by Wayne Greeson<\/p>\n
The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven<\/em> came out in 2010 and sold more than 1 million copies and spent months on the New York Times\u2019 bestseller list. Kevin Malarkey and his six-year-old son Alex were driving home from church in Huntsville, Ohio, on a Sunday morning in November 2004, when they were in a traffic accident and Alex was severely injured. He suffered, what is called, an \u201cinternal decapitation\u201d, his skull separated from his spine. Alex\u2019s condition was so severe that the coroner was called to the scene of the crash.<\/p>\n The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven<\/em> (TBWCB) listed Kevin and Alex as co-authors. It is about Alex\u2019s amazing recovery, but what drove its popularity and sales, was the claim that Alex had spent time in heaven after the accident and came back to tell about it.<\/p>\n In the book, Kevin and Alex claim that two months after the accident, when Alex came out of a coma, he was visited by angels and demons. Further, that he had traveled through a bright tunnel to be was greeted by five angels, and then met Jesus, who told him he would live. He also claimed he saw 150 \u201cpure, white angels with fantastic wings.\u201d Heaven is described as a place with lakes, rivers, and grass. Near to where God sits on His throne is a scroll describing the \u201cEnd Times\u201d. He describes the devil has three heads, red eyes, moldy teeth, and hair of fire.<\/p>\n The popular success of this book was followed by other \u201cheaven tourism\u201d books, giving fantastical details about heaven, angels, and God. Heaven Is for Real<\/em>\u00a0is a book that came out later as a movie based upon a 4-year-old\u2019s descriptions of his visit to heaven, which included supposedly seeing a rainbow horse and meeting the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n Other heaven tourism books include 90 Minutes in Heaven<\/em> from a car accident, Flight to Heaven<\/em> based upon a plane crash, To Heaven and Back<\/em>, about a kayaking accident, and Miracles From Heaven<\/em> following a fall into a hollow tree. Over 20 million books have been sold since 2005.<\/p>\n One writer described this \u201cFolks have been going to heaven with amazing regularity lately. They look around-one even sat on Jesus\u2019 lap-then come back to report on the trip. It\u2019s a lucrative journey.\u201d [\u201cPublishing World Cashes in on Heavenly Journeys\u201d, USA Today, January 11, 2013].<\/p>\n Heaven tourism did not just begin in the 2000s, nor the cashing in on such stories. People have been telling stories for centuries for profit about trips to heaven and visits by angels and the Lord.<\/p>\n In the 19th century, the founder of the Mormon church, Joseph Smith, claimed to be visited by many angels, many figures from Old and New Testament figures, and the Father, the Son, and Lucifer. The founder of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Ellen G. White, claimed she had visited heaven and was told by the Lord: \u201cEllen, I want you to paint a picture of heaven for My people.\u201d Both of these self-described \u201cprophets\u201d profited from their tales by the followers and the money they collected.<\/p>\n In 2012, Alex Malarkey’s mother, Beth, wrote a series of article admitting that her son\u2019s story was a hoax. In 2015, Alex wrote a letter to a conservative Christian blog to \u201cLifeway and other Sellers, Buyers and, Marketers of Heaven Tourism\u201d in which he stated: \u201cI did not die. I did not go to heaven. When I made the claims, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n The book\u2019s publisher announced they would stop selling the book. Subsequently, Kevin filed a lawsuit against the publisher and claimed that his father \u201cconcocted\u201d the story that Alex had gone to heaven.<\/p>\n In the Bible, there are but a handful of people who report seeing heaven. This includes the prophets: Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, and the apostles Paul and John. All had visions except perhaps the apostle Paul (II Corinthians 12:2-3).<\/p>\n None of the Bible accounts of heavenly visits are ascribed to near-death experiences. None of those who did come back from death in the Bible ever described their journey or profited from it by writing a book about it. (The widow\u2019s son, Elijah raised, I Kings 17:17\u201324; Lazarus of Bethany, John 11:1-46; Eutychus, raised by Paul, Acts 20:9\u201312).<\/p>\n Those Bible figures with visions of heaven give few details, they focus on the glory of the Lord on His throne and not on themselves. The apostle Paul even said it was not lawful for him to speak of his visit. (II Corinthians 12:4). Why would God forbid Paul from telling us what he saw in heaven, but tell many others in the last few years to give all these fantastic details and profit from their favored insight? While the apostle John\u2019s account of heaven contains the most details, absent are the silly, trivial and self-serving details found in so many recent accounts.