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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 
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Comments (120)
I am similar shoes. A dear friend of ours just yesterday told me how amazing and incredible this book is, how she could not put it down, and how much she is learning about heaven — like did you know that the one who sits on the “other side” of God is the angel Gabriel?
I just smiled and nodded, said I’d heard of the book, and kept my thoughts to myself. I didn’t think she’d appreciate me asking, “God has a side??? I thought Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. And really? A four-year-old? My 3 1/2 year-old tells fantastic stories without a figment of truth in them!”
I’m grieved and don’t know what, if anything, to say to her, either.
I’ve had two separate conversations with people this week who were justifying bad theology with anecdotal NDEs. (Near Death Experiences) Atheists and agnostics often reference them as well.
The information about NDEs isn’t really the problem, but how we evaluate it certainly is. Thank you for turning to scripture as the lens through which we view the world, Tim. It seems so simple to get on the wrong side of that glass, looking at the Bible *in light of* what we think we see.
I wonder what that little boy’s 30-year faith (something Piper speaks about) will be like. How terrible if he begins to doubt, having built his belief primarily on this rather than on scripture.
Just FYI for those trying to figure it all out…I write everything on the blog. But I think you know that if you’ve been reading the blog for any length of time.
But I do have some help with administering comments. David has kindly offered his service in that regard and does a great job moderating comments. I’m very much indebted to him in that regard.
We don’t erase comments that take issue with what I say. We’re not in the business of running away from the responsibility that comes with publicly posting reviews or other articles. However, we do tend to erase comments that are going to swing the conversation away from the topic at-hand. The nature of blogs is such that the comments can very quickly devolve if not keep relatively on-track. It’s for this reason that we also tend to lock the comments after about 100 of them; it’s rare that a blog conversation can remain useful after that point.
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.
I don’t think that as a reader and a reviewer I’m under any obligation to provide an answer to those kinds of topics or experiences. Just because it is a “Christian” book I don’t think I need to believe that the experiences are legitimate. As soon as we start to try to answer those questions (For example “Dad lied and made the whole thing up” or “Satan told Colton”) we’re into a losing game.
As for your second questions, there are all kinds of cases where we need to argue from silence. When we take the overall testimony of Scripture, when we let Scripture interpret Scripture, I think we quickly find that this is not consistent with how the Lord reveals himself to us. He tells us to take him at his Word, not to put our confidence in the testimony of a little boy.
I know that the book is at least wrong, if not a downright hoax…
I think we have to at least be very open to the possibility that the book is a complete hoax. Time will tell. It certainly would not be the least bit unprecedented in the history of the church to try to pull a fast one on other Christians. It’s not so hard to do.
Connie, just a quick question. Where did Jesus go after the cross and before the resurrection? To hold that people are “asleep” after they die would assume Jesus’ humanity was asleep after He died on the cross and thus rent His humanity from His deity apart which does violence to the hypostatic union.
I thought about the fact that the Bible does not include any testimonies of this kind. Visions of the throne and of the Lord and the four and twenty elders and angels, yes, but nothing of a testimony of someone who “died” and came back. However, how do we explain his knowledge if his miscarried sibling?
Tim — Your explanation has no context here. Any relevant posts were deleted. No one knows what on earth you are even addressing. David took care of that.
Wrong, and wrong, since Tim provided quotes and then answered them. You know, like I did here. Now, unless you have something to say that actually engages the topic, without speculating about character and motives, let it go. And get your own name. I’m pretty sure your parents didn’t name you “Sonny’s right.”
“The better strategy, I think, is to look to the Bible.”
Mr. Challies, for once I disagree with you. :)
The ONLY strategy, is to look to the Bible.
It is question of the doctrine of revelation: How does God reaveal truth to humanity? Scripture is the only source of specific revelation about God.
Excellent and timely review,Tim.
Next on your list to review: The book ‘Jesus Calling’ by Sarah Young. Another bestselling doctrinal disaster….
“It certainly would not be the least bit unprecedented in the history of the church to try to pull a fast one on other Christians. It’s not so hard to do.”
Indeed. Google “Crying Wind” sometime.
I actually enjoyed the book and I don’t feel bad about or more stupid for reading something simplistic.
I had not heard of this book and have no plans to read it now, but one thing that has always interested me about this type of material is that the so-called eyewitness accounts of Heaven have so much diversity to them. Thank you for addressing this, Mr. Challies.
