The popularity of Heaven Is for Real among Christians is easy to understand—people are desperate to have their faith validated in some way. However, my argument is that it does exactly the opposite and actually undermines our confidence in the source that we do have and can be confident in—the Bible. Most of us who have spent any time in a Bible-believing church are familiar with the concepts that the Bible is inspired (it comes from God) and inerrant (it contains no errors). But when it comes to how we handle the claims made in a book like this, it is critical that we also remember a third thing that Christians over the centuries have affirmed with respect to the Bible: it is sufficient. This means that everything that we need to know in order to be saved and live as followers of Christ is contained in His Word. We do not need anything else. Other, man-produced works (such as biblical commentaries, devotionals, etc.) can be and often are beneficial in helping us to understand the Scriptures and practice our faith, but it is the Bible alone that is entirely sufficient for every believer, in every place, and in every time. The Scriptures are the means by which we evaluate everything else. When we give something other than the Scripture the place of sufficiency for truth and practice, we open ourselves to much error. And that is exactly what Heaven Is for Real encourages its readers to do.
One of the more problematic (and annoying) issues with this book is that it is based on an argument from experience. This always presents a difficulty for evaluating claims like the ones made in Heaven Is for Real because it is very, very difficult to disprove an experience. One can argue with objective things like concrete evidences and facts, but experiences are subjective and eventually always distill down to a “Who are you to tell me that my experience is not real?” kind of plea. It is virtually impossible to disprove an experience.
What is needed for good evaluation of a claim is objective, disprovable evidence that corroborates the subjective experiences. For example, the resurrection of Christ was experienced by the women at the tomb and the disciples, but there was also objective evidence that corroborated their testimony. All anyone had to do was produce the body of Jesus and the claims would have been disproven. In this example, the experience of meeting with the resurrected Christ, an experience shared by numerous people, by the way, is also validated by the concrete evidence of the empty tomb. Such is not the case with the claims of this book. No one can produce any contrary evidence that directly disproves this little boy’s claim to having visited heaven. This very fact should remind us to proceed with extreme caution.
So what does the Bible say about heaven, and do any of the claims made in this book contradict the Scriptures? First of all, the Bible gives us no indication that the claims made in this book is the way God works. Quite the contrary, Hebrews 9:27 makes it quite clear that humans are destined to die once and then face judgment. There are very specific occasions in Scripture in which someone is said to have seen heaven (or Paradise) and then return. For example, in 2 Cor. 12:2-4 a man (possibly Paul himself) is said to have experienced seeing and hearing things in Paradise, but it is significant that the text specifically says that this man was forbidden to tell anything about it. No books. No movies. No fireside stories, period. Another example is the Apostle John, who was permitted to see and record what he witnessed of heaven. How do we know that we can trust the experiences and visions of these writers? Because they are recorded in Scripture. Scripture itself validates their claims. The same cannot be said for the claims made in this book and others like it.
Second, many of the descriptions made in the book are related to the New Earth, not the intermediate state that the Bible says is the temporary location of those who have died in Christ prior to His Second Coming. This is an important distinction. Visions of streets of gold, gates that are made out of pearls, and other things described refer to a place that, according to the Bible, will not exist until the future (Rev.20:1-3) and reflect the theology of campfire songs about “heaven,” rather then what the Bible says about what believers will experience when they die. Other descriptions such as everyone having wings, the angel Gabriel sitting to the left of God the Father, halos, Jesus’ rainbow-colored horse, etc., simply have no support in Scripture. These warm, comforting pictures may make us feel good inside and seem to bolster our confidence in what we have believed in, but in reality they are eroding our confidence in the biblical portrait--the one thing we can be confident is accurate.
Third, we do know from Scripture some things about what will be experienced immediately after death. We know that when we leave these bodies, we will be with Christ (2 Cor.5:6; Luke. 23:43). We know that being with Christ will be better than anything we have experienced during our earthly lives (2 Cor.5:8). While not occurring immediately after death, we are comforted in the revelation that a reunion of sorts will occur at the Rapture (1 Thess.4:13-18). And we know that one day our spirits will be rejoined with our bodies (1 Cor.15:52-53), fitted with bodies perfectly equipped for eternity. The Bible has much to say about life after death, and what it says and does not say is the only source of comfort, joy, hope and confidence. Claims of new revelation that enhance what the Bible says are a temptation in that they seem for a moment to give a sense of confidence, comfort and hope, but like a drug addict who must use more and more drug in order to reach the same high, Christians who seek confirmation of their faith, comfort and hope outside the sufficiency of Scripture will find themselves looking more and more often outside its pages for their next fix.
So are the little boy and his father lying? I prefer to say that what is being said does not present an accurate portrayal of what the Bible has to say on the subject. There is much about the human mind and consciousness that is unknown, and sometimes it can conjure up amazing images that do not always have a basis in reality (e.g.., dreams and nightmares). At the same time, I am the father of a little boy of about the same age as the boy whose experiences are recorded here, and I can say with absolute confidence that little boys have very active imaginations, and are happy to embellish when encouraged to do so or when they are saying what they think someone else wants to hear. Beyond that I will leave to the Lord to judge the motives.
In closing this review I want to return to that word I have used several times—sufficiency. A very real and present danger for Christians is that they begin to seek to find their comfort in the images and visions contained in this book and movie rather than in Scripture. The question of what we will experience after we die is a tantalizing one, and it is normal to wonder about it, especially in times of grief. However, it is vital that we guard ourselves from capitulating to the temptation to validate our faith or find comfort outside of the safety of God's perfect Word, ministered to us by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. A purposeful return to the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture will guard us from making the mistake of seeking to validate our faith through experience, whether our own or another's, and will ensure that we find our source of hope and comfort in the living Christ.
I cannot encourage believers to read this book or view the movie. In fact, I would encourage you to avoid it.
How do you explain the little boy seeing his parents in different rooms and knowing what they were doing while he was on the or table?
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