Total Malarkey
In an admission titled: “An Open Letter to Lifeway and Other Sellers, Buyers, and Marketers of Heaven Tourism, by the Boy Who Did Not Come Back From Heaven.”
So it turns out that The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven was lying about it. Co-author and source Alex Malarkey made up the story of his death (he never died) and trip through heaven & hell. In light of this the publishing house has been pulling the the title from bookstores for marketing it as a "true story".
For fellow skeptics such as myself this does not come at all as surprising but from the believer's perspective (and there are probably some on here that argued over the original story) it comes as a betrayal of there faith.
Further more when you read on just how profitable stories based on these claims are not only do you get an understanding as to why people may make it up but just how desperate most people want to believe in these claims. It shows how easily people can believe in anything so long as you market it right.
Sure the link provided makes the case "that all you need is the bible" but things considering how they believed this boys story most likely without a doubt. Only for it to be revealed to be false, make you wonder what else you believe without evidence could be false?
So it turns out that The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven was lying about it. Co-author and source Alex Malarkey made up the story of his death (he never died) and trip through heaven & hell. In light of this the publishing house has been pulling the the title from bookstores for marketing it as a "true story".
For fellow skeptics such as myself this does not come at all as surprising but from the believer's perspective (and there are probably some on here that argued over the original story) it comes as a betrayal of there faith.
Further more when you read on just how profitable stories based on these claims are not only do you get an understanding as to why people may make it up but just how desperate most people want to believe in these claims. It shows how easily people can believe in anything so long as you market it right.
Sure the link provided makes the case "that all you need is the bible" but things considering how they believed this boys story most likely without a doubt. Only for it to be revealed to be false, make you wonder what else you believe without evidence could be false?
Comments120
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Yes I have heard about this. I read about this a few weeks back.
To quote him:
"I 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 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."
It's all about profit in the end anyway. I feel sorry for the Christians' reputation because of these people. And I love how his last name comes out as a pun.
I'm not hoping the kid gets a lot of hate mail and bashing, but if he did, I could care less.
To quote him:
"I 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 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."
It's all about profit in the end anyway. I feel sorry for the Christians' reputation because of these people. And I love how his last name comes out as a pun.
I'm not hoping the kid gets a lot of hate mail and bashing, but if he did, I could care less.
Meh, doesn't bother me. It a half and Half debate for near death experiences anyway. I choose to remain positive and careful since some of near death experiences are actually doing a good thing in Christianity, like Heaven is for Real, Akaine's story,23 mins in Hell, and 90 mins in heaven. Just one wanted to be a bad egg and wanted some attention.le
If you just google Christian Near Death Experiences, these are not new stories, just popularize in the media recently all because of the rise of Christian movies last year.
Just think about people believing Harold Camping for his theories of the end of the world.
People are just not always reliable sources.
If you just google Christian Near Death Experiences, these are not new stories, just popularize in the media recently all because of the rise of Christian movies last year.
Just think about people believing Harold Camping for his theories of the end of the world.
People are just not always reliable sources.
Sooo... a religious book really belongs in the fiction section at the bookstore?
Well that's nothing new.
Well that's nothing new.
Meh, it happens. Not the first, and certainly not the last.
What's to say the claims from the bible are just as false as Malarkey's?
One demands to be tested. The other, I'm assuming does not.
Richard Carrier seems to put up a good argument that biblical claims are just as manufactured. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKD3_4…
Interesting. Debatable, but interesting.
Everything's debatable thanks to denial but you know he has a really good point.
A point that already has an explanation within the context of hermenutical study. Sure, he had a solid point, but it's one the church already recognizes.
And sure, we could chalk that up to denial if we wish. That doesn't change the fact that his point concluded with the idea that the bible being inaccurate and myth remains a possibility.
And I agree. It is a possibility, and to live as if it is true is living at the risk of wasting one's life on a myth.
And it's a life many of us chose to take, knowing that risk.
And sure, we could chalk that up to denial if we wish. That doesn't change the fact that his point concluded with the idea that the bible being inaccurate and myth remains a possibility.
