The new movie, Heaven is for Real, took in over $28 million in less than a week. It's a hit. Everyone is talking about it. It's about Colton Burpo, the 4-year-old son of a pastor from Nebraska who died and came back to life with tales of his visit to heaven. He met people there he didn't know in life and sat on Jesus's lap. Christians and unbelievers alike are lapping this stuff up. Right along with the God is not Dead movie, it is capturing attention.
Of course, the book and its resultant movie have been reviewed and there are many voices1 out there warning about the doctrinal and biblical problems of this movie. I'm not going to do it. First, I haven't seen it. More importantly, to do so would violate the most sacred principle of all of today's culture.
You see, you and I can debate various ideas and doctrines and views of Scripture, but there is a sacred component that is beyond discussion: experience. Sola Scriptura, the doctrine that Scripture alone is the authority in matters of faith and practice, is all well and good ... until it comes to experience. If experience violates Scripture, then, as we all know, Scripture is wrong. And this movie is about the experience of a 4-year-old boy. So it doesn't matter if it violates Scripture. The account is right and Scripture is wrong.
Little Colton Burpo is not the only place you see this. Take, for instance, Paul's clear statement, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Rom 3:10-12). No ambiguity there. Nothing unclear. But experience tells us that lots of people seek for God and, more importantly, lots of people do good. So clearly this text doesn't mean what it says. Even to those who relegate it to hyperbole -- an overstatement to make a point -- it is relegated to falsehood because, while Paul was ostensibly trying to make the point that few do good (their claim for hyperbole), they continue to argue that most do good. In other words, either Paul's statement or hyperbole falls flat because experience tells us differently.
Take, for instance, Paul's unambiguous, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor" (1 Tim 2:12-14). The protest to this passage is almost unanimous. "Well, I've known lots of women who are better teachers, better qualified, and better pastors than men." Experience, you see. Experience trumps Scripture. It trumps reason. It trumps everything.
When discussing a disputed topic with someone like me, someone who bases reality in Scripture, your worst approach would be to tell me, "Well, you know, the Bible is a man-made mythical text not of any real value." Sorry. I've already settled that in my mind. We have no common basis for discussion and we can stop this now. It works the same for those who base reality on their own experience. "Sorry. I've already determined that what I think or feel I experienced determines what is real, so anything you offer in contradiction to that is simply of no value and we have no common basis for discussion. End of conversation." Of course, the conversation doesn't actually end, but the dialog2 does. Now we're hurling opposing ideas at each other without possibility of resolution.
Albert Einstein said, "The only source of knowledge is experience." Nice idea. Even popular. But certainly not definitive. You see, we all know that we routinely experience things that aren't, as it turns out, real. We hear sounds, see things, think things, assume things -- things all examined by a deceitful heart (Jer 17:9) and debased mind (Rom 1:28) -- and then "know" what is real ... even when it's not. And yet, experience is sacrosanct. You can't question it. Experience is the sola you can't violate. Not with your experience. Not with God's Word. Not with anything.
Not very wise in the final analysis.
________
1 For an excellent article from CNN (because you wouldn't expect such a perfectly pointed article from CNN) on Heaven is for Real and biblical views of heaven, see this remarkable piece.
2 Dialog: an exchange of opinions on a particular subject.
3 comments:
What's also scary for me about these types of "experiences" is my belief that any encounter with the dead in spiritual form is actually a demonic attack. The Israelites were told to not commune with the dead, not to use mediums. What reason could there be for that except for unholy influences. I believe that even loved ones we believe have gone to heaven and come to us in a vision or some other experience are truly demonic beings. Think about it, when you're in heaven, worshiping the Almighty, singing with the angels, basking in the warmth of the One defined as Love, are you really going to take away time from that to revisit the pain of the world, to remind you of the lost loved ones? And far too many people believe they are experiencing loved ones from heaven, compared to what Christ said about those that would actually make it there, ie "few". I'm not saying this kid didn't see the things I claims to have seen, I just doubt they truly were who they claimed to be.
I'm in agreement that he likely didn't see who he thought he saw and I'm inclined to agree that it was more likely demonic than angelic, but I do have to point out a difficulty with the principle that all encounters with the dead are demonic. There is this fascinating story in 1 Samuel 28 (1 Sam 28:5-20) where Saul seeks the advice of a medium who he wanted to get him in touch with the dead prophet, Samuel. The first interesting thing is where she responds to her own efforts with fear (v 12). But Saul eventually gets in touch with the one she called up, and the entire passage of Scripture refers to him not as a demon, but as Samuel. Samuel prophesies against Saul and it comes true. It all appears to actually be Samuel's spirit, not a demon. Because of this, I have to conclude that not all ghosts are demons.
Okay, I forgot about that one. However, one against the innumerable contacts puts it in REALLY long odds. Plus, there are plenty of occurrences in the Bible that are...like the news, they highlight the unusual, but that doesn't make it the norm.
Post a Comment