Tyndale House Publishers has pulled The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven after the co-author recanted the story of his visit to heaven.
But Colton Burpo, the little boy featured in the book and film Heaven Is for Real, is reassuring his readers that his experience in heaven is absolutely true.
“I know there has been a lot of talk about the truth of other heaven stories in the past few days. I just wanted to take a second and let everyone know that I stand by my story found in my book Heaven Is for Real. I still remember my experience in heaven,” says Burpo. “I want to keep telling people about my experience because it has given hope to so many people.”
Last week, Alex Malarkey, who wrote The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven with his father, Kevin Malarkey, admitted that he did not die and he did not go to heaven.
“I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible,” Malarkey wrote in an open letter. “People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible.”
The admission set off a firestorm of bad press in secular media over heaven books, including a piece from USA Today asking, “Are best-selling ‘heaven’ books for real?” Burpo decided to step out and offer reassurance.
“People may have their doubts about my story, but the thing is, I wasn’t coaxed into doing this. I wanted to tell people about my experience,” he says. “In fact, I started sharing my story with my friends and people in our town way before there was a book called Heaven Is for Real. I hope that my story continues to point people to Jesus. He really, really loves you.”
