The movie Heaven is for Real is coming out at Easter, and all hell is going to follow. Here’s how I know.
During the past week, this email arrived in my inbox:
The movie, Heaven Is for Real, is coming out at Easter. It’s the story of 4-year-old Colton Burpo’s NDE. His father’s book has been on the bestseller list for more than 3 years. It’s a Christian NDE account, and I flatly predict it will propel NDE-awareness into the stratosphere for the general public – beyond any and all the books that have been written thus far – with the exception of Raymond Moody’s book, Life After Life.
The friend who forwarded the message to me had responded to its author, “This is incredible news…Thank you so much for alerting me.”
At Easter. Of course. And now I was on high alert as well, though in a different direction.
You may have read Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, if only because it is likely to wind up rivaling Agatha Christie for longevity on best-seller lists. In its simplest element, it is a sweet story. The little boy was three at the time of his NDE, four when he began mentioning it to his parents. He said angels sang to him, and he sat on Jesus’ lap .
If the resulting book dealt only with that part of his story, all might have been well. But the child’s father is a conservative Protestant pastor, a biblical literalist. By the time the sincere but hardly impartial father stopped asking questions, and the boy stopped adding details in response to those questions, seven years had passed and the entire project was in the hands of Lynn Vincent, the ghost writer behind Sarah Palin’s memoir, Going Rogue. Further, the relative simplicity of the few original details had grown as the boy grew, into an elaborated account of Christian exclusivity and holy warfare that puts Revelation imagery into the hands of human warriors resembling Marvel comic book heroes.
The book was published in November, 2010. Today, the end of January, 2014, its front cover announces sales of more than eight million copies; of 6,249 Amazon reviews, 84% (5,345) boast four or five stars. The writer of my email message is certainly right about the story’s hitting the stratosphere.
I can authoritatively report that four hours of reading those reviews, while not an exhaustive study, has been exhausting but informative. Not surprisingly, most of the reviewers identify as Christian, though with a wide range of theological perspectives and opinions about the book. What has struck me is that of the four- and five-star reviews, few are longer than two or three lines. In fact, the average number of words is inversely related to the number of stars. Reviews giving one or two stars may run to paragraphs, sometimes pages, as readers analyze their unfavorable views, their reasons for negativity and degree of distress. In fact, reading through pages of reviews is like discovering alternative universes of thought, entirely separate and distinct, with depth of expression thinning out as the stars increase.
Perhaps my favorite quote is this, from a pastor:
Many of my members read this story and loved it because of its immature understanding of God. I find it sad that we continue to produce literature like this that is self serving and fails to capture the real message of Jesus. By the way, I have no doubt that many reading this will be greatly offended by my opinion.
I surely do relate!
Substitute the word Spirit or transpersonal experience for ‘Jesus’ in the pastor’s sentence, and we can lament with him the same superficial and immature understanding that plagues almost the entire world of near-death studies. Consider a view that came to me shortly before the forwarded email. The editor of a well-respected professional journal wrote in his column:
We scrupulously avoided recounting of NDEs by [people outside this field]. Too often these people follow this suspect sequence: report a NDE, write a book on their NDE that purports knowing the meaning of life, the answer to what happens after we die, and confirms that there is a heavenly life after death. Then they start giving seminars, lectures, paid consultations, writing more books, sell DVDs, blogging, and shilling on their website…Like the long ago purveyors of ectoplasm, there is a fringe commercial NDE industry whose testimony lacks credibility.
And here comes Heaven is for Real, the movie. At least in my part of the NDE universe, I tell you, it’s going to be hell.
:
When I first saw the movie trailer, I thought it looked like kind of a sweet story. Then I started checking into it, and I agree with you, this isn’t something that bodes well for anyone interested in getting NDE research accepted by mainstream academia.
Coming from an agnostic/atheist background, I’m often confused by the need to make NDEs conform to some kind of religious ideal. While I can understand the use of words like “angel” and “god” to describe the indescribable aspects of NDEs, I still don’t understand the confidence some people have when using such descriptions to support any kind of fundamentalist world view.
My NDEs have only left me with questions. Probably more interesting questions than I might have come up with on my own, but I certainly wasn’t given a cheat-sheet of answers to lord over the rest of the kids in the class.
