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983 reviews for:
Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Todd Burpo
3.66 AVERAGE
983 reviews for:
Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
Todd Burpo
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
I have had a long, untraditional relationship with Christianity. I am also not a huge fan of kids. Put these two qualities together and you can understand why I read this book with a rather skeptical frame of mind.
Heaven is for Real was written by Pastor Todd Burpo, father of Colton, the little boy who went to heaven and came back with stories that astounded his family and their community. This book was heartwarming, telling the story of Colton’s terrifying health problems, his family’s financial and spiritual struggles, and their personal reassurrance from God.
I read a lot of books by Allison DuBois last summer, who helped answer a lot of questions I had about the big “What next?” While DuBois’ novels felt like they were written to reassure and help cope with loss, Heaven is for Real felt like it was designed to inspire and make us believe.
A majority of the book is spent detailing the family’s life - their struggles, hardships, and love. The parts shared of Colton’s heavenly visit are short and sparse, but goosebump-inducing. Burpo spends a lot of time explaining how it would be impossible for Colton to have known certain passages of the Bible at his young age, but you can see how that would be necessary, given the skeptics (like myself). Altogether, I felt inspired and blessed.
Written by a pastor, this book was definitely intended for Christians, but I would have been interested to learn more about the reception of other faiths in this book. Colton described the pearly gates, different saints, and Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, so it was all very Christian-oriented, but what about Muslims? Jews? Agnostics? Personally, my biggest qualm about organized religion is the fact that most don’t respect other faiths. I spent four years of college studying Islam, and while my personal beliefs align more closely with Christianity, I don’t think it’s fair to say that if someone reads a different Holy book, they’re destined to burn in hell. Who’s to say one religion is more holy than another? I like to keep an open, tolerant mind. Colton has several episodes throughout the book where he freaks out about people dying before they had a chance to proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. What about those who like to think of God as a lone agent? What happens to them?
Despite these questions, the book was still a very well written account of one family’s resiliance in light of some horrible circumstances. This is one of those books I will be recommending to my best friend, K, when she has another one of her health scares. It definitely reminded me that someone up there is looking out for us.
Also, Jesus has a pet unicorn.
Heaven is for Real was written by Pastor Todd Burpo, father of Colton, the little boy who went to heaven and came back with stories that astounded his family and their community. This book was heartwarming, telling the story of Colton’s terrifying health problems, his family’s financial and spiritual struggles, and their personal reassurrance from God.
I read a lot of books by Allison DuBois last summer, who helped answer a lot of questions I had about the big “What next?” While DuBois’ novels felt like they were written to reassure and help cope with loss, Heaven is for Real felt like it was designed to inspire and make us believe.
A majority of the book is spent detailing the family’s life - their struggles, hardships, and love. The parts shared of Colton’s heavenly visit are short and sparse, but goosebump-inducing. Burpo spends a lot of time explaining how it would be impossible for Colton to have known certain passages of the Bible at his young age, but you can see how that would be necessary, given the skeptics (like myself). Altogether, I felt inspired and blessed.
Written by a pastor, this book was definitely intended for Christians, but I would have been interested to learn more about the reception of other faiths in this book. Colton described the pearly gates, different saints, and Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, so it was all very Christian-oriented, but what about Muslims? Jews? Agnostics? Personally, my biggest qualm about organized religion is the fact that most don’t respect other faiths. I spent four years of college studying Islam, and while my personal beliefs align more closely with Christianity, I don’t think it’s fair to say that if someone reads a different Holy book, they’re destined to burn in hell. Who’s to say one religion is more holy than another? I like to keep an open, tolerant mind. Colton has several episodes throughout the book where he freaks out about people dying before they had a chance to proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. What about those who like to think of God as a lone agent? What happens to them?
Despite these questions, the book was still a very well written account of one family’s resiliance in light of some horrible circumstances. This is one of those books I will be recommending to my best friend, K, when she has another one of her health scares. It definitely reminded me that someone up there is looking out for us.
Also, Jesus has a pet unicorn.
I loved this book and hearing about heaven from a child's vantage point...
I would never have read this on my own, but someone picked it for bookclub, and it wasn't bad (I expected it to be truly terrible, so I had low expectations).
Fascinating story of a little boy who visits heaven and is comforted by Jesus while undergoing surgery. A must-read!
