Msgr Pope ping
I saw the movie last week and I liked it. It is simply a dramatized report of a little boy’s near death experience and that is all that it is. People need to keep in mind that the NDE of a child who has not, in theory anyway, sinned because he has not yet reached the age of reason, is going to be different than those of an adult. Howard Storm’s NDE was horrifying.
I didn’t see the universalism angle likely because in my mind when someone says Heaven is for real, it implies that Hell is too. Who goes where and how many nobody knows. As Bishop Fulton Sheen says: “There will be three surprises when you get to heaven. You will be surprised who is there, you will be surprised who is not there, and you will be surprised that you are there.”
The part of the movie I liked the most was when the kid told his mom that he had met his “other sister” in heaven. This sister was a miscarriage that the kid had never been told about by his parents. His mother had been skeptical of the her son’s nde until that moment. That must have been quite shocking for her. I thought it was a prime moment for the movie to make a pro life statement but it left that one hanging. Too bad.
This is a rather weak article, imo. Both Msgr. Pope’s comments and those in the article he discussed would have more weight if any of those commenting had read the book or seen the movie they’re analyzing. (I haven’t.)
This is not to say that Msgr. Pope’s theology or cultural observations are incorrect, just that tying his comments to “Heaven Is For Real” is a stretch.
is Msgr Pope expecting to win hearts and minds with this? I understand his points but he doesn’t know his audience. I, as a practicing Catholic, read the book, watched the movie, and enjoyed it. The point that Msgr seemingly misses is those of us who believe in God and Heaven can have doubts and a small child helps erase some of those doubts.
Good Lord. Three people were in Heaven that was mentioned in the movie. The father of the pastor, the baby that the couple lost and the military person who was killed in action. How on Earth does that explain EVERYONE goes to Heaven. I hate people who bash these movies. Just watch the dang thing. I saw it yesterday. Was it an Oscar winner? No way. Was it a nice little movie? Yes. I actually like God’s not Dead better but big deal.
"While it is true that children can have beautiful spiritual visions, the accuracy of those visions cannot be guaranteed, and surely they are in very childlike categories, which often lack important distinctions, etc.
However, I'm sure that he believes in and teaches as fact, the visions seen by the 3 children at Fatima.
Ping!
If you read the book, it talks about hell. The boy said that afterwards he saw people “Who were not God’s”, and that they are not going to heaven unless they repent.
The book was not all lovey dovey (though that is what most remember).
Christ said “many” will go to hell, and “few” will go to heaven:
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Is that really the case, though? I wonder if "heaven is for everyone" could mean that, while some won't make it, it's God's will that everyone would.
what always gets me when people have out-of-body experiences in the hospitals, they come back and said they saw their relatives in heaven, my question always is that how can they see their relatives when it’s their souls that are in heaven and not their bodies?