The Town of Odyssey

90 Minutes in Heaven, Heaven is for Real, The Boy who Came Back from Heaven, theres lots of them out there, all claiming to have gone to heaven and returned basically. What do you think about them?

Personally, I believe The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, for various reasons, but I'm not entirely sure about some other ones. I mean, in 90 Minutes, the guy was a pastor, and probably had a lot of knowledge about the details of heaven, so he could have dreamed it. I don't know.

One thing I noticed is that in 90 Minutes, the guy said that the gates of heaven weren't covered in pearls as he thought, but that they were made out of a pearlescent material. In Heaven is For Real, the boy said that the gates had pearls on them.

I have talked to many who have read [Edit] Heaven is for Real and they generally believe it to be true. From what little I've read of it I would tend to believe it, my big reason would be his knowledge of his sibling who died before he was born.

I believe there are near death experiences and out of body experiences, I haven't read the other two books so I can't comment on them.

Ayn Rand wrote:I have talked to many who have read The Boy who Came Back from Heaven and they generally believe it to be true. From what little I've read of it I would tend to believe it, my big reason would be his knowledge of his sibling who died before he was born.

I believe there are near death experiences and out of body experiences, I haven't read the other two books so I can't comment on them.

Actually I think you're referring to Heaven is For Real? Alex (The Boy Who Came Back) didn't have a sibling that died, but the other little boy did

I have only read Heaven Is For Real. I believe that particular one is true. I haven't read the other ones. So, I can't express my opinions on them.

Honestly I would love to believe Heaven is For Real was...for real. But The thing that bothered me was his descriptions of everything, they just seemed a bit cliche, like something out of a church Christmas play.

Not to mention when he talked about Jesus, he was very un-emotionless, and very dry, I feel as if I would be just, completely speechless and boiling over and having an experience like that. I don't know, that's just what I get.

Remind me how old he was when the book came out? You can't expect a child to write like Shakespeare.

I haven't read any of them, but I don't believe any of them... I don't think you go to heaven and come back. >_> Unless you're Jesus.

I have heard of some compelling near death/out of body experience types of things though (biology professor who I totally trust said when he almost died as a kid he could see the entire incident occuring BELOW HIM as he floated away). So I don't really know, obviously. I just don't really buy it--the mind is a powerful thing and could just fabricate stuff like that, it happens. And people make stuff up.

I was just reminded of this http://benedictseraphim.wordpress.com/2 ... -the-cook/

Termite wrote:Remind me how old he was when the book came out? You can't expect a child to write like Shakespeare.

The kid didn't actually write the book you know...I saw an interview with him.

Personally, I have always been skeptical of people claiming to see the afterlife. John went to Heaven, observed it and it's recorded in the Bible. Somehow, I don't God randomly decided to start letting people into Heaven 2000 years later. There's just too many people making money off this for me to believe it.

However, I don't think any of us have the burden of proof, so ya'll can believe as you wish.

Well as the article I posted showed it wasn't 2,000 years later that this happened, there is a history in Christianity of this happening.

I don't believe them simply because I don't believe that people go to haven when they die (with exceptions for Moses and Elijah ), instead I believe that they "sleep" until the Messiah comes back, then are raised. But I haven't read any of the books so I can't comment on them properly.

What do you do with the verse, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord"?

American Eagle wrote:Personally, I have always been skeptical of people claiming to see the afterlife. John went to Heaven, observed it and it's recorded in the Bible. Somehow, I don't God randomly decided to start letting people into Heaven 2000 years later. There's just too many people making money off this for me to believe it.

That's kind of my thing as well, however, I do believe The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, for various reasons.

The Top Crusader wrote:I haven't read any of them, but I don't believe any of them... I don't think you go to heaven and come back. >_> Unless you're Jesus.

I have heard of some compelling near death/out of body experience types of things though (biology professor who I totally trust said when he almost died as a kid he could see the entire incident occuring BELOW HIM as he floated away). So I don't really know, obviously. I just don't really buy it--the mind is a powerful thing and could just fabricate stuff like that, it happens. And people make stuff up.

Yes, people can make stuff up and fabricate things but I don't believe that is the case in the book Heaven is for Real. How can a kid who has never known about the things he has seen come up with them and then they be backed by biblical references and other people's experiences.

That is too big of a coincidence for that to happen. The mind is a powerful thing but even it can not fabricate something from nothing that matches the bible. As Whit used to say, "I don't believe anything is a coincidence."

Heaven isn't a 'place', much less one that you visit. The only reason that the concept of a physical heaven is so popular in the church is because people desire absolute assurance of their afterlife. The Christian faith, on the other hand, gives no such assurance. In fact, the picture that the Scriptures give us is one of Christ's Kingdom on earth, not a bright and colorful location in the sky.

Jelly wrote:Heaven isn't a 'place', much less one that you visit.

John 14:3 pretty much exactly says that God is preparing a specific "place" for us.

Jelly wrote:The only reason that the concept of a physical heaven is so popular in the church is because people desire absolute assurance of their afterlife.

I could list multiple portions of the Bible that describe the physical properties of "Heaven". (For starters, Revelation 21:10-25.) What are you trying to deny? Do you not believe in a physical Heaven? Is the afterlife merely an emotional or spiritual state?

The Bible speaks in metaphorical symbolism alll the time (especially in the book of Revelation). It's when we try to take things literally that we end up putting God in a box that we can comprehend with our minds.

The Joker wrote:What are you trying to deny? Do you not believe in a physical Heaven? Is the afterlife merely an emotional or spiritual state?

I believe the afterlife is entirely spiritual. The realm of the physical is limiting; in the realm of the spiritual, the realm of God's existence, there is complete freedom. It's just entirely beyond comprehension.

So you'd pretty much say that our souls are trapped in our physical bodies right now? That complete freedom and perfection is only possible without the physical?

I ultimately believe in God's Kingdom on earth, and in my mind that looks like a sort of union between the physical and the spiritual. For this time the spiritual is invisible to us; there comes a time when our eyes will be opened.

As for the immediate afterlife -- what happens to you right after you die -- I think I agree with Moontide. A state of waiting (the restless souls under the alter from Revelation?) until final justice is delivered and God's Kingdom is established on earth.