’t hope enough for you, if the words of Jesus in John 14 are not enough for you…there is something seriously defective with your view of the Bible.
I too don’t believe this story and stories like this because as you said the Bible doesn’t teach that way. The greatest example for me is when Jesus brings Lazarus back from the dead. He didn’t talk of where he had been, you would have thought that if he had “gone” somewhere he would have been telling SOMEONE of his experience. In fact, the Bible teaches when a person dies, they are asleep in the grave until judgment day. People aren’t going straight anywhere except the grave because they have to wait until judgment day to determine if they live eternally or die. Those are the options. Yea, if anyone was going to talk, Lazarus, I believe, would have said something and he didn’t because he like all dead people are asleep in the grave until judgment day.
Thanks for that, Tim. I mean that, though you just made my life slightly more difficult. My mom — a believer — is quite sold on this book and recently gave me a copy (it’s sitting on my night stand). Now I’m not sure how to address this, and her, in grace and true God-honoring humility. Any thoughts from you, or other review readers?
Thus far I have only skimmed the book, looking for the Gospel. It’s there, sort of, in a few paragraphs, along with all the other details (oh, by the way, Gospel). Now, I won’t critique a book or other product for not telling the whole Gospel start-to-finish — after all, even the individual Psalms don’t do that, but figure into the greater Story that God inspired throughout all the Scriptures. At the same time, shouldn’t such an experience, if authentic, prick the heart of a Christian so that he cannot help but effusively exult in God’s glories and the way He saves His people?
Other books do this, and about the After-world our Savior has promised to bring, and without need for fantastic experiences. Heaven, by Randy Alcorn, is a much better book about the physical Kingdom that awaits all Christ’s people, after the present-day Heaven where even now believers still await resurrection.
Tim,Thanks for sharing this with us. We listen to the babblingphilosophers of this world and now we are expected to listen to a 4 year old. I agree, let’s go to the scripture. It is the only thing that is true and that should be our basis.ThanksMark D
Color me skeptical, too. I’ve been in a couple women’s Bible studies in which the leaders recommended 90 Minutes in Heaven.
Lynn Vincent has always seemed sensible to me. I wonder if she believes in Colton’s experience.
Just one other thing to add (although you’ve already proved the point completely) - - this is just the type of scenario that Jesus tells us will not do one whit to help those back on earth, in the flesh. If people don’t believe God’s Word, they won’t be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. See the parable Jesus told about Lazarus and the rich man, Luke 16:19-31.
I live within 50 miles of the author’s church and it is extremely difficult to say anything even remotely negative about this book and not be seen as a jerk by everyone present. Our church is one of the only ones in the area that will not be promoting it in any way and it has been a hard stand to take in our little town. Especially when church family and even my own family buys into it. Am praying that I can be diplomatic and kind and not push anyone away by my attitude, which is admittedly, a little disgusted.
I appreciate your review and I too think that this book is telling a tale and not something legitimate. But I have a question: What about John in Revelation? He told us about some of what he saw. Why not someone else?
Let’s remember, too, that the audience of this book is not those who already know by faith that heaven is real, but for those who don’t have a biblical foundation for understanding the promise of heaven and eternal life. In this regard, this book is actually destructive because it is more inclined to lead people away from the gospel that leads to heaven. Books of this nature tend to disregard (or even overtly disagree with) the necessary repentance for rebellion against God and submission to Christ on this side of eternity to have any hope of experiencing heaven (which is to say, to exist in the very presence of God for eternity).
The only addition I’d give to this fine review (with a perfect last graph) is to exhort…look for people who are reading this book and engage them in a conversation about the biblical claims of heaven.
The sometimes-excessively-gracious Body of Christ often needs permission to question Christianese marketing (whether it come in the form of books like this or really shallow music), but we need a scriptural basis for doing so. Thanks for providing that.
Marjoe Gortner revisited?-what a shame to exploit a child in that way. He will probably be all the rage for awhile on “Christian” TV. I wonder if he will grow up to hate the Gospel like Marjoe does?Thanks Tim-for the review and the wise advice.
