I don't Believe the "Heaven is for Real" story

[Mary_Ellen]

As the boy’s experience falls under the category of “private revelation” AND it’s not been approved by the Church, I’m staying away from the book and the movie. There are plenty of approved Catholic sources for information about the reality of heaven. I’m just not interested in having to review this or other un-approved material with a critical filter, looking on my own for what may not jive with the Church’s teachings.

I don’t disbelieve that the boy believes what he says is true but there have been any number of people who, despite their sincerity, have been mislead by inauthentic (and even authentic) visions or locutions. I cling to St. John of the Cross’ advice about such things - in general, disregard them all.

 

[KrazyKat]

I am going to see the movie. Not because I think it is true, just because I like “feel good” movies. From what I read here I will skip the book!

 

[DAML72]

Eh maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I’m not so invested to have a definite opinion either way. The only part that stood out in the book, to me that I recall, was that it seemed as though the parents took a while to get him to a hospital where he would actually receive the treatment he needed. I mean it’s been a while since I’ve read the book but that’s the most pertinent event I recall and I found that to be a bit alarming.?
I briefly saw a trailer not too long ago titled “heaven is for real.” Apparently they’re making it into a movie. Don’t know how ‘glamorized’ it will be compared to the book, not that I’ll be seeing it. (Didn’t even get the hype about the book once I read it.)

YES - I couldn’t finish it because I was so angry at the parents. I also thought that the father was incredibly self-involved. He went on and on and on at the beginning about himself and his medical issues.

I don’t know if I believe the story or not, but I don’t think that it was as ‘unbelievable’ as it was supposed to be considering the child’s upbringing. For the father to pretend to know what his son did and didn’t know about Heaven was just silly - I mean, kids notice and hear a LOT more than we think they do. He also would have been exposed to other people of faith like Sunday School teachers, etc

 

[Mr_Clean]

I read this story as well as hundreds of others. IMO most of them are not true to what we believe as Catholics. In fact I think these events are tricks of the devil. You have to pay close attention because the lies are subtle. There are some that are way out there and easily discounted but the ones that people really seem to latch onto are like this one they made the movie about. Often ndes will suggest a lot of “new age” stuff or there will be little or no emphasis placed on Jesus or anyone of the Trinity for that matter. Many ndes suggest there is no judgment, that there are many worlds and we are in a progression of graduating from one world to the next until we reach Heaven.

Now I have dabbled in occult practices and have experienced first hand the abilities of demons to know you and everything about you. I suspect that since you can talk to demons with a cheap Parker Bros game then they can certainly put on one heck of a performance in the mind of someone full of opiates and unconsciousness.

So take a cute little boy and have him experience his fairytail version of heaven. He comes back and tells people he saw his sister that he didn’t know mom had miscarried. People say “this is the real deal”. Now the goofy stuff he says like Jesus on a rainbow colored horse and he’s blonde with blue eyes, etc … The goofy stuff pushes some people away, draws in the nuts. It puts hairline cracks in people’s faith.

Satan’s not dumb.

 

[DAML72]

In fact, it is still pending review. Let’s drop it, ok, before the mods do??

As to the book.

I don’t care enough to have an opinion. NDE stories are wonderful. Still, science could prove tomorrow that NDE is just the dying human head’s last hurrah before the breath in the lungs runs out; so nothing to put faith in.

God Bless and ICXC NIKA

How could science prove that? Is it not possible that the physiological response of the body at death is designed and controlled by God?

 

[GEddie]

How could science prove that? Is it not possible that the physiological response of the body at death is designed and controlled by God?

For one thing, if you take original sin at face value, we are not designed to die!

That is one reason why death is so hideous and shameful.

Also, if NDE is a result of “physiological response of a [dying] body”, then it cannot be a preview of coming attractions that do not involve the earthly body!

ICXC NIKA.

 

[J_Peterson]

I read one NDE that I flat out reject. It was written by protestant minister, Mary K. Baxter. The fact that she is protestant is not why I reject it. Let’s look at some quotes.