And I agree. It is a possibility, and to live as if it is true is living at the risk of wasting one's life on a myth.
And it's a life many of us chose to take, knowing that risk.
View all replies
You know, I've always found it peculiar that religion is the only subject on which a child can speak with greater authority and credibility than an adult. That's interesting because it's essentially the opposite of how it works for any other subject.
Child preachers are nothing new, and it would seem that the faithful have very short memories. Basically the exact same thing happened in the 1940s in the sad case of Marjoe Gortner. After being given the humiliating portmanteau of "Mary" and "Joseph" for a name, his cruel and cynical parents whored out their tiny son as a preacher, reaping in the donations of the faithful. When he became an adult and was no longer popular by dint of no longer being adorable, he starred in a documentary of his last tent revival tour, interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage exposing the flimsy prestidigitation he used to fake miracles, like drawing a cross on his forehead in invisible ink, so it would "miraculously" appear halfway through a sermon.
On the one hand, I am glad that Malarkey has come clean on the lies he was no doubt coerced into living, but it is unfortunate that people can still get away with this. There is an argument to be made that any form of religious indoctrination is child abuse, but training children to lie for money certainly is. I imagine it's like being a child actor, but in addition to being denied a normal healthy childhood, it also makes the child into a liar and puts millions of misbegotten dollars on their conscience. There ought to be a law against this sort of thing.
Child preachers are nothing new, and it would seem that the faithful have very short memories. Basically the exact same thing happened in the 1940s in the sad case of Marjoe Gortner. After being given the humiliating portmanteau of "Mary" and "Joseph" for a name, his cruel and cynical parents whored out their tiny son as a preacher, reaping in the donations of the faithful. When he became an adult and was no longer popular by dint of no longer being adorable, he starred in a documentary of his last tent revival tour, interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage exposing the flimsy prestidigitation he used to fake miracles, like drawing a cross on his forehead in invisible ink, so it would "miraculously" appear halfway through a sermon.
On the one hand, I am glad that Malarkey has come clean on the lies he was no doubt coerced into living, but it is unfortunate that people can still get away with this. There is an argument to be made that any form of religious indoctrination is child abuse, but training children to lie for money certainly is. I imagine it's like being a child actor, but in addition to being denied a normal healthy childhood, it also makes the child into a liar and puts millions of misbegotten dollars on their conscience. There ought to be a law against this sort of thing.
"the faithful have very short memories."
You can say that again!
"Jesus was the FIRST super hero!"
"Excuse me?"
"Plus, his being the son of a virgin is extremely remarkable!"
"Actually--"
"REMARKABLE!"
You can say that again!
"Jesus was the FIRST super hero!" "Excuse me?" "Plus, his being the son of a virgin is extremely remarkable!" "Actually--" "REMARKABLE!" 
I love you. Wait is the story of Gilgamesh older than Herakles?
Virgin birth remarkable try being born twice as with Dionysus.
Virgin birth remarkable try being born twice as with Dionysus.
Yes, in fact, Gilgamesh is the first one that came to my mind; but, he doesn't have a plz account.
Dionysus was born twice? Far out!
Dionysus was born twice? Far out!
There are two or more stories about it but they tend to follow that the mother is killed by Hera and Zeus saves the fetus by implanting it into his thigh to be born again.
Ah okay.
Wait, what? Fucking GROSS.
Wait, what? Fucking GROSS.
Yeah, well Venus was born from the "sea-foam " after Saturn castrated his father Uranus and his blood fell into the sea.
View all replies
Ha! Nice. Personally, my favorite deity that Jesus ripped off is the Egyptian god Horus. Not only was he the son of a god born of immaculate conception, he had a hawk head! Hawk! Head! 
My religion probably rips off a ton of others too, but I'm too lazy and tired to go look them up now. 
Babylonians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Canaanites... you name it! 
Hahaha. Good on him.
And I really met an alien when I was 10. But UFOlogists don't have as deep pockets as Christian organisations, it seems.
And I really met an alien when I was 10. But UFOlogists don't have as deep pockets as Christian organisations, it seems.
They haven't been around long enough but scientology seems to have married religion and UFOlogy.