Whenever someone lies and misleads people about an afterlife experience
it really disturbs me. Such is the case with a book that became a best
seller and was made into a film last year called "The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven."
As someone who has genuinely had a gift to get messages from people on
the other side since I was a teenager, the moment I read the jacket of
this book I told others it was a fake.
What's even more disgusting to me is that it was all concocted by a
preacher - the young boy's father (now divorced from his mother). He
obviously made up this story to convince people of his religion and
profit from his deception.
So, I urge people to be careful what they read about afterlife
experiences. If it follows too closely to a religion, then it is likely
false.
I
have come to know several genuine mediums who can pass messages on from
the other side, and the messages usually never include any religion's
references. I've written my own books about my experiences but everything I've written can be validated by others. To do so otherwise is shameful, misleading and abhorrent. Question motive before you believe them. - RobSOURCE: The following "confession" appeared in christianitytoday.com: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.boy.who.came.back.from.heaven.alex.malarkey.says.i.did.not.die.i.did.not.go.to.heaven/46044.htm
AND http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/53993/20150115/the-boy-who-came-back-from-heaven-recants-story-says-the-bible-is-the-only-source-of-truth.htm
'The boy who came back from heaven' Alex Malarkey says best-selling book is false
The best-selling story of a boy's near-death experience is a fake, according to its co-author and subject. |
Tyndale
Alex Malarkey has retracted his story about going to heaven and returning |
Now, however, Alex – who was left quadraplegic by the accident – has written an open letter to booksellers including the Southern Baptist Convention's Lifeway business recanting his story and taking aim at other accounts of "heaven tourism", a genre that includes Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo and My Journey to Heaven by Marvin Besteman.
Addressed to "Lifeway and Other Sellers, Buyers, and Marketers of Heaven Tourism, by the Boy Who Did Not Come Back From Heaven", the letter says: "Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short.
"I did not die. I did not go to Heaven.
"It is only through repentance of your sins and a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died for your sins (even though he committed none of his own) so that you can be forgiven may you learn of Heaven outside of what is written in the Bible ... not by reading a work of man. I want the whole world to know that the Bible is sufficient. Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough."
Alex's mother Beth, who is divorced from his father (who is a preacher) and who is Alex's caregiver, had previously disowned the book, writing on her blog: "It is both puzzling and painful to watch the book The Boy who Came Back from Heaven to not only continue to sell, but to continue, for the most part, to not be questioned." She claimed that he had not benefited financially from it, concluding: "Alex did not write the book and it is not blessing him!"
The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution at its 2014 conference critical of 'heaven tourism' books, though they continue to be sold by Lifeway.
Tyndale House and Kevin Malarkey were approached to comment on this story.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR FROM AMAZON: Kevin Malarkey is a Christian therapist with a counseling practice near Columbus, Ohio. He attended the College of Wooster and earned a graduate degree from Ohio State University. He and his wife, Beth, have four children (Alex, Aaron, Gracie, and Ryan) and attend a nondenominational evangelical church.