Thanks! But…I admit I am a bit disappointed that any Christian would need to be told off this rubbish…
Thank you for thoughtful review. As a pastor, I have been concerned about this book and how easily it has been accepted by a multitude of professing believers. I have addressed these concerns with our people and still get tons of questions about the book. One thought that continues to come to mind is this (apart from all the clearly biblical concerns that refute the experiences portrayed in this book); I have never, ever, heard Colton give a clear testimony of his salvation. He was four years old when this experience supposedly occurred. Was he genuinely saved at that time? If not, how would anyone be able to approach this young boy and share the gospel with him? I mean, he believes he has been in heaven and sitting on the lap of Jesus!! The whole thing is pathetic and shows and absolute lack of discernment on the part of professing saints.
I was wondering whether those Christian bookstores had reviewed those books before they decided to seel them. And still we can see those books talk about heaven and hell in the Christian bookstores.
Thanks for the review. My husband and I have rejected all kind of books related to this kind of stories. It’s not Biblical eventhough readers can find some verses of the Bible in the stories.
These theme of books is a big deal in third world countries. Maybe that’s why put them on the best seller.
John had a vision, he didn’t go somewhere and come back. The Bible just doesn’t teach that. When Lazarus was brought back from the dead, he didn’t mention anything about where he had been or what he might have seen. Don’t you think he would have said something? When people die, they are in the graves until judgment day. There’s just no evidence from the Bible’s standpoint that people visit Heaven and come back.
The only biblical example we have of a man being caught up to heaven is Paul and it’s very interesting that he was forbidden to tell anything about it. And the reason he even mentioned this experience was not to offer encouragement that heaven exists, but to serve as a part of his “gospel boasting.” He saw heaven and was told to say nothing about it. This was a unique experience in a unique time and for a unique reason.
I never can understand how, when Paul explicitly states that this DID NOT happen to him, people will still say it happened to him. Paul was talking about someone else that this happened to, and made it very clear that it was another man, not himself.
@ConnieYou said..
“When Lazarus was brought back from the dead, he didn’t mention anything about where he had been or what he might have seen. Don’t you think he would have said something?”
That’s an argument from silence. It’s a logical fallacy. It doesn’t prove your point. Just because there is nothing written about what he said about what happened to him during those three days, doesn’t mean he didn’t. It means that the scriptures didn’t record it. Argument from silence.
Second, I was raised as a devout Jehovah’s Witness. I am very familiar with arguments for “Soul Sleep” or “Anihilationism”. They simply hold no water at all. The verses from Ecclesiastes don’t work, because that book is written from the perspective of fallen humanity to show the vanity of life from a humanistic perspective. The Bible is clear that we have an immaterial soul that continues to have a conscious existence after death. Since the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, believers are present with the Lord after death. Unbelievers go to “hades” or “sheol”. All await the resurrection of the physical body on the last day. That is plain New Testament teaching.
For a good, yet small book on this subject read….
Sense and Nonsense about Heaven and Hell by Robert M Bowman JR.http://www.amazon.com/Sense-Nonsense-about-Heaven-Hell/dp/0310254280/ref…
Thanks for your accurate commentary of this dime novel. Unfortuately, it’s nolonger a dime and books 2 and 3 will be selling next week at Kroger alongside the deli meat counter. Is that biblical accuracy I smell, or day old roast beef?
Nancy Green referenced Luke 16 above. This is pretty much all you need to address these near-death experiences.
“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”(Luke 16:27-31 ESV)
Matthew, you’re right, I can’t prove it, but I can believe it. I just think had Lazarus gone somewhere when he died, he would have mentioned it and I think it would have been worth mentioning and recording. That’s just what I believe. No where else is it mentioned people coming and going from Heaven. I don’t believe this book or this child’s story. Maybe it was a dream, I don’t know, I just think the parents are exploiting this and I don’t believe it. Also, the Lazarus story may not prove my point, but it doesn’t disprove it either. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the second coming and those living eternally will then see for ourselves :)
It’s really a shame that people fall for the hype that surrounds books of this type. The media-types like them because they’re like a warm and fuzzy story that they don’t really have to believe in order to promote. They enjoy the ratings; the authors get the royalties and the reader is ripped off and moves on. Very sad.
I don’t know why anyone would need a book to tell them something the Bible makes clear. Or maybe I do know. Easy reading? But it’s a message that won’t really impact and will not last.
Some of us who are authors label over presenting truth with substance. It is frustrating to see these types of books dominate the market … particularly among Christians, who should know better.
