I was given a copy of this book to read by my "mother-in-law" when she visited for Thanksgiving. I feel it is a harder book to review simply because of the nature of it.
The book itself is an easy read. The chapters are relatively short and switch between being independent and building up from the previous chapter. There is nothing fancy about the vocabulary, making it very easy for anyone from a child to an adult to comprehend. The subject matter is far from thought-provoking in an educational perspective, but stimulating on a theological plane.
The book revolves around Colton Burpo and a medical emergency that could have resulted in his death but rather resulted in him having a miraculous recovery after traveling to heaven. Colton's father is a pastor and gets very excited to learn about what his son has seen and heard in heaven.
While reading the book I found myself constantly questioning the authenticity of the author's claims. I do believe that Colton experienced something special, that God gave him a gift of life and a glimpse of what we encounter when we die. My issue with the book is that I almost feel it is more the story of the dad being a pastor than of what his son experienced. The pastor seems to forget that the Bible was written 400 years after the death of Christ and that there are things that historians has proven wrong. Every single thing that Colton experiences, his father relates to at least one passage in the Bible. When Colton tried to explain the stake marks that Jesus received from being crucified, Todd forgot that they would actually be in his wrist and not his hands (as is almost always portrayed incorrectly by artists). Todd says that since he is not Catholic there was no way Colton was exposed to any depiction of Jesus being crucified and therefore he had to have really met Jesus in heaven. For me, I think that Colton saw something but that he saw his parents react to him telling them what he saw and he may have created false memories of heaven to please his parents, especially his father. We are all sponges as children and even if Todd does not believe his son was listening, it is impossible for a child to not pick up on all the bible stories his dad reads him every night or the prayers they pray together at meals or before bed or the sermons he preaches every Sunday at church. While there are things, like knowing his great grandfather's young face, that are unexplainable and must be the work of God, there are too many holes in other parts of the story to believe it all to be true. So, in the end, my opinion of the book is that Todd wrote more than what Colton experienced because Todd is a pastor from a small town who has extensive money troubles that his congregation took care of and he needed a reason to stay relevant and keep his job.
I also want to add, that I saw the movie prior to reading the book and the two really are so different. Since it seems the Burpos were involved in the making of the movie, I wonder how much of the book is real and how much of the movie is real. In the book, Todd seems so excited and calm about his son's experiences, in the movie he obsesses and almost loses his job over it. In the book, it seems that people rejoice over hearing Colton's stories, but in the movie people are weary about their pastor preaching that his son went to heaven and came back to tell people what it was like. Todd's character is much more likable in the book, but in the movie he is comes off much less "preachy" because he himself struggles with understanding what his son is telling him.
At the end of the day, I would rate both the book and the movie as passable. What I mean by that is if you are looking for something incredible to read, something you just can't put down, this is NOT the book for you. If you would like something to just pass the time and mildly entertain you, then this is a good choice. If this book did nothing else for me, it made me want to dig up an old book I read in middle school about people who had experiences with angels and another book about the miracles of saints and their animation after death. So, for bringing me back to a point where I want to delve more into books related to my catholic faith and superstitions, I have to commend this book.
