So HEAVEN does exist...

Richard Owen · Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:23 pm

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Tedd Burpo (review)

This review may be a little...different. It has taken me a while, because after reading this book, I sat back and thought about it. What do I say, and more importantly, what do I believe?

Summary: This book is intended as a true account of a boy who visited heaven, as told by his father and a co-writer, Lynn Vincent.

Writing and Theme: The book is largely written as an account of Colton Burpo, who claims his spirit left his body and went to heaven while he was in a serious operation at the hospital. Over time, he tells of his experiences in heaven with Jesus and other people from history.

I would rather that the father had been the only author, as since this is to be a true account, it is a crucial point to this book's integrity. As there is a co-author, it's hard to tell if she "spiced things up". The work itself is fairly well written, and keeps your attention.

Theological and Topical Points: This is where it gets hard. First, I'll look at it from the skeptical point of view.

Does God really let people see heaven? To be honest, I don't know. In the Bible there are accounts of people going to heaven without physically dying, but they never returned.

In this age and nation, we need to consider other elements. Please don't take offense, but these questions unfortunately have to be asked. Is the boy a pathological liar? Is the father a pathological liar? Is he using his son to be published? Is he using his son to gain fame? Did he omit details and/or explanations for this said miracle, making it to appear in favor of a miracle and in turn, Christianity? How much profit will this book bring the Burpos and their ministry?

I know, it sounds awful, but with all the stories and scams that fly around nowadays, these questions must be asked.

Now from a different point of view, this book is quite inspirational. It provides encouragement and comfort for us, and in that respect, I would recommend reading it. I enjoyed the whole book, and only after did I start to ask questions. But whether this book is true or not, it is a beautiful story. I am not telling you to take it as truth, but maybe view it as a possible miracle. To be sure, it should encourage your faith, and make you search deeper as to how strong your faith is.

Wanna read more? Check out my blog http://bestseller-books-reviews.blogspot.com/
See you there for comments and discussions

Dexter · Sun Apr 10, 2011 3:34 pm

I went to look at the reviews just to see how ridiculous it sounds. From one of the reviews describing what the 4-year-old supposedly told his pastor dad (quoted from the Amazon review):


	Quote: - If you don't have Jesus in your heart, you'll go to hell. - Everybody in heaven has wings, except Jesus. The boy's grandpa has "huge wings". - Born again christians have halos over their heads that can be seen by children that are "pure of heart". - Jesus had his angels sing to the child about the walls of Jericho falling. Did you hear that archeologists?! The Bible got it right after all! - God zaps pastors with power when they preach. - Angels have swords to keep demons out of heaven. - Soon there will be a big war between "bad people", demons and monsters against believers, God and Jesus. Jesus wins and throws Satan into hell. "I saw it dad".

Why, heaven is just like the fairy tales told to children!

tbarron · Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:34 pm

Other questions you might have asked...

I think the most useful teaching on heaven and hell is the one the Zen teacher gave to the samurai. When the samurai asked the sage to teach him about heaven and hell, the teacher's reply was, "What? Waste my time on an animal like you?"

Enraged, the samurai began drawing his sword to strike the teacher's head off. Smiling, the teacher said, "Here opens the doorway to hell."

Realizing the truth of the teaching, that anger is hellish suffering, the samurai resheathed his sword and fell to his knees in gratitude.

Smiling again, the teacher said, "Here opens the doorway to heaven."

Heaven and hell are states of mind.

mainstayministries · Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:36 pm

This is quite interesting.

tat tvam asi · Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:29 pm

Sounds very self evident. Much like Ellen G. White and her so-called "visions" of traveling to other planets and going to Heaven to visit the sanctuary. Most of these "visions" resembled art work images of angels and such which were in her personal library. Also similar was my grandfather dying and being revived and going on to tell stories of being with "The Light" who said "I Am". Did he and indeed these others experience something? I feel that he did, and perhaps them too. But it's bloody obvious that their experiences were the result of social conditioning in life.

uod_sa_libro · Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:59 pm

I'm a Christian, but I don't embrace every book or movie that talk about people seeing Heaven, feeling the Holy Spirit, etc. because I analyze things, too. Mr. Owen has enumerated good essential questions and because of that, I'm going to look for this book and give it a try.

Also, like what Mr. Owens had done, I hope people would keep an open mind when reading books like this. I mean no offence, but there are really some people who are quick to judge a religion based on the deeds of those who proclaim to follow the said religion.

tat tvam asi · Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:57 am

BTW, of course heaven does exist because the word used is precisely the word for the sky. As in when you die you either go up to the sky above or down to below the earth. It started out very primitive and the concept became much more elaborate with time. For a much closer look at this issue watch this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 255272309#

They thought of the sky as multi-layered, as in the old term up to the "seventh heaven". And artistic renderings of "Halos" are actually addressed to apply solar symbolism, something necessary to win over pagan converts mind you. "Winged angels" is a rather obvious mythological concept as well. That all makes for quite the problem when trying to pass off the childs experience as a valid literal experience of literal realms and beigs. These mythic symbols don't actually have any basis in literal reality to begin with, they are of course the substance of the mythos.

Murrill · Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:16 pm

I saw this child and his parents when they were appeared on television. The interviewer did not exactly probe--would have offended the audience to discredit a child , I guess. My own take on it was that the child was being exploited. I can't help but wonder if someone took creative license once he shared what he "saw," or maybe they encouraged him to embellish. Yes, I'm a cynic.
Some other posters have mentioned that the child's "visions" may be nothing more than social conditioning. I'm inclined to agree. Each of us is capable of hallucinations, though our thresholds vary. I have worked with persons with schizophrenia, and I believe that their hallucinations are their own creations. That is to say that what they experience has its genesis in something they have been taught or believe. References to Jesus are not unusual, however skewed. One of my female consumers was found standing naked in the window because Jesus was due to arrive that afternoon. I guess she believed that he really would love her.

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