Posted on 06/04/2011 11:00:11 AM PDT by marshmallow
Heaven Is for Real
A Little Boy's Astounding Story
of His Trip to Heaven and Back
By Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
Thomas Nelson, 163 pages, $17
WHILE on a family road trip in 2003, a small-town Nebraska boy just shy of four years old survived a brush with death made all the more maddening by how preventable it was.
A simple case of appendicitis took a malevolent turn when medical miscalls, parental errors in judgment and the vagaries of winter travel conditions lead to Colton Burpo suffering a rupture and rampant infection.
Heaven Is for Real, by Colton's father, Todd, a Baptist preacher, with the help of Sarah Palin's ghostwriter Lynn Vincent, could easily have been devoted to examining how such a near tragedy occurred.
But instead, Colton, once restored to health, energy and normal precociousness, offers up a far more irresistible storyline.
In conversation, Colton starts to drop the names of some remarkable religious figures, saying that he had met them in heaven during the moments he was nearest to taking his last breath.
Todd, a pastor at a Nebraska Wesleyan church, wonders about his son's otherworldly comments that pop up in the midst of otherwise normal little-boy chatter.
Being careful not to seed and feed Colton's account, Todd coolly inquires, "Remember when we were in the car and you talked about sitting on Jesus's lap ... well, did anything else happen?"
Immediately rising to the open-ended bait, Colton goes on to describe meeting Jesus's cousin, John the Baptist, and petting Jesus's multicoloured horse. Todd, knowing that Colton could not possibly have had prior knowledge of the experiences and people he describes, interprets the situation as a calling.
"We'd been given a gift and our job now was to unwrap it, slowly, carefully, and see what was....
(Excerpt) Read more at winnipegfreepress.com ...
:-)
Oh, no! Not this again!
thanks for posting
Do you think you will read the book?
Let's see. His father is a pastor, but of course the boy would never have heard about any of these things in advance. Right...
I just finished reading it... while sitting in business class on a plane to Atlanta, sitting next to a soldier heading to Afghanistan for his 4th tour of duty...
I gave the book to him.
It was a pretty interesting read.
The boy was 4 years old... barely. Of course, he had HEARD of these things.... but there's no way a 4 yr old would know the level of detail claimed in the book.
Now.. the father could be "embellishing" the story.... we all have no way of knowing. But, no way the boy made it up all be himself... with such biblical accuracy. IMHO.
So you're saying the pastor is a liar? I haven't read the book, but I did hear this guy speak. I think he might know whether his wife's miscarriage was spoken of or not, for example. There were lots of other examples. Maybe he just made up the things his kid said too? Why don't you allege that?
ML/NJ
He goes into such great detail there is no way he would have learned even 1/100th of it from his father.
The book was a complete game changer for me personally.
Have not read this but plan to. I’d recommend that you try “Glimpse of Heaven” by Trudy Harris. I saw her speak at a Catholic women’s breakfast in Pittsburgh several weeks ago. Amazing. We have such a loving Father.
No, but it's certainly a possibility. He wouldn't be the first pastor to ever tell a lie.
Look, you have to consider every possible explanation. Not just the ones you prefer. Assuming the boy could not have simply internalized the stories in advance, and I don't exclude that possibility, you are still left with several other explanations. Only one of them is that he really saw exactly what the books says. There's no reason to believe this story.
You mean the book goes into such great detail. The boy didn't write the book.
"The book was a complete game changer for me personally."
You should be more skeptical of claims without evidence.
FTR, I spent about five hours at my synagogue today so it's not like I a big Jesus advocate or anything. I heard the father on Steve Malzberg's show. Malzberg is also Jewish and not a promoter of charlatans during my listening experience. Something happened that isn't easy to explain.
ML/NJ
What a bigoted thing to say.
The truth hurts.
Ask Juan Williams.
Well, I saw the father and son on Fox and Friends and it immediately hit me as a hoax and a fraud. The boy was bored and detached and the father was intense and talkative.
But then, I believe it’s the mother’s duty to instill religious values and for the dad to sheepishly and reluctantly go along to church wishing he was home with football and a beer. That was my dad and he was wonderful.
Extremely gullible ones, too!
DU would be more to liking, bigot.
There is another possibility. See Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives.
ML/NJ
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