Anyway, outside of the US, I’m not sure this movie will have much of an impact. But I do agree it isn’t going to be easy to deal with the backlash in places like the next IANDS conference. It is already quite difficult to find a balance between presenting research and addressing the public interest in these stories at such events.
My gosh, you don’t waste time! The post hasn’t been up more than twenty minutes, and here you are already! Hugs.
And deep sigh about your conclusions.
Take heart, Nancy! There are an awful lot of NDErs out there and most of us don’t have a Messiah Complex. We’re generally pretty darn normal despite some of the unique challenges we face. This is just an annoying blip. Admittedly, you’re much closer to the action on this then I am. But when all is said and done, it’s the average, boring, run-of-the-mill, NDErs-who-aren’t-famous-authors who will win the day. ((Hugs!))
It’s not (only) some experiencers; it’s the media, the general public, the people who are happy to gush over the pretty stuff and never look beneath the surface. Basically, I just get discouraged and..um, cantankerous?…when people won’t think.
Sandy, I am a student of mystics of different faith traditions. One of my favorites is Rumi, a Sufi Muslim. His writings and poetry expressed a very clean, honest experience of Divinity. Then, when you read Christian mystics, you find their experience filtered through the theology of Church at that time. Even as a Christian, I struggled to relate to these more muddied descriptions of Divine experience. It supports that our altered state experiences can be colored by our held beliefs at the time.
I do not see any reason to judge this book or the movie. Most people do not even know what an NDE is, so I feel that by them seeing the movie will peek their interest and also give them hope of the afterlife. I think that you take so much for granted since you have studied this topic for years. For us people with simple minds, it is a Blessing!
Thank you for responding, Merry, and for an important reminder.
Hi Sandy 🙂
You’re an agnost/athesit and you don’t automatically dimiss NDE’s as the brain’s imagination? That’s awesome!
I find myself closest to that label also, however, from my reading of this site and other places I find there is too much evidence that something larger is out there than just the brain and a meat suit.
I was trying to find someplace for atheists/agnostics who believe in an afterlife/soul, but couldn’t find anything.
As for the topic, I used to see the book at Kmart, where I worked, all the time, but never read it. I wonder what that little boy would have told his dad had he not been born into an environment that so heavily indoctrinates its children?
Great post, Nan. I love your articles and the honest way you examine these subjects.
Thank you!
Sorry for the typos. I was excited and forgot to doublecheck.
I meant agnostic/atheist.
Hi K’Sennia,
I’m an NDEr, and I know what I experienced. I can understand why some people would frame such an experience using the word “god” if that was part of the culture they were raised in. That just wasn’t part of my upbringing, although some members of my family do believe that “god” is a possibility. The word just doesn’t feel right for me personally. I think Nancy mentions in her book that the big disadvantage agnostics/atheists have is a lack of vocabulary and context to start from when trying to frame such experiences. We pretty much have to start from scratch.
I don’t think there are any appropriate words for what I’ve experienced in my NDEs. Also keep in mind that although I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced blissful NDEs, I’ve also had a distressing NDE. That tends to complicate things a bit. I’ve gone through both extremes. As much as I didn’t like going through a dNDE, I’d have to say that I do feel fortunate to know both sides of the experience. There is LOVE out there, but there is still a lot more to learn about what comes next.
As for not dismissing NDEs as a malfunctioning brain or some kind of hallucination… The experience is just too real for that. And the scientific evidence doesn’t support that POV particularly well anyway. I think you have to follow the data. I also think that it is pure arrogance to dismiss commonly reported human experiences just because they may open up the possibility for survival of consciousness, or even the possibility of god. We shouldn’t be afraid to consider such possibilities or to ask the hard questions.
Hi again, Sandy 🙂
I think it’s really hard for people like me who have never experienced anything like that sometimes to understand, but I also think it’s arrogant to dismiss it all simply because we can’t understand it.
I think it may be our brains that are the problem because when we’re conscious they can’t comprehend whatever happened outside.
I read an NDE story once that followed along the tunnel and many of the other experiences except the person thought they were either on Vulcan or in some other Star Trek Universe. The person was also an atheist. The person upon waking dismissed it all as if it didn’t actually happen (or at least said that publicly). But I was wondering if they interpreted their experiences like that because they didn’t have the religious allegory to fall back on. The person was also autistic, like me. So that could also explain the difference.
