Yesterday I saw the movie Heaven is for Real even though I had earlier said I would not see it because I don't believe people with near-death experiences actually see Heaven. But because of the Christianity Today review and another more in depth discussion for subscribers of the online magazine, I began to realize that anyone's "experience" with God (even visions) is worth listening to and helps me better understand both God and people. Who am I to judge? See a quote from the article in my comment to this post.This movie is very well done and enjoyable to watch with lots of truths shared, but mostly a movie about love and relationships which after all is mostly what God is about. Since I have not read the book, I cannot compare the two, but it is supposedly based on a true story about 4 year old Colton who nearly dies and tells about heaven afterwards. Not good theology, but an enjoyable movie to watch with some fresh takes on Heaven, even though I still doubt that it actually happened as presented.
It is not exactly a contrast to the Broadway Play The Great Divorce I saw a couple of weeks ago, but it is certainly a different view of Heaven! I liked them both, but having already read the book The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, I still see it as more like my vision of Heaven than little Colton's. But they are both worthy of seeing and discussing from two totally different perspectives.Either way, I still look forward to being there!
Okay, the article that really made me think twice about throwing this movie on the trash pile of untruths is only in the online edition of Christianity Today and is titled "You Probably Love (or Hate) 'Heaven Is For Real' for All the Wrong Reasons" and can be read at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/april-web-only/heaven-is-for-real-fact-or-fable.html
I've got to quote the last paragraph here, but the whole article needs to be read to really see what Kyle Rohane is getting at. It is so good and refreshing. Here's the last paragraph:
What exactly happened to Colton Burpo—whether he actually experienced the glory of heaven or had a mere hallucination—will remain a mystery. But we live in a mysterious world, and we shouldn't be surprised when we encounter the miraculous and the supernatural. We should approach tales like this with critical discernment. We can't immediately accept them, but neither should we reject them haphazardly. We should test them under the light of Scripture, and we should celebrate the fact that God, who reveals himself through his Word, is faithfully active in our world, meeting us in ways that can't (and sometimes shouldn't) be explained.