-Jesus told me that there is a place in Hell called the “fun center.”

-Soon we came to the pit where the woman was. She was pleading with all her soul for Jesus to take her out of there. “Lord,” she said, “haven’t I been here long enough? My torment is more than I can bear. Please, Lord, let me out!” Sobs shook her form, and such pain was in her voice. I knew she was suffering greatly.

I said, “Jesus, is there nothing You can do?”

Jesus then spoke to the woman. " You would not hear, you would not see, and in anger you turned them away. I placed you where you could hear My Word. But you would not give your heart to Me. You were not sorry, nor were you ashamed of what you were doing. You hardened your heart and turned Me away. Now you are lost and forever undone. You should have listened to Me."

Here we have Jesus talking to a woman in Hell and the soul of the woman is pleading for mercy. Jesus pretty much says, “Yeah…nope.”

At one point in this book, Jesus leaves the woman He is escorting through hell alone with the demons for hours and only comes back after she has been tormented, telling her she would never truly believe in hell unless she experienced it for herself.

Clearly not everything is inspired.

divinerevelations.info/mary_k_baxter_a_divine_revelation_of_hell.htm#More_Pits

Wow, that’s really bizarre. Heaven is us seeing Christ, who is God, face to face. If God goes to Hell, it’s no longer Hell. That woman, upon seeing God, would be in Heaven not Hell.

 

[GEddie]

So take a cute little boy and have him experience his fairytail version of heaven. He comes back and tells people he saw his sister that he didn’t know mom had miscarried. People say “this is the real deal”. Now the goofy stuff he says like Jesus on a rainbow colored horse and he’s blonde with blue eyes, etc … The goofy stuff pushes some people away, draws in the nuts. It puts hairline cracks in people’s faith.

I don’t know or care much about the horse. If our LORD wanted a rainbow colored mount, He can do as He pleases.

I don’t know why so many people seem to choke on His alleged hair and eye color. No, our LORD was not a North American. But neither is it a given that He had dark skin, etc.

Israel was the crossroads of three continents; and there are light-complected folks in the Middle East to this day (not just Euro-Israelis).

ICXC NIKA

 

[EmeraldOak]

I have always wondered if Jesus looks the same to everyone or does He change His appearance depending upon who is seeing him? Maybe He shows Himself to you as He knows we will understand and recognize Him? I don’t know.

 

[LegoGE1947]

I don’t know or care much about the horse. If our LORD wanted a rainbow colored mount, He can do as He pleases.

I don’t know why so many people seem to choke on His alleged hair and eye color. No, our LORD was not a North American. But neither is it a given that He had dark skin, etc.

Israel was the crossroads of three continents; and there are light-complected folks in the Middle East to this day (not just Euro-Israelis).

ICXC NIKA

This past winter at our Parish they had some movie that purported to “document” near death experiences. The movie, I don’t remember the title, talked about people of many different religions and a few with no religion experiencing similar things in their NDEs. After watching it a while, I simply went to sleep til it was over.

 

[GEddie]

I have always wondered if Jesus looks the same to everyone or does He change His appearance depending upon who is seeing him? Maybe He shows Himself to you as He knows we will understand and recognize Him? I don’t know.

He would need to do that, to make sure We know Him, given that none of us were privileged to see HIM in human body!

To those who did know HIM humanly alive, no doubt they saw Him again as the human body they had known and hugged, etc. But even then, that would include Saint John, and … See Rev. 1.

ICXC NIKA!

 

[LegoGE1947]

He would need to do that, to make sure We know Him, given that none of us were privileged to see HIM in human body!

To those who did know HIM humanly alive, no doubt they saw Him again as the human body they had known and hugged, etc. But even then, that would include Saint John, and … See Rev. 1.

ICXC NIKA!

