Boy says he made it all up ...

He was six when this book was written, and he is sixteen now. So it is not surprising that he would want to recant... I mean really, whether he made it up or not, it really does not seem surprising that a sixteen year old would want to take back a story he told as a very young child. There are so many different possible motivations, either way, and the kid is still a kid. I just hope that people can be understanding and not give him a bunch of crap over it.

Reading what he says about making it up, in context:

""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.""

What it seems happened to me, was that he began to question the nature of what he experienced ... as he got older, he read the Bible, saw things which he didn't understand to match up, and then decided to recant, because his new understanding didn't match with the reality he experienced (if he did in fact experience what he originally claimed). What I take from the article, if I'm reading it correctly, is that his mother was actually against some of the things he said he saw and experienced initially ? Maybe I misunderstood that, but perhaps one of his parents were pressuring him as well. i.e. "There is no way that really happened, because the things you said you saw, are not right according to how we view God and our understanding of the Bible."

IOW ... I don't know if he really experienced what he initially claimed to experience or not. However the context of his "recanting" seems to indicate a pressure to do so ... either in his own mind, because his present understanding and belief system doesn't match with the reality he experienced, or because of his parents, others, etc. I mean, he says he thought it would get him attention ... but then immediately qualifies it with "I hadn't read the Bible" and then goes onto to talk about only sources of truth, man not being infallible, etc. I personally see that almost as being a denial, a cognitive dissonance, an attempt to distance himself from something he may have actually experienced, but is afraid to admit too because it doesn't align with his own current belief structure.

I mean, I could be wrong, maybe he did make it all up to get attention, as he said. Idk, I don't want to go all conspiracy theory ... just observing the context of what he's saying.

As far as this young fellow, I guess he has ruined his parents hope of gaining financially from the book now, and no doubt they must be embarrassed, presuming he did not ever tell them, or they did not know.

All I can day is that is why the frog does not receive into his being everything he hears.

It happens with all the time with people claiming to be the ex grand high witch poobah. I wish this was surprising

I once heard a christian say they only grew up in a christian family and came to faith at an early age and have been christian since age of five. They didnt have a dramatic testimony.

Dont know about you, however a person who is able to grow up in a stable christian family with mum and dad. Who comes to faith at an early age. Who never has to go through some of the dark things in life is one of the most wonderful christian testimonies I have ever heard.

I wish people didnt feel the need to embellish and make up stories

Speaking as someone who has a fairly dramatic testimony, its really not all its made out to be

As someone who never believes any of these heaven tourism stories, i am not surprised , and give the lad credit for admitting the truth.

I thought it was true cause it sounded so real, so hearing this is shocking and sad.

Even though this shameful episode will provide a lot of ammunition for the secularists, we have sadly brought this onto ourselves where we have no-one else to blame. How anyone could fall for this obviously made-up storey is beyond me and I simply do not know why people bother to entertain such things.

Why do we need to rely on such silly fantasies as we already have the Spirit of the Almighty God who can work mighty powers within us today. It is of course sad to see that a respected publisher fell for the ridiculous line that was thrown their way; lets see if the embarrassment and financial loss that they will incur will allow other publishers to think twice before putting money before spiritual common sense.

Hopefully those who fell for this silly ruse will not simply say "Oops" and then fall for the next shonky snake oil salesman who comes along - I would like to think that it will be a case of "Fool me once but never again".