A little boy who penned a best-selling book claiming that he ascended to
his story, claiming that he made it up in an effort to seek attention.
startling admission from Alex Malarkey, whose story was told in the
2010 book “The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven,” written by both him and
his father, Kevin Malarkey, has led publisher Tyndale House to pull the
text from print, NPR reported.
revelation emerged this week after Malarkey reportedly sent a letter to
the Pen and Pulpit blog in which he pointedly admitted that the story
was concocted.
did not die. I 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,” he wrote. “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.”
went on in the statement to share his belief in Jesus and the central
Christian doctrine that Christ died for humanity’s sins, calling for
those marketing the materials “to repent and hold the Bible as enough.”
Boy Who Came Back From Heaven” recounted Malarkey’s experience after
surviving a car accident when he was just 6 years old back in 2004. He
fell into a coma, was paralyzed and claimed in the book that he visited
heaven, according to the Washington Post.
awoke from a coma with an incredible story to share. Of events at the
accident scene and in the hospital while he was unconscious. Of the
angels who took him through the gates of heaven itself,” reads a
description of the book. “Of the unearthly music that sounded just
terrible to a six-year-old. And most amazing of all . . . of meeting and
talking to Jesus.”
these details now in dispute by the book’s young author, Tyndale House
issued a statement to the Washington Post on Thursday claiming that it
plans to “take the book and related ancillary products out of print.”
Others like LifeWay plan to also stop selling the book.
have long decried so-called “heavenly tourism books” — texts that
purport to recount trips to heaven during near-death experiences,
claiming that the details do not align with the Bible and are
contradictory. This situation obviously adds fuel to the fire.
apparently isn’t the first time Malarkey’s story has been questioned,
as a blog attributed to his mother, Beth Malarkey, has warned for quite
some time that the details in “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven” are
not accurate.
“It
is both puzzling and painful to watch the book The Boy who Came Back
from Heaven to not only continue to sell, but to continue, for the most
part, to not be questioned. I could post facts and try to dispel many of
the things contained within the pages of that book(have done a bit of
that), I could continue to try to point out how Biblically off the book
is(a few strategically placed scriptures does not make a book Biblically
sound) and how it leads people away from the bible not to it (have done
that as have others including John Macarthur and Phil Johnson), I could
talk about how much it has hurt my son tremendously and even make
financial statements public that would prove that he has not received
monies from the book nor have a majority of his needs been funded by it
(a fund that was set aside by a friend a few years ago has actually been
paying for most things in the past few years but that fund is
dwindling), I could…..but it seems like many people want to believe what
they are given despite the wrong that it may be doing or the wrong that
was done in the making of it.”
Beth and Kevin Malarkey are now divorced and their children live with their mother.
It is important to note that “Heaven Is For Real,” another book that
falls under the “heavenly tourism” umbrella, is about a different child
and incident and is not connected to Malarkey.