I guess we’re all limited not just by our experiences, but by our ability to comprehend the experience afterward.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your story, and may you have lots of positive things happen to you in the future. 🙂
re: I was wondering if they interpreted their experiences like that because they didn’t have the religious allegory to fall back on…
This is a perceptive observation, K’Sennia. The only way any of us can interpret an experience–any experience–is through what we know. It’s as if we hold up a new experience and then run a quick memory scan to compare it with all our other experiences and those we’ve heard about, looking to see if it fits a familiar pattern. Kind of like trying to match socks. You’re absolutely on target, that people who have a mental category called “Religion” will almost certainly fit their NDE in there; people who don’t have that category will find another one that seems right: “Sci Fi” or “Psychotic Episode” or “UFO.” Thanks for being so clear about it.
I just realized that maybe my comment wasn’t the best. I absolutely in no way meant to mock or offend anyone who has had an NDE. But since I’m just a stranger on the internet I’m worried that maybe my story that I also read from a stranger on the internet might sound bad.
I apologize muchly if I shouldn’t have shared that. I don’t even know if the person who told the story was being serious or not. And I don’t know if anyone who did experience a genuine event would ever interpret it that way even if they were autistic.
I just thought at the time, if it were true, that it sounded kind of cool, and that maybe if one were a huge star trek geek and had aspergers, like me, that maybe their brain could interpret what happened like that? But then I don’t know, really.
I am totally guessing from ignorance here. I get confused because I really like a lot of what I hear from atheists and I admire how smart a lot of them are, but then sometimes I feel uncomfortable too because there is a part of me inside that truly believes there is something more even though I can’t experience any of it.
See my reply to your earlier comment. You’re completely right about your observations about how people interpret their experiences. Well done! And of course, I also think you’re right that there is “something more.” It’s that search for the “something” that keeps us talking!
Yay! I’m glad what I wrote was okay and even made sense. I never know sometimes. “giggles”
Thank You, Nan. 🙂
Heh. I know the feeling! You’re very welcome.
Hi K’Sennia,
There was nothing offensive in your post. It’s OK to question these experiences. I certainly have. 🙂
I wouldn’t worry about it, this data conundrum has been in our faces for just over 5000 years. The problem is, people only want to deal with the information that appeared AFTER the problem began, rather than going back to a time where it didn’t exist, and then pondering how it all started.
It’s easier to deal with the created doctrines and characters than it is to see there was a time they never existed. Like Bacon said: “Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.”
Keep doing your research, and remember – you aren’t going to reach everyone – it just doesn’t work like that. “They would no doubt be excellent students if they weren’t already convinced of their own knowledge.” Quintillian.
Oh hell, it gets worse.
This developing little news item should be nice ‘n ripe for the mainstream press to pick by Easter:
http://tinyurl.com/lmhw3kp
Heaven is for Real (the movie) will likely fuel interest in the sensational aspects of the news story, but few in-depth inquiries about the complexities of the near-death experience itself.
I blame George Hansen’s Trickster. *sigh*
After a slow fall and winter, suddenly there’s too much to write about. I will post something about the Morse situation in the near future.
Not to offend anybody but i dont believe nde’s are real.Real than real feeling is not a proof.Electrical discharge in insula part of the brain in some types of epilepsy cand also give that real than real feeling.
Also the nde testimonies about how is it in the afterlife or about the propose of life are so contradictory to the point they are irreconcilable.Just a trivial example-some see their soul as a point ,or a bubble ,or a human-like body.So what is the real shape of the soul?It cant be all above.This blatant contradictions is probably the best proof of ilusory nature of nde’s.
Not only atheist dismiss nde’s,but also all religions.Christians and muslims thinks they are from satan.Hindus and buddhists see them as ilusions of maya.The best explanation about nde’s i found it in the vaishnava branch of hinduism,whit their complicated “schemes”of material heavens,spiritual heavens,”demonic” heavens,cvasi-material hells and so one.
In fact even religios people cant define the notion of the soul.Platonists will see it as an anti-material thing(all proprieties as antitetis of matter),while others will see it like a material body but whit superpowers.And thats just 2 of many definitions.Yes, nde’s play a big role in greek mystery cults,mahayana buddhism,zalmoxianism and vaishnava hinduism.yet these religions still dismiss in a way or another such experiences.