Wow! I was just this morning going to look to see if you had reviewed this book. It was brought up in my Sunday school class yesterday and all of the ladies were going on about it and the boy who appeared on the today show. Sometimes I feel like the only person around with any discernment. Thanks for the review so I don’t have to read it myself.
Next on your list to review: The book ‘Jesus Calling’ by Sarah Young. Another bestselling doctrinal disaster….
Andrew, I’d been waiting for Challies or some of the A-List Reformed Superstars ( ;-) ) to review that book! When they didn’t — maybe because there is truly not much point to it! — I went and did it for myself. If you’re interested, here it is in two parts: An open letter to ‘Jesus Calling’ readers.
“Soul sleep” is a belief that after a person dies, his/her soul “sleeps” until the resurrection and final judgment. The concept of “soul sleep” is not biblical. When the Bible describes a person “sleeping” in relation to death (Luke 8:52; 1 Corinthians 15:6), it does not mean literal sleep. Sleeping is just a way to describe death because a dead body appears to be asleep. The moment we die, we face the judgment of God (Hebrews 9:27). For believers, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). For unbelievers, death means everlasting punishment in hell (Luke 16:22-23).That quote is from gotquestions.org Here is the link:http://www.gotquestions.org/soul-sleep.html
Like!
THANK YOU for listening to those of us who emailed you and asked you to review this book. (You even finished it before I did, I still have a few chapters to go!!) You stated perfectly all the problems I have seen so far in the book but could not put into words. EVERYTHING we need to know about heaven has already been written down, and the title of that book is HOLY BIBLE. If Christians have to read books like this to “feel good” about heaven then I find that totally tragic. I am grateful that I can pass along your review and tell my friends, ‘WHAT HE SAID!’ =) Thanks again, God bless.
Excellent review. Thank you very much.
A woman at work was just raving over this book, as I tried my best not to cringe. I checked out my favorite, time-saving blogger/reviewer and, presto, my inward cringing was validated. I am praying for opportunity to add the objective truth of heaven, based on God’s truth, to my co-worker’s crutch of subjective, tantalizing tales.
It is sad that God’s very Word is not sufficient for many who claim to be Christians today. Regardless of its reception, the Scripture is indeed sufficient so that the man of God may be equipped for every good work. Praise God for the good gift with which He has blessed us!
I just finished the book. I’m glad I read it just so I can know what all the hub-bub is about, but since it clashes with how I interpret scripture, I can’t believe it.
While not denying that Colton may have had some kind of experience, it doesn’t match up with scripture (as I see it).
Scripture always trumps someone’s personal experience.
May God use this review to show that this book and books that explore subjects like this as what they are.
I have a family member - Their Christian walk has slowed to a snail’s pace. I genuinely believe that she wants to believe, but has no support from her immediate family (husband and kids). She holds her family up as an idol, so she gives in and doesn’t really pursue a walk of her own - she rightly desires that her entire family be gung ho, and they are just not interested at this time.
Because she doesn’t have a strong church family, she has turned to what I call “Inspirational Fiction” such as this. Recently she asked if I knew of any books that would help her understand my Reformed beliefs - I said yeah, Romans and Ephesians to start, but offered her “Putting Amazing Back Into Grace.” She offered “90 Minutes in Heaven” and “Heaven is for Real,” which I struggled through both of them. She didn’t even get through the first chapter of the book I offered - it was too difficult for her. Yet these books, written on a grade school level and including a little bit of humor, are easy for her to understand, thus she equates that with truth.
What the scary thing is that there are people who believe this stuff as much as they believe the bible. I am thankful for this review because it has put some things into words that I have not been able to.
It’s my understanding that the central message of the book is “make a decision for God”. I’m unclear as to whether the message of the Gospel is ever shared.
Thanks for your review, Tim.
A Men!
Not to start an issue but when pple die, they don’t sleep … but being away from the body, they are with the Lord. They are the cloud of witnesses, e.g. in the story of rich man, Lazarus and Abraham, the dead are transported somewhere. In the Book of Revelation (before the judgement) the souls of those slain are asking God how long until he judges the earth ergo, they are awake, emotional and time concious.Please see Randy Alcorn’s book - Heaven - or his website epm(dot)org if further interested.
I was thinking the exact same thing!
Thanks Nancy I reposted your comment on my Facebook, I posted a link in my status. Excellent addition!