My youth minister turned me on to this article, as he enjoyed it, and sure enough I did too. Appreciate the wit and insight of your blog. For myself I must admit, I’ve read “Heaven is For Real” and enjoyed it, too. Grade school language or no. It was a much better read than 90-Minutes in Heaven, and much less of an obvious money-motivated fabrication than 23-Minutes in Hell. Personally, I think “Heaven is For Real” can be enjoyed by Christians, but obviously your point is well-made that it is not Scripture. In our church, we have used the book as a jumping off point in one of our Bible Studies and delved into how the Bible describes heaven, and a few other issues. It has been…. fun. Not much deeper than that. But it’s ok to have fun studying the Bible occasionally.
Who knows? Maybe Colton really did have a vision of some sort. Maybe he didn’t. IF he did, it appears to have been tailor made for him, complete with wings, Bible characters dressed up with sashes just like in the Sunday School Books, lots of kids, animals in heaven, and rainbow horses, etc…. Like John in his Revelation vision, perhaps Colton saw things a certain way because God had a purpose or message behind it. Perhaps the purpose of such a vision in this case was to provide comfort to Colton through a trying experience?
Then again, maybe Todd Burpo embellished for the fame and fortune?
Good thing we’ve still got the Bible.
Maggie,
It seems that living in the same state provides excessive credibility that just isn’t there. (And I will second your observation about having a negative insight of this book…aka…”What do you mean, you don’t want to read this book? It’s so amazing!”) I will be praying for you as you interact with friends, family and church members that are “buying into” this book.
I would also appreciate your prayers, as I am facing a very similar situation on my end of the state. May God’s glory be seen as we lovingly correct and stand for the Gospel in light of this fiction.
I actually recognized the name of the ghost writer before that of the pastor. Vincent has been a contributor to World Magazine and was Sarah Palin’s ghost-writer for “Going Rogue”.
He casually says he was sitting with the Holy Spirit … when he met his great grandfather who had huge wings..
Never mind that the dead in Christ do not become angels at death..
Then he heard the angels singing.. the only problem is the only place angels “sing” is in Christmas songs.. in scripture they “SAY” not sing..
This father is suppose to be a minister.. he says he check what his son said against the scriptures.. I think not
Sad is the man or the church that puts his hope in the musing of a child
Mr. Challies,
Thank you for your comments. I can suggest another reason to reject the false premise and teachings of Heaven is for Real: Satan masquerades as an angel of light — and he is the god of this present-day world.
Mr. Challies, one other comment: I appreciated your restraint in reviewing Heaven is for Real — and exposing its lies.
“Wow Tim, for a mild mannered Canadian, this one was right off the branding irons. You really bit his hide hard on this one. He’s just a kid.”
No, the author is a pastor, a man entrusted to teach the Word of God. If I had a kid that said some ridiculous things, well I would try not to be sarcastic, but I would also not publish him in a book titled something other than “Kids say the darndest things”.
If I were you I would read it as you would any book, with discernment. Give your mom your opinion with love.
Megan,I would really appreciate the prayers, living so close I know more about what this pastor is teaching his congregation, and it is things that he conveniently leaves out of the book because they are blatantly contradictory to biblical truth and would definitely get him trouble. He does claim extra biblical truth and seems to have a kind of a new revelation mentality about his son’s experience. And logically, if everyone who ‘goes to heaven’ sees something different, they are either all lying or wrong, or they are all right and heaven is such a subjective experience that I’m not sure why I should care what yours was since mine will be nothing like it. :)I will admit, these kind of books did lead me to search for biblical truth before I was a Christian, and I honestly hope that God would use this one to do that in other people’s lives. It disturbs me more that Christians who rarely read their bibles are buying and reading and recommending this book to others when there are more than enough wonderful, doctrinally sound books out there to satisfy anyone’s tastes not to mention how available God’s word is today.I will be praying for you too, Megan. Thanks :)
Connie, soul sleep isn’t Biblical. When the Bible talks about sleep, it does so in a metaphorical sense and not a literal one. For the believer, to be absent with the body is to be present with the Lord instantly.
Posts like this one are one of the many reasons why I love this blog.
I also read and reviewed this book. Alarmed that so many in the Christian community felt it was “theologically sound,” I looked at what Colton claimed versus what the Bible said about those claims. My review is here:http://momsinneedofmercy.blogspot.com/2011/03/heaven-is-for-real-astound…
It is interesting (and sad) to see comments where people still take the boy’s experience OVER Scripture.