The fact that these nde beings or experiencers cant give a clear definition about the propose of life better than the ones i can reach whit my own mind ,the fact that i can imagine just as great experiences only whit my imaginations ,the fact they didnt bring any new philosophy,knowledge or information that is beyond the level i already realized, just whit my mental speculation ,show they arent experiences above what the brain can manage,therefore brain can produce them.Sorry for bad english ,not my native language.
Toma, your English works very well. I am sorry not to be able to do the same for you.
There are almost two dozen ways in which NDEs and some physiological activities are similar. None of the biological explanations put forward so far explains NDEs adequately or completely. That continues to puzzle or annoy many people who are waiting for hard facts and definite answers.
If we try to understand NDEs as factual, literal reports describing some kind of location “out there” somewhere, of course there will be great difficulty. It is the patterns in NDEs which are universal across cultures and across time; but like snowflakes, each single experience is highly individual. If you look at the patterns rather than details of particular NDEs, you are likely to understand that they make a lot of sense when approached as powerful expressions of the deep psyche of each individual. The answer to many of the common questions is that these experiences take us right to the edge–and over the edge–of what it is possible for humans to understand, at least at this time in history.
I would be happier with your comment if you did not make such blanket statements as saying that all religions think NDEs are from satan. Yes, *some* people have said they believe that at least *some* NDEs are from Satan. I cannot speak for any faith but Christianity, but a great many Christians do not believe that; in fact, many do not believe that Satan even exists as an entity. Although believers in the more conservative branches of Christianity may look for satanic influences, it is far more likely that most Christians think NDEs are highly suggestive of something true, but that the explanation is hidden in mystery. It is good that you have found in Hinduism an explanation that you find convincing; go with it. Just, please, try to be more accurate in what you say other people believe.
Thanks for joining the conversation. I hope you’ll come back.
.I dont question the existence of such experiences.I question the objective reality of them.The problem whit nde’s is as follow. Suppose everyone go to Paris and visit Eiffel tower.If Eiffel tower really exist ,everybody will see it as big metal pointy spear 🙂 .But what if some will see it as white marble arch, others as a pink building,others as a giant donuts covered in chocolate ,others dont see anything and so one.Just like dreams are contradictory ,illogical and from this attributes of dreams we conclude they are just hallucinations whit non-objective reality ,same whit nde’s.
What is the point of someone going trough the tunnel only to see a giant pair of teeth closing in.Or going trough the tunnel in an ambulance vehicle?
Is more likely that the brain construct a symbolic reality in order to answer the paradox “if im death why im still conscious ?”.That women who saw zombies on the other side also suggest this.What creatures are death yet still alive ? Zombies.Her brain trying to solve the paradox .
Even Eben Alexander experience suggest this .Acording to Mircea Eliade and his book about symbolism ”the muck ”(underground muck of Eben) and the butterfly are also symbols of death.
Huh. Funny. I’m not familiar with the book or movie, and will read or view neither, but I’m aware of the contents from reading reviews and discussions such as this .
But what strikes me most is the vehemence and certainty with which many commenters here attack the book/movie for nothing less than “not telling the story right”. Does no one else see the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty inherent in attacking the story of the boy’s NDE because it doesn’t subscribe to their personal opinions on the subject?
From what I have seen of the unenthusiastic reviews, many are from evangelical Christians distressed because the boy’s story does not align exactly with what the Bible says. For them, the issue is not personal disagreement but a matter of their church doctrine.
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL is based on one case. If you would like something based on a bit more data, check out my online book that my friend Kevin Williams was kind enough to put on his website. GOD IS WITH US: WHAT NEAR-DEATH AND OTHER SPIRITUALLY TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES TEACH US ABOUT GOD AND AFTERLIFE is based on 19 of my previously published articles. You can download it free at: http://near-death.com/vincent.html
And yes there is a chapter on the “Dark Side.”
The general culture is starting to give NDEs some prime time coverage, which is a great sign that we are WAKING UP to find out more about our nature.