I sent Tim’s critique to a family member who recommended the book. Here is her reply: “… I don’t doubt that this was a 4 year old boy’s experience. Obviously it is not to be exchanged for biblical truth, but I don’t find it to be in opposition, but a hopeful picture of what we have awaiting us. God is so much bigger than we are and if He wants to reveal himself to a child then that is up to Him. I have never had trouble with things that take great faith to believe like God creating the world in 7 literal days with the words of His mouth, etc. … I find it hopeful, comforting, and it has deepened my faith in God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ; however, I am a simple person. I don’t enjoy quibbling and debating over things that I don’t think are that important. I liked the book and appreciated the encouragement.”
@ Spoco,
To add to the tragedy, I’m quite certain Michael Horton wrote the first edition of Putting the Amazing Back into Grace, which was accepted for publication, when he was in his teens.
Tim Challies said: As soon as we start to try to answer those questions (For example “Dad lied and made the whole thing up” or “Satan told Colton”) we’re into a losing game.
If a reviewer were to challenge certain statements or claims that you made in your new book, I think you’d look at it a bit differently. If someone were to basically call you and your family a bunch of liars or truth stretchers, you would have every right to expect that reviewer to give at least some kind of plausible explanation for such a bold charge. If the accuser said, “well, I’m not going to provide any plausible reasons to base my accusation, because that’s a losing game”, I highly doubt that you’d accept that as a reasonable or acceptable answer. Nor would I.
If Colton’s story is not true, then his family did in fact concoct some kind of elaborate hoax. Especially with regard to Colton’s vivid description of his grandfather, who he’d never met before.
Ex-lib: the argument that “God is bigger than all this” doesn’t fly when His Word repeatedly says that He cannot change. Nothing that God reveals will ever contradict that which He has already revealed, period. They say that they don’t find the book in opposition to the Bible; it doesnt matter what we find so much as to whether the book actually is in opposition to the Bible. It is easy to find no contradictions when our knowledge of a subject (I.e. The Bible) is shallow.
It is interesting to note that they refer to things that they don’t think are important. What we think doesn’t matter is subordinate to what the God says matters. If we think something doesn’t matter and the Bible places importance on it, who is wrong?
Hi Danny, I was intrigued by your comment that it wasn’t Paul but someone else, so went to the passage referred to in 2 Corinthians 12:1-6. At first glance, I agreed with you, but the more I read it, especially in context (one should always read a passage in context) I realized the Paul was in a situation where he wanted to get his point across, but not be boastful, so he humbly used an “I know a man…” approach. So when you look at it in context, it can be no one other than Paul that had this experience.
I then checked 4 or 5 commentaries that I trust, and they all said the same thing. It was Paul, he wanted to relay the story, but not be pridefully boasting about it.
Ben, the person I quoted has a simple, child-like faith. She thinks it’s a waste of time to argue over theological nuances. Her love of Christ, His Word, and His people would put most Christians to shame. She is not shallow. The issues raised by this book may seem earth-shatteringly important to some people, but in the grand scheme of Biblical revelation, they probably are not. She has the discernment to know which hills are worth dying on.
I did not call anyone shallow, I merely said that to say that this book does not conflict with the Bible we must have a fairly shallow (i.e. not deep) knowledge of the Bible. This book does contradict some major (not minor) Biblical themes, and that is a huge issue.
You say that “She has the discernment to know which hills are worth dying on.” Are you saying that I don’t?
If you see these sorts of things as hills ranging in size, I can see why perhaps you wouldn’t want to “die on every hill”, but ultimately these sorts of false teachings are the first steps down the road of heresy.
You are right, this is not earth shattering, it is just another old false teaching that will rise and fall with the rest. Christ will build His Church.
“This book does contradict some major (not minor) Biblical themes, and that is a huge issue.”
If I may, Ben, I’d like to ask that you specify these themes and how the book contradicts. It would be a great help to all (including myself) who want to know, more precisely, the Scriptural shortcomings of the book. Thank you!
I agree with KS. What’s up with Lynn Vincent? Why would she sell her soul to write this tripe? I’m deeply disappointed in her.
I really have a lot of problems with these sorts of maudlin books. An American pastor’s kid sees heaven and it looks like Sunday school heaven! Maybe this is really what the little boy saw, but given how we now know that kids can be prompted to invent memories to respond to repeated questions from adults, I think we can safely say that credibility of this entire project is so badly damaged that most observers would scoff at this. You need Oprah-grade sentimentalism to get behind such a story as this. I feel bad for little Colton though, I think he’s being used, and I fear that he may reject Christianity thinking that it was Christianity itself that turned him into a publishing stunt. Books like this one are more damaging to Christianity than anything like The God Delusion or what-have-you.
