Recently I was asked to read and critique the book Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo with Lynne Vincent. Although this is not the type of book I would normally read I agreed to do so, since the request was exigent (and I received the book free of charge).
In a nut shell, Heaven Is For Real concerns the “astounding story of [Colton Burpo’s] trip to heaven and back.” However, a cursory reading of the book unwraps a whole host of difficulties with that claim.
A Few Practical Problems
Throughout the book Mr. Burpo claims his son’s innocence as evidence he really did go to heaven since it was after the hospital stay that he began to speak of things no four year old should understand. However, Mr. Burpo tips his hand in the prologue when he tells us Colton had wanted the angels to sing “We Will Rock You” while he was in the hospital undergoing surgery. Now, what this tells us is that Colton was just like any other four-year-old boy who attended preschool, Sunday school and interacted with others on a regular basis. In other words, he had absorbed far more information than his parents seemed to realize. After all, the gay pride anthem “We Will Rock You” is not typical fare for evangelical Christians (or at least it shouldn’t be) and I doubt the tune was played on a regular basis in the Burpo household. The point is, Colton was absorbing plenty of information about the world around him throughout his four years. Indeed, there is nothing Colton Burpo talked about in the months following his experience at the hospital that was somehow beyond his understanding.
This includes his claim he met his “other sister” in heaven. This aspect of Colton’s alleged heavenly visit did not emerge until some months after the event. His parents say they had never told him about the miscarriage, although they had told his older sister. Now, it would require a certain amount of willful naivete to believe Colton had not heard about the loss of the baby prior to his statement about a sister in heaven. I have nine children and I can tell you, kids often pick up on things that Daddy and Mommy are certain they have kept under wraps. Indeed, it is not unlikely that Mr. and Mrs. Burpo specifically discussed the possibility of their baby being in heaven after Colton began to share his story. In any case, this claim of esoteric knowledge on the part of their son is entirely unconvincing. If it is true they had not told Colton about the miscarriage than I have no doubt he figured things out from what he overheard around the home or even at church. Indeed, it is typical for every tidbit of gossip that leaks out at church to soon become common knowledge, whispered about amongst parishioners, often right in front of the very people who shouldn’t know.
Mr. Burpo also uses Colton’s lack of knowledge concerning sashes as evidence his story is authentic. Once again, I find it impossible to believe a 10-year-old (the age at which Colton supposedly learned the definition of “sash”) would be without this knowledge ‘” especially a child raised in the church attending Sunday school regularly, with Bible story books read to him each night.
The same can be said about the light above the heads of the people Colton saw in heaven. Mr Burpo claims his son would not have known about halos yet there are plenty of child’s Bible story books and other commonly available materials depicting saints and angels with auras. Ditto for the wings.
I suppose I could go on (i.e. knowing Jesus has a cousin, the wounds on “Jesus” body etc.) but my point is, none of the things that rocked Mr. Burpo to his core, sent him reeling, shocked him or blew his mind are particularly astounding. Indeed, it would require someone who has little familiarity with children – or people in general for that matter – to find these particular “proofs” so convincing.
A Few Theological Problems
The claim of a heavenly visit followed by a disclosure of the journey is itself contrary to Scripture. The Apostle Paul was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell (2 Corinthians 12:4) but this event was so unusual, even Paul was in danger of developing an arrogant attitude. Thus to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me (2 Corinthians 12:7). Read the rest of the critique at http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Real-Book-Isnt-ebook/dp/B005F19XJ8/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie;=UTF8&qid;=1312176154&sr;=1-8
