FROM Talking Points Memo:
Boy Did Not Return From Heaven!
By Tracy Walsh TPM
Christian publisher Tyndale House is pulling its bestseller "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven" after its now-teenaged subject admitted he made the story up, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
"I did not die. I did not go to heaven," Alex Malarkey said in a statement published on the Christian website Pulpit and Pen. "I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention."
"People have profited from lies, and continue to," he added. "They should read the Bible, which is enough."
Alex was 6 years old when he was involved in a devastating car crash that left him in a two-month coma. When he regained consciousness, he claimed that angels had escorted him through the gates of heaven and that he had met and spoke with Jesus.
His account served as the basis for the 2010 New York Times bestseller, co-authored by his father, Kevin Malarkey.
Alex’s mother, Beth Malarkey, has been a longtime critic of the book. The Washington Post noted a blog post she wrote about it in April.
"When Alex first tried to tell a 'pastor' how wrong the book was and how it needed stopped, [he] was told that the book was blessing people," she wrote. She said it was "puzzling and painful" to watch the book continue to sell.
Alex, who still has health problems as a result of the accident, has not received financial proceeds from the book, she added.
"There are many who are scamming and using the Word of God to do it," she said.
h/t Raw Story
‘Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ going back to publisher
Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven," by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey.
The best-selling book, first published in 2010, describes what Alex experienced while he lay in a coma after a car accident when he was 6 years old. The coma lasted two months, and his injuries left him paralyzed, but the subsequent spiritual memoir — with its assuring description of "Miracles, Angels, and Life beyond This World" — became part of a popular genre of "heavenly tourism," which has been controversial among orthodox Christians.
Earlier this week, Alex recanted his testimony about the afterlife. In an open letter to Christian bookstores posted on the Pulpit and Pen Web site, Alex states flatly: "I did not die. I did not go to Heaven."
Referring to the injuries that continue to make it difficult for him to express himself, Alex writes, "Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short…. 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. 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."
This evening, Todd Starowitz, public relations director of Tyndale House, told The Washington Post: "Tyndale has decided to take the book and related ancillary products out of print."
Last April, Alex’s mother, Beth Malarkey, posted a statement on her own blog decrying the memoir and its promotion: "It is both puzzling and painful to watch the book ‘The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven’ not only continue to sell, but to continue, for the most part, to not be questioned." She goes on to say that the book is not "Biblically sound" and that her son’s objections to it were ignored and repressed. She also notes that Alex "has not received monies from the book nor have a majority of his needs been funded by it."
She ends in obvious frustration, writing: "Alex’s name and identity are being used against his wishes…. How can this be going on??? Great question…. How did it get this far?… another great question."
Several Reviews from AMAZON BOOKS
Format: Hardcover
In November 2004, just one month before our son unexpectedly left for heaven, the author, Kevin Malarkey and his son, Alex (age 6) were in a serious accident. I remember reading the CaringBridge updates during our dark days . . . and theirs. I lost track after awhile, until I read that this book was coming out and those memories rushed back. In reading this book, I wonder . . . did my son and little Alex Malarkey cross paths in heaven?!?!?!
The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven is an amazing, true story. Kevin is told by a church member who offers to drive him to the hospital that it looked very bad, and that he did not think Alex had made it and probably had gone to heaven. However, after two months Alex woke up from a coma. The details he could tell about the accident, could not be made up, from what people were wearing, procedures that were done and a man praying over him. He remembered seeing five angels carry his father, and later seeing him put on a flat board and cutting off his clothes. The angels told him his daddy would be okay. Little by little Alex shares stories of heaven, about the music, talking with Jesus and continued sightings of angels.
I so appreciated the honesty of Kevin. Having spent many weeks in ICU with our daughter who has now had three open heart surgeries and having buried two children . . . it's not easy, even for the Christian who knows Scripture and knows God is there. There is spiritual warfare and great weariness. Kevin shared how their marriage took a battering and was "stretched to the breaking point." It gripped my heart to read with having-been-there-understanding, as their pastor friend also shared in the book:
" . . . Kevin and Beth greatly struggled in their marriage. Many times I came to the house to speak with them, counsel them, and pray with them. Those were dark days . . .
. . . It is an absolute miracle, an absolute proof there is a God in Heaven, that their marriage survived and that they are together today. Without God, there is no possible way their marriage would have survived."
Alex is a quadriplegic who has made amazing progress. He was also the first child to receive the "Christopher Reeve Surgery", allowing him to breathe without a ventilator. Their van license plate reads, "Wil Walk". They have hope that is undeniably sustained through their faith in Jesus.
This is an easy reading book, that will keep your attention and in awe. I highly recommend The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven.
The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven was provided to me free of charge by Tyndale House Publishers, in exchange for my honest opinion of it.