I hope that this book will cause people to search the Scriptures to see if what this boy said is true or not. I agree with you that his claims are troubling—and the following gained through this book (and that his own dad is a pastor never once shedding doubt on the reality of his son’s “experience)—is also troubling.
Hi KS,
90 minutes in Heaven depicted a Christless Heaven. Burpo’s view of heaven didn’t sound strange in any manner.
Until Challies’ review, I simply had the book pegged as unvarifiable.
I have not read the book and do not have any particular plans to. Having said that, I do think that the arguments offered in the blog are not exactly over-the-top. I also think that the assumption of the readers seeking “evidence” is not generally the case. Christians throughout the ages have always enjoyed their theology being strengthened by various evidences. Of course, Christians aren’t the only ones.
I can remember another news story of a boy who claimed to have been reincarnated, vividly recalling unknown details in which it was argued, he couldn’t have made these things up, therefore reincarnation must be true. I find the story of Colton, an interesting response, although I too remain somewhat skeptical.
Is it true? Who knows? Does it really make much difference? Probably not. Most people tend to be naturally attracted to the sensational. Nevertheless, Christians need to use discernment, both in what they believe and the stars that they raise from obscurity. My concern is for the well-being of Colton, not the readers. If he and the pastor is perpetrating a lie, such attention can be disasterous.
Thanks, Tim, for doing the dirty work for us. People like you, Dr. Mohler, and my pastor provide a blessing and a service helping thousands of us wisely redeem our reading time.
With regard to experiences, I always fall back on what Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1, that we have the Bible and it is superior to experiences. I think personal experience has some value in evangelism, but only to the point that it leads to the presentation of Biblical truth. But beyond that, it really doesn’t have much edifying effect for the Body of Christ, for the reasons you indicate in your review: we are always going to wonder about either the veracity or accuracy of the message and/or the messenger. We don’t have to do that with Scripture.
Some of you ‘anonymous’ commenters aren’t so anonymous.You have linked to your web pages or signed your names ;-)
Stephen Burnett above is quite correct.
In fact, I’ve become so sick of the “have you spoken to him privately” bunch that I’ve decided to delete them every time I catch them. Which is why you can’t find the comments to which Mr. Burnett referred.
Also, for future reference, sometimes a commenter of dubious character will receive the benefit of the doubt, as character cannot always be judged by a blog comment. Anonymous commenters, however, never receive that consideration.
AMEN! I always point out this verse, and my family members who are believers seem to dismiss me when I bring this one up.
(That last comment was referring to Nancy Green’s comment. :) )
“The devil can come all dressed up as an angel of light.”
We don’t know what Heaven is like, but that it is more than we can phathom.
We ought trust in that promise and not listen to accounts which might just be cooked up out of our gray matter, whether we realize that or not.
I love the idea of focusing on Heaven…because it changes the way we live now.Keeps the perspective eternal.Removes the fear of death (for those redeemed by Christ).But—I want to learn what God says about Heaven.That offers real hope.We also really appreciated Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven and even more so…his book for children about Heaven (scripturally based).Read that one to our kiddos about 6 months before our daughter died. It helped so much as we dealt with losing her to think about Heaven as a real place.
“I’ve become so sick of the “have you spoken to him privately” bunch that I’ve decided to delete them every time I catch them.”
Good for you. I too am sick of that nonsense from folks who have no clue how to apply Matthew 18. Its not ‘honest debate’ its simply reflective of their poor exegesis.
I was pondering over this new “testimony from the other side” after having seen the Burpos on Fox and Friends the other day. I know that the book is at least wrong, if not a downright hoax, but in considering how I could defend my position I had to chew on it for a few days. (It’s been a busy weekend- frankly, I let it sit and only just returned to thinking about it.)
It occurred to me that Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus was sufficient grounds to say that God isn’t going to send anyone back from Heaven, particularly a child, to help the world understand His truth. Your points fill that out completely for me. Thank you.
Challies,
Thanks for your review. Just wondering two things:
1) How come you didn’t engage with the book’s topics/experiences at all? You made mention of them in a sarcastic manner, but didn’t critically deal with any of them (for ex. the fact that he knew he had another sister who was in heaven when he had no idea what a miscarriage even was)..unless you’re dismissing all of these as fictitious.
2) What would you say to #20’s case about making this an argument from silence (i.e. because the Scriptures don’t record it, it can’t happen)?