<\/p>\n Some claim the modern storytellers\u2019 stories about visits to heaven are faith-building and encouraging. But John told us not to be gullible about the claims and teaching of every storyteller. \u201cBeloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world<\/em>\u201d (I John 4:1).<\/p>\n The danger of these storytellers is, in their desire to profit from their stories, truth becomes a casualty and fiction becomes a commodity. Peter explained: \u201cBut there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you<\/em>\u201d (II Peter 2:1-3).<\/p>\n The fictions in TBWCB show the dangers of false teachers making merchandise of believers by feigned words. The truth is, the boy didn\u2019t come back from heaven because he didn\u2019t go there, to begin with.<\/p>\n Other heaven tourism books do not need the admissions of falsity as TBWCB, for us to know they are just as untrue. Anyone who teaches on heaven, matters of faith and God must \u201cspeak as the oracles of God<\/em>\u201d (I Peter 4:11). \u201cIf they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them<\/em>\u201d (Isaiah 8:20).<\/p>\n We are \u201cnot to think<\/em> (of men) beyond what is written<\/em>\u201d (I Corinthians 4:6). Paul warned us: \u201cBut even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed<\/em>\u201d (Galatians 1:8).<\/p>\n I know heaven is real, not because of these storytellers, but because the Bible tells me so. Do not allow these heaven tourism storytellers to make merchandise of you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Wayne Greeson The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven came out in 2010 and sold more than 1 million copies and spent months on the New York Times\u2019 bestseller list. Kevin Malarkey and his six-year-old son Alex were driving home from church in Huntsville, Ohio, on a Sunday morning in November 2004, when they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[109,478,46,1165],"class_list":["post-19672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-death","tag-false-teachers","tag-heaven","tag-near-death"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-lots-wife-go-to-heaven-or-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":19672,"position":0},"title":"Did Lot’s wife go to heaven or hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did Lot's wife go to heaven or hell for her sin of looking back? Answer: \"When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, \"Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.\" And while\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-kingdom-of-heaven-and-the-kingdom-of-god-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":19672,"position":1},"title":"Are the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the article entitled \"The Church Is the Kingdom\", it is proposed that the kingdom and the Church are the same.\u00a0 I agree that the kingdom \"of God\" is the church, but I assume you would also assert that the Church and the kingdom \"of Heaven\" are the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92715,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-kingdom-came\/","url_meta":{"origin":19672,"position":2},"title":"The Kingdom Came","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton In Daniel 2:44f, the kingdom of heaven was coming. But four earthly kingdoms were on the docket to come before this very special kingdom. Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, that his kingdom would be left to the Medes and Persians (the second kingdom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2386,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-satan-be-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":19672,"position":3},"title":"How could Satan be in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know you get a lot of questions, but I'm hung up on this one. In your answer about Satan's fall from grace, you conclude that Satan was in heaven: \"Satan could at one time appear before God (Job 1:6;\u00a02:1;\u00a0I Kings 22:19-22); thus, he was in heaven.\" Couldn't he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-harmonize-matthew-1034-and-matthew-2652-and-also-john-313-and-ii-kings-211\/","url_meta":{"origin":19672,"position":4},"title":"Can you help harmonize Matthew 10:34 and Matthew 26:52, and also John 3:13 and II Kings 2:11?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need help harmonizing a few passages. People use them to claim contradictions. I know the problem is not in the Bible but rather in the person\u2019s approach. Please help me learn to soundly harmonize Matthew 10:34 and Matthew 26:52. Matthew 10:34 says Jesus came to bring the sword.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53202,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/till-he-comes\/","url_meta":{"origin":19672,"position":5},"title":"Till He Comes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton In taking the Lord's Supper each week (Acts 20:7) we \"proclaim the Lord's death till He comes\" (I Corinthians 11:26). We proclaim that we are in communion and partnership with the benefits of His death. It is one of the ways we confess Him. 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