The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven is an amazing, true story. Kevin is told by a church member who offers to drive him to the hospital that it looked very bad, and that he did not think Alex had made it and probably had gone to heaven. However, after two months Alex woke up from a coma. The details he could tell about the accident, could not be made up, from what people were wearing, procedures that were done and a man praying over him. He remembered seeing five angels carry his father, and later seeing him put on a flat board and cutting off his clothes. The angels told him his daddy would be okay. Little by little Alex shares stories of heaven, about the music, talking with Jesus and continued sightings of angels.
I so appreciated the honesty of Kevin. Having spent many weeks in ICU with our daughter who has now had three open heart surgeries and having buried two children . . . it's not easy, even for the Christian who knows Scripture and knows God is there. There is spiritual warfare and great weariness. Kevin shared how their marriage took a battering and was "stretched to the breaking point." It gripped my heart to read with having-been-there-understanding, as their pastor friend also shared in the book:
" . . . Kevin and Beth greatly struggled in their marriage. Many times I came to the house to speak with them, counsel them, and pray with them. Those were dark days . . .
. . . It is an absolute miracle, an absolute proof there is a God in Heaven, that their marriage survived and that they are together today. Without God, there is no possible way their marriage would have survived."
Alex is a quadriplegic who has made amazing progress. He was also the first child to receive the "Christopher Reeve Surgery", allowing him to breathe without a ventilator. Their van license plate reads, "Wil Walk". They have hope that is undeniably sustained through their faith in Jesus.
This is an easy reading book, that will keep your attention and in awe. I highly recommend The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven.
The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven was provided to me free of charge by Tyndale House Publishers, in exchange for my honest opinion of it.
1.0 out of 5 stars God Himself is not fraud, January 16, 2015
By
This review is from: The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life beyond This World (Paperback)
It is possible to have an out of body experience, I had one, so regardless if this book is a fraud, God can do whatever he wills. It is sad to see some of the mockery this confession from this boy has stirred up. Also I have seen where some have mocked this boy's statement about all truth being in the Bible. He is simply saying you do not need someone else's experience when God can speak to you personally through His scripture by the Holy Spirit. As I said I did have an out of body experience and God has shown His hand in my life, even leading up to before I had a conversion experience "so to speak." After my conversion experience I was somewhat back and forth for awhile with some backsliding. I moved to a location that was inexpensive, but you could say not the best. I was one among some other rented cabins that I called derelicts villa. I still had my belief but wasn't living it and God knew I still had my struggles and iniquities. One afternoon I came inside and sat down on the couch and was suddenly somewhere else. There was no travel time, it was instant. I was standing somewhere with two men a little ways in front of me. One was sitting in a plain like, throne like chair and the other man was standing in front of him and I believe the one sitting must have been Jesus. I was directly sideways from them and I knew they was aware of my presence. I could completely feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and I felt dirty, uncomfortable and exposed. Somehow I could sense their faces were about to turn and look at me and felt that to be unbearable and (again instantly) I was somewhere else. I was in a place of pure darkness, but I had some other kind of vision. I could feel the presence of Satan and could see his deception. I can't explain how I could see this in darkness, but I could, but the Holy Spirit was with me and the deception was clever and brilliant almost beyond comprehension but it was also instantly exposed for the deception which is was, so it changed to another deception just as brilliant and switched to it so swiftly, it was incredibly unbelievable, yet it's deception was exposed immediately, then came another, which also was exposed as unbelievably clever and deceptive, then suddenly I was simply there, sitting on my couch, among my familiar surroundings. No angel came to me, there was no explanation. It was not a dream or hallucination. I am convinced God had His purpose with me with this event and my story may have worth for some. I also have the point of view that none of us can comprehend God, but He can give a person the ability to believe, and the ability to trust Him and to love His Holy Spirit. We can encompass certain struggles within ourselves, from our proud filled nature, which resists God Himself, as we do have a sinful nature. Yet to work through this on a personal basis with God is more revealing of His truth than someone else's story. Not that some things do not have value or inspiration. I know there is a purpose for everything God has done in my life and His hand has been in my life in this very world we live in, and He apparently has not felt a need to be shy about it.
You Will Believe!, December 16, 2014
By
What glory God has made with loving hands in the Malarkey family! And you will read about why it can truly be said, "His grace is sufficient for me". Written on our hearts, and demonstrated by his creation, is the most important message you will ever hear. Do not wait until you see the Glory of God to listen to his message to you. You will read about Christ, our Lord and Saviour, ministering to the Malarkey family, and you will believe!
If you are curious about near death experiences you need to add this book to your list of things to read. If you are not a Christian you might be converted. As a Christian myself, I actually experienced two things that this child described. I did not need to be convinced of the validity of his story. I even found myself praying for him.
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