{"id":30168,"date":"2021-03-21T12:10:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T16:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=30168"},"modified":"2021-03-28T20:37:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T00:37:32","slug":"heaven-is-for-real-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/heaven-is-for-real-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heaven Is for Real Controversy: Was It Fake?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What repercussions did the Burpo family<\/a> face after going public about Colton’s story? What was the Heaven Is for Real <\/em>controversy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Todd Burpo went public about Colton’s visit to Heaven in 2007, four years after Colton’s visit. Since then, the Burpos have been berated with questions and criticism. This eventually led to the Heaven Is for Real <\/em>controversy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to find out more about the Heaven Is for Real <\/em>controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Burpos Share Their Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On January 28th, 2007, Todd publicly spoke about Colton\u2019s experience for the first time while giving a sermon at a Colorado Springs church. The sermon\u2019s theme was people without faith. Todd described how his faith had wavered when Colton was sick, but it had grown again when he heard about Colton\u2019s heavenly experiences.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing Colton\u2019s experience with the world had\u2014and continues to have\u2014numerous consequences for Todd and the rest of the Burpo family including the Heaven Is for Real <\/em>controversy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • People now approach Todd with difficult questions about the afterlife.<\/strong> For instance, one woman asked him whether Colton had seen her stillborn child in heaven. Todd did his best to reassure the woman by telling her that since his miscarried daughter was in heaven, there was every reason to believe her late child was, too.<\/li>
  • People frequently ask Todd: Why Colton?<\/strong> Why did Jesus choose him <\/em>to have this experience over other sick children? Todd still isn\u2019t sure. Maybe it was to help him and Sonja come to terms with their miscarriage or help Todd\u2019s family grieve Pop?<\/li>
  • People share stories about other heavenly experiences with the Burpos.<\/strong> For instance, shortly after Todd\u2019s first sermon about Colton, a congregation member sent the family a link to a news story about a 12-year-old girl from Idaho who\u2019d been having visions of heaven for eight years. The girl had painted a picture of Jesus based on her visions. When shown the portrait, Colton stated that it was an accurate depiction.<\/li>
  • The Burpos have to relive the traumatic experience of their son\u2019s illness each time they tell his story.<\/strong> Doing so often brings them to tears. However, they still consider telling Colton\u2019s story worth it, since it brings hope to others\u2014for instance, by reassuring them that there is an afterlife. <\/li>
  • The Burpos now spend a lot more time thinking and talking about heaven.<\/strong> They visualize what it\u2019s like, and feel confident that they\u2019ll see it one day. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    At the time Todd finished writing Heaven is for Real<\/em>, Colton was about to turn 11. He hadn\u2019t experienced any more major health struggles and hadn\u2019t revisited heaven. However, he remembered his first trip in great detail, and he was still adamant that heaven is for real. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Heaven Is for Real <\/em>Controversy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Heaven is for Real<\/em> drew widespread media attention following its publication. The book debuted at number 3 in the New York Times\u2019s non-fiction bestseller list, and many readers hailed it as faith-affirming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, Colton\u2019s narrative has been met with some skepticism and Heaven Is for Real <\/em>controversy. For instance, some critics have questioned how Colton could have visited the afterlife when there’s no medical evidence that he died during his two surgeries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Heaven Is for Real <\/em>controversy intensified in 2015 when a teenager who’d made claims similar to Colton’s admitted that he’d lied. In the wake of this scandal, Colton\u2014then aged around 16\u2014posted a statement on his website, acknowledging that some people doubted he was telling the truth. However, he stands by his narrative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What repercussions did the Burpo family face after going public about Colton’s story? What was the Heaven Is for Real controversy? Todd Burpo went public about Colton’s visit to Heaven in 2007, four years after Colton’s visit. Since then, the Burpos have been berated with questions and criticism. This eventually led to the Heaven Is for Real controversy. Read on to find out more about the Heaven Is for Real controversy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":30185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6],"tags":[247],"class_list":["post-30168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","category-spiritual","tag-heaven-is-for-real","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Heaven Is for Real Controversy: Was It Fake? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What was the Heaven Is for Real controversy? 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