My question: Does Heaven is for Real give solid information along with prime time coverage? I do not doubt that the Burpo family believes their interpretation, but they are a conservative Christian family giving the child’s experience a conservative Christian interpretation. In the thousands of NDEs reported over the past several decades, there are common, archetypal patterns, one of which, for instance, includes encountering a benevolent guide. It is quite natural that the guide will be identified later as a presence familiar to the experiencer; so, a Christian child is most likely to identify such a benevolent figure as Jesus. However, looking at a large group of NDEs, it is easy to see that the archetypes are universal, open for interpretation across cultures; it is the interpretation, not the imagery, which may carry a specifically doctrinal religious message.
As readers of this blog know, I am not a fan of the exclusively literal interpretation of any NDE. All profound spiritual messages come wrapped in symbol; to mistake the symbol as factual reporting leads to shallow interpretation and often great misunderstanding.
Has anyone read Dr. Eben Alexander’s Book Life Beyond Death? It’s been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 62 weeks. I’ve read Heaven is for Real and believe that it is a true experienced based on the child’s Christian upbringing. Dr. Alexander’s book is true as well and is based on a Neurologist’s scientific approach to a similar experience. The bottom line is that in all NDEs, there is proof that God or another magnificent energy life force does exist. After reading these books I really don’t think I’m afraid of the death experience. I’d love to hear comments.
I asked Mrs. Bush if it would be appropriate to post my question here as I really like the way matters are discussed in this place, so with her approval, here it goes:
I am very interested in NDE research and I have read a lot o books and articles on the issue so far. One thing that I cannot wrap my mind around is the “reality“ of the beings encountered. I know deceased relatives appear quite often along with angels, jesus, krishna, god…And then there are yamdoots in the HHindu NDEs who do not have much in common with our sweet guardian angels in Western culture, so there might be more going on than just differences in interpreting things. There are demons in the hellish NDEs. And sometimes, which I think is most interesting, people appear that were normally comscious at the time the person had the NDE (not dreaming or even aware that she or he figures in someone’s NDE).
So my question is what to make of it…I do not think it is “fair“ to assume the dead people are real but the living people are a hallucination on the experiencer’s part. Also, if we assume the mytical figures are the same, only perceived a different archetypes is it a justified conclusion given the fact that demons, yamdoots and angels each leave a very different impression on the experiencer? And is it justified to assume that dead people do possess an external reality, but only them, other beings are hallucinated?
I have already discussed the issue with other people. Some assume the living people are real and the living people unconsciously take part in the experience but to me this seems like an awkward attempt to “rescue“ the reality of the experience. One of my theories (I actually have quite a few :-)) is that the NDE and maybe the afterlife reality is purely subjective, like diving into our own minds, consciousness an subconsciousness. That would mean that everything is a creation of our large minds but that no real interaction can take place as all beings are a part of ourself and that we are “alone“ in the afterlife, even if it appears differently. Maybe we incarnate, possibly more than once, in order to experience real interactions and communication with others oppose to ou purely subjective sstate in the afterlife…I know that sounds negative…I would love to hear other people´s opinion about this, especially why living people appear in NDEs.
Also, I thought a bit about hellish NDEs. Could it be that they are mere accidents, like “bad things happening to good people“? That even in the afterlife, you can have gopd and bad days? I am sure that oversimplifies things, just a thought….
[Edited by NEB to insert paragraph breaks.]
Iris, my experience was not at all what I’d come to believe. When a bit past the toddler age I knew God. That He loved me and I loved Him. I was fear-less but nudged if in danger. For example I was in a crawl space and got a nudge. Straight ahead was a Black Widow and crawled away and out. I didn’t do that again!
Just before my 10th year, my mom started taking me to a fundamental Church. I was greatly dismayed at how they presented God as a angry, jealous God but loved unconditional but added conditions so you could get in heaven rather than hell where fire and brimstone one would be for eternally.
When I died, it was hell of total, complete darkness. At one point I stopped and I do not tell what happened to not pollute the minds of other people.
But it was utterly horrible and would NOT want anyone that experience.
I cried out to Jesus and “saved” in the true meaning but rescued is more appropriate.
So, yes, it is a subjective experience. So is rape. Many experience this and though rape is rape, it is not objective.
I am objective when I read NDErs books. All too often the publisher want to hype the truth. And now Christian TV shows have guest NDErs if it is Biblical. If not, the NDEr is coached and they being desperate, seemingly, to be accepted add or stretch the truth.
