A few years ago I read the book, Heaven is for Real. It’s an account of a 4-year-old boy, Colton, who claims to have had a near death experience, visited heaven, and later returned to talk about it. After I read the book, I thought, ‘That’s entertaining, but not much spiritual value.’ I doubted the event actually took place.
Now that the movie version is coming out this week, I must speak up. Everybody is entitled to their position – right or wrong. My opinion is the book should be in the fiction section of the bookstore. I’ll give you the three reasons that convinced me.
1. A Unique Experience of Life, Death & Heaven.
The only completely reliable book about life, death, and Heaven is the Bible. In the Bible a number of people died and returned to life (Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, etc). But none of them talked about it. A few people ‘saw’ Heaven in a vision, came back, and wrote about it (Isaiah, Paul, John). But it is unsure if these three actually went to Heaven, or just had a vision of Heaven.
Paul’s account of his ‘journey to Heaven’ is in 1 Corinthians 12. Four things must be noted about his reaction to his experience: (1) He talked in the third person, even though it was likely him. (2) He was not for sure if he was ‘in’ his body or ‘out’ of his body. (3) He was not permitted to talk about what he saw or heard. (4) He was given a ‘thorn in the flesh’ to keep him humble after what he saw. ‘Heaven is for Real’ is an opposite reaction to all four of Paul’s reactions to a visit to Heaven.
If Colton actually went to Heaven, it a completely unique experience that is not verified in Scripture.
2. An Unbiblical Vision of Heaven.
The only people in the Bible who described Heaven were ‘prophets.’ Prophets were people who spoke authoritatively for God. The test of a true prophet was 100% accuracy. If a man claimed to speak for God, and proclaimed something that was untrue, he was to be rejected (Deuteronomy 18:30-32). God’s prophets were to be 100% accurate when speaking for God.
The book’s depiction of Heaven has some unique and bizarre claims (Jesus’ rainbow horse, the Holy Spirit is blue, angels with swords protect Heaven from Satan, Gabriel sits beside God, etc). But it is the false descriptions of Heaven that bother me.
- Colton was so afraid while sitting on Jesus’ lap, that the angels sang to comfort him (p. xix). Heaven is a place of no fear, especially on Jesus’ lap. Nowhere does the Bible say angels sing.
- Jesus had a crown with a pink diamond (p. 66). Jesus does not currently wear a crown (Rev. 1:12-16). However, He will wear many crowns when He returns.
- Jesus’ robe was white with purple sash (p. 65). Jesus is dressed only in white (Rev. 1:12-16). The only time He wore purple was before His crucifixion (Mark 15:17, 20).
- Everybody has wings (p. 72). Only archangels are described with wings. Angels and people don’t have wings. Christians will be like Jesus (Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2) and Jesus doesn’t wear wings.
- Colton prayed for his father to have the Holy Spirit (p. 102). If his father was a Christian he already had the Holy Spirit in him (John 14:16-18; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19).
- The Holy Spirit is in Heaven shooting down power to preachers (p. 126). The Holy Spirit is on Earth now (John 16:7-15).
- A final war between Jesus, angels and good people vs. Satan, monsters & bad people (p. 136). Christians will be in Heaven during the Tribulation time of God’s wrath. Jesus fights the final war, not angels or Christians.
Because of these and other inaccuracies, I cannot endorse the truthfulness of any of the book.
3. An Unlikely Journey
Proverbs 30:4 asks us several questions: “Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name–and his son’s name? Tell me if you know!” The answer to these questions is ‘only God and His Son, Jesus.’ Not a 4-year-old boy.
Some may argue that God is using this story of Colton and other similar stories to help people in their faith. However, in Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who went to Hell and wanted someone to return from the dead to evangelize his family. His request was denied. He was told the Scriptures were sufficient. If people will not believe the Bible, they will not believe someone who returned from the dead.
Believe the Bible!