I’ve got to be honest with you, I read the entire book in a
couple of days. It’s an easy read, but it really makes you think. I’ve been
reflecting on it ever since then. The skeptic in me says that this has got to
be one big scam. The little boy (Colton) never really died (which was a huge
miracle) and that’s usually how people go to heaven. The only answer to this
they gave in the book was that God can do whatever He wants (yes, yes He can.
But that’s also a very convenient excuse to back up their story) and that there
were other people who had gone to or seen heaven without dying first as
described in the Bible. Parts of the
story (if truthful and not fabricated by an over exuberant father or a child’s
overactive imagination) seem to undeniably point to the little boy having
visited heaven. One of my favorite parts was when Colton said that he had seen
his great grandfather in heaven, but did not recognize a picture of him. His
parents were confused, until they found a picture of the grandfather when he
was a young man, and the little boy recognized him because that’s the way he
appeared in heaven. Another part I enjoyed was the father constantly asking Colton
what was wrong with pictures of Jesus, since Colton had seen Him. The little
boy always found something wrong until he saw a picture by a little girl who
has also been said to have visited heaven. Those parts were very comforting and
inspiring and I really wanted to believe the story then.
However, there were a couple of things about the book that
bothered me. The thing that bothered me the most was the way scripture was used
to support what Colton was saying. Of course his story should be held up to
scripture to see if it is true, but it felt like they were forcing the Bible to
match what the boy was saying. Some of the scripture passages were used poorly.
Sometimes they had to really stretch the meaning of a passage to make it match
Colton’s story, or they used a verse with a vague description of something so
that it would fit with Colton’s details. I only remembered one or two instances
of that, but even one is too many for me.
Also, there were statements in the book that I found to be
in direct contradiction to scripture. I researched the following two examples
and discussed them with my husband to make sure I understood the Bible passages
correctly. On page 68 of “Heaven is for Real” (in the digital edition) Colton
says “Hey, Dad, did you know Jesus has a horse?” His father responds “A horse?”
Colton then specifies “Yeah, a rainbow horse.” The only scripture I could find
that described Jesus’ horse was Revelation 19:11 which says, “I saw heaven
standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called
Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” In subsequent verses
the rider is also described as “the Word of God” (verse 13) and as having “King
of Kings and Lord of Lords” written on his robe and thigh (verse 16) so the
passage is describing Jesus. If the passage is describing Jesus, then it very
clearly states that he has a white horse, not a rainbow horse. I also searched
for the words “rainbow” and “horse” using the search tool on Biblegateway.com
and couldn’t find any mention of a rainbow horse anywhere else in scripture.
The second thing that I researched was the purple sash that
Colton says Jesus wears. On page 69 (again, in the digital edition) Colton
tells his dad “His (Jesus’) clothes were white, but it was purple from here to
here” while making a motion with his hands that his dad interprets as meaning a
purple sash. Again, I couldn’t find anywhere in the Bible that says that Jesus
wears a purple sash in heaven. Revelation 1:13 says “and among the lampstands
was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and
with a golden sash around his chest.” Once again, subsequent verses indicate
that John is describing Jesus. And since the passage is describing Jesus, it
clearly states that He is wearing a golden sash. I looked for other occurrences
of the words “purple” and “sash” but didn’t come up with anything else referring
to how Jesus looks in heaven. In the Bible, they did put Jesus in a purple robe
when they mocked him right before they crucified him, so the thought went
through my head that maybe Colton had seen pictures of that, or just pictures
of Jesus in general where he might have been depicted as wearing a purple sash
or robe.
In conclusion, I have to say that my suspicions and research
outweighed my wanting to believe this incredible story. Do I believe that heaven
exists? Yes. Do I believe that this little boy has gone there? I don’t know. I
find the whole thing very suspicious since the family is making money on these
books. They did say they went through a financially trying time. It also
strikes me as strange that although they claim that they wrote the book because
Colton wanted people to know that “Heaven is for Real”, they are making money
on it. It seems to me that if the real purpose in writing these books was to
comfort Christians and inspire non-believers to be saved, they would be giving
the books away, or selling them for only what it costs to print them or giving
the proceeds to a reputable Christian charity. And the fact that there are
pieces of Colton’s story that don’t match scripture really makes me say that
the story is probably not real. It is entirely possible that I may have
misunderstood the passages I quoted earlier, or that Jesus doesn’t always wear
a golden sash but sometimes decides to wear purple, or that the white horse
described in the Bible isn’t the only horse Jesus owns. But the Bible doesn’t
describe things like Colton does, and if the Bible differs from Colton’s
account, then until I get to heaven and see for myself, I have to believe what
the Bible says. All of that being said, I would recommend this book to people
because it really makes you think about, study, and discuss scripture. For
that, I’m giving it three stars. However, instead of buying it, I would say if
you are interested in reading it try your local library.
I am required to say that a copy of this book was provided
to me at no charge from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