I think the reader of this book is going to get exactly what they expect from it. A believer might find their faith confirmed, while one who does not believe will likely read it with a skeptical eye. I fall into the latter case.
I found the entire text frustrating. Every piece of "proof" offered was immediately followed by "How could Colton have known that?" The author immediately concludes that every statement from his son is evidence of heaven, while other plausible explanations are not even considered.
Whether he knows it or not, a pastor's son will have a LOT of background in Christianity, not just limited to what he has been told directly by his parents or what he has read in children's books. A child who is being raised in a Christian community will be exposed to Christian concepts through music, artwork, lessons in Sunday School classes, conversations with peers, and experiences with the church members. For a boy with his background to describe specific heaven-like scenes is evidence of his immersion in Christianity, not his trip to heaven.
As far as the boy's knowledge of his "sister" (the miscarriage of undetermined sex) and "Pop," again, when the author turns to proof of heaven for his only explanation, I can't help but consider the many ways he could have gotten information about these pieces of family history. The author can't see the likelihood that the boy overheard conversations between his parents, one end of phone conversations, or details shared by other people, yet that's all I can see. I have a hard time believing that the boy never saw a photo of young Pop when at Grandma's house or at other family members' homes.
I also struggled with how long it took for these details from his trip to heaven to emerge. Three years later, and we're still finding out about what Colton saw in heaven? Experts say that witnesses to a crime scene begin forgetting details or adding details in a matter of minutes after witnessing an event. To suggest that a little boy will have an accurate description of something that happened years ago is absurd. I think the boy's memories of his trip to heaven were created over time, as he added to his understanding of heaven through his experiences learning about Christianity.
Finally, I took personal offense at the line from page 148: "But I also think, Blessed? We watched our son almost die." The key word here being "almost." If you can't see how fortunate you are to not have had your child die, you clearly do not understand the word "blessed."
I believe the author and his family believe the story they are sharing. And if this story strengthens a person's belief in heaven, that's great. But for me, it leaves me frustrated. I have a personal, selfish reason to hope that there is a heaven, but this book continues to leave me feeling that in order to believe in heaven, one must turn her back on reason and logic.
I found the entire text frustrating. Every piece of "proof" offered was immediately followed by "How could Colton have known that?" The author immediately concludes that every statement from his son is evidence of heaven, while other plausible explanations are not even considered.
Whether he knows it or not, a pastor's son will have a LOT of background in Christianity, not just limited to what he has been told directly by his parents or what he has read in children's books. A child who is being raised in a Christian community will be exposed to Christian concepts through music, artwork, lessons in Sunday School classes, conversations with peers, and experiences with the church members. For a boy with his background to describe specific heaven-like scenes is evidence of his immersion in Christianity, not his trip to heaven.
As far as the boy's knowledge of his "sister" (the miscarriage of undetermined sex) and "Pop," again, when the author turns to proof of heaven for his only explanation, I can't help but consider the many ways he could have gotten information about these pieces of family history. The author can't see the likelihood that the boy overheard conversations between his parents, one end of phone conversations, or details shared by other people, yet that's all I can see. I have a hard time believing that the boy never saw a photo of young Pop when at Grandma's house or at other family members' homes.
I also struggled with how long it took for these details from his trip to heaven to emerge. Three years later, and we're still finding out about what Colton saw in heaven? Experts say that witnesses to a crime scene begin forgetting details or adding details in a matter of minutes after witnessing an event. To suggest that a little boy will have an accurate description of something that happened years ago is absurd. I think the boy's memories of his trip to heaven were created over time, as he added to his understanding of heaven through his experiences learning about Christianity.
Finally, I took personal offense at the line from page 148: "But I also think, Blessed? We watched our son almost die." The key word here being "almost." If you can't see how fortunate you are to not have had your child die, you clearly do not understand the word "blessed."
I believe the author and his family believe the story they are sharing. And if this story strengthens a person's belief in heaven, that's great. But for me, it leaves me frustrated. I have a personal, selfish reason to hope that there is a heaven, but this book continues to leave me feeling that in order to believe in heaven, one must turn her back on reason and logic.
Very interesting book, but not the best writing. I think it would have been better had it been written from Colton's point of view as well.
Easy read, almost too easy, but I smiled the whole time.