I read part of the book and when he told his Dad he would battle, I think with swords that read literal, it didn’t feel or seem right. Can’t help feeling his parents coached him. My opinion. ; )
Blessings
In addition to academic problems with portraying NDE’s as proof of the validity of a specific religion, there are also problems within certain fundamentalist communities concerning NDE’s.
After re-reviewing the trailer for Heaven is for Real, I noticed a scene that looks like it portrays a crisis apparition. A Mother sees her son who died n battle, smiling at her during the funeral. Can’t be too sure about this, because movie trailers are notoriously misrepresentative of actual content.
But if this movie does bring up the issue of crisis apparitions, then maybe it will tick off the fundamentalists even more, thus creating an interesting backlash.
Speaking of backlash, it looks like a big chunk of the film deals with the resistance the family experiences from the community. Maybe the movie is better than the book.
One can hope. 🙂
On the bright side, there is another NDE themed movie coming out soon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8DOyx8OjUo
http://ndestories.org/ian-mccormack/
Ian McCormack’s story, alas, is another that has the vast majority of humans consigned to endless torment (see http://www.divinerevelations.info/documents/ian_mccormack/ian_mccormack_glimps_of_eternity.htm if you’re interested in reading what I think is an unabridged written version of it). So if that one is made into a film also and with its fundamentalist aspects intact, the general public might well come to have a rather slanted image of what a typical NDE (if there is such a thing!) is like.
That’s not true at all. Ian McCormack does not speak of a majority humans being endlessly tormented. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOExzFlxjc4
Well, I hope you’re right – haven’t watched the YouTube video you linked yet but I’m sure I’ll find it interesting. Maybe Ian McCormack believes hell is real but a correctional place of torment not unlike the Roman Catholic purgatory?
Here’s some of the text from the page I linked that led me to infer that Ian’s beliefs about the hereafter were in agreement more or less with evangelical Christian teachings on the subject:
“So I said, ‘God, there’s only one person really I want to go back for and that is my mum. I want to tell her that what she believes in is true, that there is a living God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a door and Jesus Christ is that door and that we can only come through him.’ Then as I looked back again, I saw behind her my father, my brother and sister, my friends, and a multitude of people behind them. God was showing me that there were a lot of other people who also don’t know, and would never know unless I was able to share with them. I asked, ‘Who are all those other people?’ And God said, ‘If you don’t return, many of these people will not get an opportunity to hear about me because many will not put their foot inside a church.'”
The interesting thing about Dr. Eben Alexander is that he was a non believer. His experience was quite spectacular.
Esquire Magazine published an article lambasting Dr. Alexander’s experience and made Dr. Alexander out to be a fraud. Well, as it turns out the Esquire article, written by Lucas Dietric, was fraudulent!
It’s really troubling how the pseudo-skeptics out there continue to print slanderous articles based on their views merely to captivate their own readers.
The pseudo skeptics will never be able to refute the empirical scientific evidence which promotes the paranormal and the afterlife.
Dear Nan:
I think that this article you wrote is “extremely” important.
I agree with what you wrote in 99%
Your observations and concepts are very similar to mine.
To such extent that I sent it to ACISTE website to see if they publish it. Is it OK with you?
I have always wanted to write what you wrote, but I have not had the time or patience to do research as much as you did in an exhaustive way.
I think your article is very important, because for educated people, NDE´s are becoming children´s tales, while in indoctrinated, non documented persons, they are taken blindly.
This does great harm to the NDE experience in people who like me are science-spirit oriented and are converting NDE´s into a real circus inwhich to have a good time.
Dina, thank you for sending the article on to ACISTE. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness in doing that, as my mind keeps forgetting its social media obligations, despite my conscious best intentions. So thanks!
I think we can’t spread the word enough that NDEs are a lot more than–your wonderful phrase–“a real circus in which to have a good time.” People will see the movie, as they have read the book, and will come away full of sentimentality, bad information, and misinterpretations. Not to mention bad theology. All sticky, like circus cotton candy.
Enough of my rant! Thanks again. Nice to have you here.
Hi, Nancy!
Thanks for writing this. It is sad because most of the account is a wonderful reflection of how wondrous the other side is. However, the strange statements that start to creep into “Colton’s” story are not reflected in any other near-death experiences that I have heard of. They distort the picture of unconditional love that so many have reported.
