Is Heaven for Real?

Rebecca Evans
Sr. Fidelis Tracy
Foundations of Christian Theology
January 23, 2015
Is Heaven For Real?
Theology as a basic, fundamental discipline works to answer many ultimate questions for people. These questions are wide ranging from very specific topics to very broad ones. One of these ultimate questions that almost all humans face at some point in their lives deals with death and what happens after. What is death? Why do we die? What happens after death? Is heaven real or just something we are taught about?
` In the movie, Heaven is for Real, based on the book by Todd Burpo, Colton Burpo is rushed to the hospital after having his appendix rupture.   Colton has many complications and after making a miraculous recovery returns home. During the months, to come Colton tells his parents that while he was “near-death” he went to heaven.   The movie details the real life events that occurred in the Burpo family and the struggles the family and Todd Burpo, a pastor, go through after Colton’s telling of going to heaven.
“We ask these kids to believe this stuff … and I don’t know if I believe it myself.” This statement by Todd Burpo is a very key moment in this movie. As a pastor, Todd was grounded in his beliefs, but the words of young four year old Colton make him question it too. This part of the movie shows that people no matter what, question if heaven is a real thing or if we are just taught it. I believe that the movie takes a unique view on this concept; instead of looking explicitly at God and the concept of God, the movie looks more at belief. It attempts to say something about our beliefs and how these beliefs help us to understand the answer to this question of whether or not there is a heaven.
The movie tries to explore the question of heaven by showing the different views people have on heaven as well. Another strong quote from the movie is when Colton asks his dad if people don’t believe him and his dad responds, “Maybe they are afraid there is...