In the 1960s there was a folk song “What Color Is Gods Skin” Some of the words went "What color is God’s skin? It is red, it is yellow, it is black, it is white. Every man’s the same in the Good Lord’s sight.

► 3:35► 3:35
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNpcyxIkZME
Dec 6, 2012 - Uploaded by ThatsEntertainment
Up With People 1983, Cast C - What Color Is God’s Skin. ThatsEntertainment·52 … Watch Later …

 

[J_Peterson]

In the 1960s there was a folk song “What Color Is Gods Skin” Some of the words went "What color is God’s skin? It is red, it is yellow, it is black, it is white. Every man’s the same in the Good Lord’s sight.

► 3:35► 3:35
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNpcyxIkZME
Dec 6, 2012 - Uploaded by ThatsEntertainment
Up With People 1983, Cast C - What Color Is God’s Skin. ThatsEntertainment·52 … Watch Later …

You reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from The Office (it was a deleted scene on the DVD). Michael Scott says something along the lines of: “God is not black or white, He’s every color of the rainbow…which is white…”

Sorry, couldn’t resist

 

[Mr_Clean]

Revelation 1:15 ESV / 101 helpful votes

His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

Revelation 1:13-14 ESV / 85 helpful votes

And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

Isaiah 53:2 ESV / 78 helpful votes

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

Daniel 10:5-6 ESV / 33 helpful votes

I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

Genesis 49:10-12 ESV / 22 helpful votes

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Maybe he looks like Bozo the Clown.

There has got to be an absolute Jesus. Many ndes have reported various versions of Jesus and I have believed for sometime now that its part of Satans plan to confuse the world. If everybody who had an nde came back and said they saw the exact same things right down to the last detail I would believe them all.

 

[Jon_S_1]

Before I begin. Yes heaven is for real.

However I do not believe in Colton Burpo’ “trip to heaven”

I don’t believe in the story because it contradicts other heaven trip stories.

Now this one is my second and final reason (my personal favorite)

Colton says he saw Jesus riding a rainbow colored horse. :banghead:

Was it this he saw (picture below)

This is why I am always a skeptic when it comes to these round trips to heaven and back to tell the tale.

Please note I respect the family and their faith. I just don’t believe the story one bit.

I agree, I read the book and everything seemed suspect. Starting with the fact he was never near death! He just had surgery. His heart never stopped, he was sick and had surgery. Far from a true near death. They should call it a vision if anything… But that would sell fewer books.

The book is obviously evangelical dad’s conjecture. It will be sad, but highly predictable, when Colton is between 25 and 30 due to his own issues as a pastors kid in the limelight, come out and clear up the whole thing.

 

[Jon_S_1]

He would need to do that, to make sure We know Him, given that none of us were privileged to see HIM in human body!

To those who did know HIM humanly alive, no doubt they saw Him again as the human body they had known and hugged, etc. But even then, that would include Saint John, and … See Rev. 1.

ICXC NIKA!

Ummm. We will know. Whether we have eyes or not. You will know.

 

[GEddie]

Ummm. We will know. Whether we have eyes or not. You will know.

Well, you will need eyes, of some kind to see Him!

Even the two men in the account from Luke 16 could see.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Jon_S_1]

Well, you will need eyes, of some kind to see Him!

Even the two men in the account from Luke 16 could see.

ICXC NIKA

Do spirits have eyes?

You are being far too physical.

 

[J_Peterson]

Do spirits have eyes?

You are being far too physical.

Someone with more experience can correct me but I believe that we will be given some sort of means to “see” God after death by God, I forget the technical term. We also have to keep in mind that we will be resurected with new eyes to see.

 

[Jon_S_1]

Someone with more experience can correct me but I believe that we will be given some sort of means to “see” God after death by God, I forget the technical term. We also have to keep in mind that we will be resurected with new eyes to see.

I agree.

I was just posing questions to help Geddie think a little deeper on the issue.

It seems the idea that we HAVE to see Jesus in the way we imagine him in order to know him is denying a lot of miraculous power of God.