One statement that I can’t believe he really “saw” is people lining up to get into heaven and only the Christians being allowed in. He also said he felt sad for the ones who weren’t allowed in, but I haven’t heard of anyone feeling sad once they got into the light about anything, except during their own life reviews, and they most often report remorse.
Thank you for pointing out that the stories became more “Christian,” if judgment and exclusion are Christian, the older Colton got.
I hope the movie avoids these exclusionary statements and lets people know the beautiful, inclusive truth of life after death.
Blessings to you for your continued work to speak the truth, even when it is not the mainstream understanding.
Ann, many thanks for your comment. You’ve pinpointed the big problem, that the christianizing (the narrowly conservative version of Christianity) which takes place as Colton’s story expands is out of step with the great majority of NDEs. To those of us who have been hearing and reading NDEs for years, the incongruity sticks out like Monument Rocks stick out on the Kansas flatlands; we spot it instantly. But then there are those millions of readers who don’t know what we know …
Yes, it is very sad, because the little boy’s actual experience was sweet and believable. Like you, I am hoping fervently that the producers have toned down the partisan nature of his later descriptions. No one else has heard of people lining up, either, or being sad in the light.
Sigh. We keep on keeping on! Hope all’s well with you.
Apparently Marvin J. Besteman’s book My Journey to Heaven: What I Saw and How It Changed My Life (which I haven’t read but have read a fair bit about) likewise tells of the author seeing during his NDE a line of people outside heaven’s gate, along with the apostle Peter checking to make sure that each person awaiting entry had their name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (can’t risk people slipping into heaven who don’t belong there, after all!).
Doubtless many or most folk here who didn’t already know will not be surprised to learn that Besteman, too, had an evangelical background.
Jon, I suspect no one here is much surprised by Besteman’s background! And as for your other comment about giving people a “slanted image” of a typical NDE, that is indeed what has so many of us disturbed by this recent surge in published evangelical interpretations. I have a post in preparation that will also go on the IANDS website and in their newsletter, addressing that issue. Doing it tactfully, of course. We’re not out for religious conflict, only to minimize the fear for folks who aren’t from that background.
I just saw the movie. Nothing so cosmic about it or the message at the end. Personally, the best part was at the very beginning and the very end, about the cryptic way they presented yet another young person who had visions.
Thanks for your report. I haven’t seen the movie yet, and am relieved to hear people say it’s less doctrinal than the book.
Neither have I heard about Colton’s having visions since the NDE…but agree, people who know about such things say they lessen with age. Again, thanks.
A curious thing….
There’s no report of Colton having visions. If he does, I figure his visions will lessen as he gets older. the girl who painted that famous Jesus picture also has lessening visions.
Just like me.
My last visions (albeit scary ones) stopped when I was in my mid 20’s.
Hi Nancy,
I wasn’t planning on seeing this film. Admittedly, my taste in cinema leans more towards Godzilla than quiet movies like this one. But it wasn’t a bad movie at all.
I was visiting the Rhine Research Center in North Carolina, and two of the researchers from the RRC took me out to see the movie as a nice break from all the work we had been involved with. I wasn’t expecting to be all that impressed, but it turned out to be an enjoyable show.
The movie doesn’t get into the evangelic POV at all. It’s a very sweet story about how a little boy’s NDE affected his family. Even though they didn’t do a great job of showing the NDE itself, I liked the fact that it wasn’t blurry. For some reason, the media often equates ineffable with blurry. and NDEs are anything but blurry. The emphasis was on the Dad’s story and how the NDE seemed to test his faith. But the movie wasn’t preachy about talking any particular religious stance.
I was pleasantly surprised.
best wishes,
Cherylee
There is a great deal of evidence that small children in traumatic situations have experiences of spirit in which they encounter entities and landscapes. Because this is common, I believe that Colton could very well have been telling the truth when he first told his parents about his sense of interacting with presences during an NDE. (I don’t believe this necessarily involves his having gone to a “place” in the usual worldly sense, though he might have described it that way.) Some time after recovery, he told his parents about it. The adults were understandably curious, but problems began when their questions became more and more religiously specific. I believe their questions far exceeded the scope of his actual experience, which led to imaginative answers to please the askers. I do not believe a four-year-old “invents” an account like his original, simple report.