As parents, we need to protect our children from being taken advantage of. It would probably have been better if Colton had written down his experience and allowed it to stand the test of time. If it was in God’s plan for it to be revealed, it would become more and more clear. And, if it is real, it will not go away.
You have to wonder if the experience would have been taken so seriously if we were not in an era where it is so easy to publish a book and gain fast attention. At the same time, there are so many important stories out there that would benefit people but never get told.
Thom Hunter
http://www.signsofastruggleblog.com/
The sufficiency of Scripture is what I was referring to. This theme is found throughout the Bible, and refers to the Word of God being sufficient for all matters (not necessarily comprehensive - dealing with all things - such as building a combustion engine).
Do we need more than the Bible to show that God exists? That heaven is real?
The reason this issue is important is because it undermines the sufficiency of Scripture and it’s ultimate authority in the believer’s life.
I hope that helps Richard.
Like those you disagree with, I think it was Paul speaking of himself.
should have said @Danny
Someone gave me a copy of 90 Minutes in Heaven after the death of our fourteen year old son. They meant it to be a comfort - it was the very opposite. I read a couple of pages and it made me physically ill. This type of book is NOT comforting to someone who has dealt with the loss of someone in their life.
I am keeping this anonymous because it is this type of story - someone recounting an “experience” they had had in the hospital, near death, and shared how they never felt closer to God - that caused our son to attempt to “almost” die. Unfortunately, he succeeded. These types of stories are not only untrue, they can have tragic consequences.
Lazarus may have said something about his death experience, but it isn’t in the Bible because the Holy Spirit did not inspire anyone to write it. The Lord reveals in His Word all that we need to know - for now. That is all I need.
Although I normally believe your reviews are thoughtful and careful, I have to suggest that I believe you’ve dismissed this book account a little too flippantly because you wanted to. I am also truly skeptical of these stories and think it is wise of us to be so, but I know this family personally and know that they have worked hard to seek scripture and God’s truth in this experience.
Are they human, have they handled this experience perfectly, should they have made it public? I don’t know the answer to that question - but they are not liars, they are just a simple family that had an extraordinary experience that they believed they were called to share. They have sought to vet the stories with scripture as best they can and I don’t think deserve this simple dismissal. They have not claimed that Colton died like Paul, and have never tried to elevate Colton or this experience to the level of scripture, but simply share.
Again, I understand your hesitation — but not the flippant attitude of dismissal. Rev Burpo may not be a pastor of your “flavor” or some of your commentors, but he is not some emergent type pastor dancing on the edges of scripture either. I know it sounds like I am trying to make the “if you only knew them” point, maybe I am. But in all reality, Burpo would have been as skeptical as you prior to their experience.
I do appreciate your dedication to holding to scripture and thank you for sharing your reviews.
Was thinking you might have found a good one. Thanks for spilling the beans in the first line of the third paragraph. Didn’t waste my time on the rest of the article and appreciate the flag on the book.
Thanks for this Tim - the book was recommended to me just last night - I didn’t know anything about it. You’re absolutely right on the dilemma of how to respond - you sound so heartless, it seems like you are accusing this sweet little boy of lying. I have thought of this over and over again, every time someone tells me about a vision they had or God speaking to them - why is it that Paul actually went to heaven, saw the visions and would not speak about them? What makes these people different from inspired authors of Scripture?
Interesting the positive comments on Randy Alcorn’s book. We did it awhile back in Sunday school. I couldn’t take it that the teacher and participants were treating this silly book as gospel truth. I had to drop the class.
As for Heaven is for Real, we don’t attend his church, but know the family on a casual basis. They aren’t the kind that would perpetrate a hoax, especially at the expense of their children. Something did happen to Colton. Is the book accurate? I certainly can’t say. I do know they are in a whirlwind right now, and maybe the publicity machine, which I partly blame on the publisher, has really gotten wound up. Hopefully, the furor will die down soon and this nice family can get back to the real work they are called to-shepherding a congregation.
A friend, who lost her teenage son recently, was telling me about this book. I had heard about the title, but thought it was someone’s answer to the “Love Wins” book that has recently been published. When she began talking about it, I remembered seeing the little boy & his father on Fox News, and not paying much attention to it, but rather dismissing it.After reading this blog, I hurt even more for my friend because she has looked to this book for comfort in her son’s passing, and getting less comfort from God’s word than from this book. I fear to share this with her in her current state of grief would be cruel, yet then again, to let her go on believing untruths, and possibly dying herself, would be even more cruel. What in the world should I do?