This morning I read this review of the book Heaven Is For Real. I have read this book a few weeks ago and had no intentions of writing anything about it. But I will offer some thoughts.
1. The hype built up with this book, the fact it is a bestseller, people saying all kinds of things, is no different than The Shack, 90 Minutes in Heaven or the controversial Love Wins going on now as well. The latter more of a theological discussion, serious indeed. So my point? It’s not new!
2. The book claims to be non-fiction, a true event of a 4 year old who dies for who knows how long, goes to Heaven and comes back. The dad starts finding out things this child has seen in Heaven and assessing them whether they are true or not. It happens that the child is right on with everything he has seen. So this is interpreted as a gift of God to them, a glimpse of Heaven. Now they share the story. Is it true? I have no idea. I am a skeptic. I need verifiable truth. Look, the kid was 4 years old. Am I just going to believe the 4 year old or the dad without any verifiable data such as intensive scrutiny of the assertions from third parties? By the way, there is one man in the Bible who went to Heaven (He wasn’t really sure if the had been dead or not) and came back but was forbidden to speak about what he saw (2 Corinthians 12:2). I wonder why.
3. Let’s suppose it is true. Does this means it is from God? How do you prove it? Can you find any Bible passage to support extra-biblical revelations? Given, the book does not say any heretical stuff. It does mention extra biblical things, such as people in Heaven with wings something never mentioned in the Bible. So you say this helps prove the Bible is true. Do you need a story like this to be sure the Bible’s truth about Heaven is true? Jesus said: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29-NIV).
4. Could a story like this be true but not be from God? The Bible says that The Deceiver dresses himself as an angel of light: “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)
There are other stories been passed around as God appearing here (or a girl having visions of heaven and then drawing them) or there, healings, etc… Could this be from Satan and not from God? I believe so. But you say, “They are harmless and they point to God.” Do you think Satan knows how prone we are to believe experiences, especially when they support what God says? Why would he do this? I believe he will use anything to distract us from The Truth of God’s Word. Once the does that he uses this as an opportunity to make us shallow, to water down the Gospel, to compromise and the list goes on. Read Galatians and see what happened in this church. Most heresies don’t start with great distortions, they start with simple deviations from The Truth of God’s Word.
5. Christians are compared to sheep in the Bible because we are followers (and they are dumb too). We love following other people, some are great Christian personalities. We breathe and live everything this person gives us. We follow trends (go to a Christian bookstore and see for yourself). As sheep we are not very good with discernment. And yet, this is what we ought to do. Have discernment. Be a Berean. See if things are true. Questions things your pastor says, preachers say, your church says, books say, and blogs say.
Should you read this book? It’s really up to you. I enjoyed it, it made me feel good. Like I said before, I am a skeptic about these types of book. This one read like a novel. For me, it is just a book. But this is just me. I am a bibliophile.
BTW…if you want to know what the Bible says about Heaven, read this book but you should definitely read this one. I dare you. Why wouldn’t you if you are willing to read “Heaven Is For Real”?
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I enjoyed your commentary. Thanks for pointing to the true Source. I read the book yesterday and have since been interested in what other Christians are thinking about it. I liked the book, but some of the 'revelations' threw me off, mainly the ones you mentioned. Back to the Bible for me. I may check out the books you recommended.