The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven explained

The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven
Author:Kevin and Alex Malarkey
Country:United States
Language:English
Publisher:Tyndale House Publishers
Media Type:Print (hardcover)
Pages:240

The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A True Story is a best-selling 2010 Christian book that purported to tell the story of Alex Malarkey's experiences in heaven after a traffic accident in 2004.[1] [2] It was published by Tyndale House Publishers, in 2010.[3] Alex's father, Kevin Malarkey, is credited as a co-author along with Alex, and is the sole holder of the copyright. Alex later admitted in writing that the story was made up and that he never went to heaven. The book, which had sold more than a million copies, was then pulled from publication by its publisher. It was adapted into a television film in March 2010.

Since publication, Alex Malarkey and his mother, Beth have disavowed the book. Alex commented online in 2011 that it was "one of the most deceptive books ever",[4] and wrote an extensive repudiation in an open letter to Christian bookstores in 2015,[5] describing his near-death experience as a fabrication. Tyndale House therefore stopped printing the book, and many Christian bookstores removed it from their shelves.[6]

Accident and recovery

On November 14, 2004, six-year-old Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin, were involved in a car accident on a highway near Rushsylvania, Ohio. Alex suffered various injuries in the accident, including a severe spinal injury, severe neck injuries, and brain trauma;[7] was left a quadriplegic;[8] and was in a coma for two months.[9] During his recovery, Alex told his parents stories of visions of heaven that he had supposedly seen; the parents recounted some of these on a recovery blog, which did not attract significant media attention.[10]

In 2009, Alex Malarkey, aged 10, became the youngest person to have the surgical procedure first carried out for Christopher Reeve to allow him to breathe on his own without a ventilator.[11] Later in 2009, he was able to stand upright in a supporting frame and, with helpers moving his legs, to walk on a treadmill.[12]

Summary

The book purports to describe supernatural visions and experiences that Alex had immediately after the accident and during his recovery. These include an out-of-body experience, where he saw his father being caught and carried to safety by an angel after flying out of the window of the car.[13] The book says that, soon after that, he felt an angel take him through the gates of Heaven, which he describes as being "tall", to meet Jesus, who appears through a "hole in heaven".[14] The devil also appears.[15] The book recounts several trips to heaven and back.

Tyndale House promoted the book as "a supernatural encounter that will give you new insights on Heaven, angels, and hearing the voice of God".[16] [17]

Publication and reception

Beth Malarkey later stated that her husband, Kevin, got the idea for writing the book after the media attention paid in 2009 to Alex's surgery, and that she resisted his bringing Matt Jacobson, a literary agent, to meet their son. A book deal was signed by the end of the year, which gave Kevin exclusive copyright. Kevin was the book's main promoter, giving many talks and interviews.

Books purporting to describe real visits to Heaven make up a popular and highly lucrative genre of religious books in the United States.[18] The 2004 book 90 Minutes in Heaven spent over five years on the New York Times best-seller list and sold over six million copies;[19] the book Heaven Is for Real has sold over 10 million copies[20] and the film adaptation earned $101 million at the box office.[21] The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven sold 112,386 copies in the first year,[22] and received a platinum award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 2013 for over a million sales.

According to Benjamin Radford, a paranormal researcher, part of the reason for which the story was so well received and accepted by its American Christian audience is that it reinforced their existing narratives and beliefs. By sticking closely to a widely accepted interpretation of heaven, God and demons, Malarkey was assured that his story would meet his audience's expectations and be popular.[23]

Repudiation

In November 2011, Alex Malarkey posted on a fanpage about the book a comment, in which he called it "1 of the most deceptive books ever." This comment was deleted by the moderators of the page shortly afterwards, and Alex was banned from the page.

In November 2012, Alex's mother, Beth Malarkey, wrote several blog posts saying that her family was not in agreement with the content of the book. She expressed frustration with several people calling and visiting their home over the years, saying "[Alex] is just a boy not a statue to be worshipped or person with some supernatural gifts" and "He does not go to Heaven, have conversations with supernatural beings, and whatever visions/experiences he has had or had not had, is up to him as to what he will do with those."[24] Later that month, she said that the book's account had been embellished, adding "The truth is getting twisted, distorted, and packaged to be sold to the highest bidder." Beth and Kevin Malarkey have become estranged since the book was published.[25]

On May 9, 2014, Beth Malarkey appeared on a Christian radio show, The Bible Answer Man, where she said that the book was deceptive and embellished the story of the accident. Beth Malarkey said Alex is still a quadriplegic, and cannot legally receive any money from the book.[26] She also began communicating with Phil Johnson, the executive director of John F. MacArthur's media ministry, Grace to You, in hopes of communicating her story. Johnson said that Beth had told him that she and Alex had been trying to publicize for some time that the book was "an exaggeration and an embellishment." Johnson subsequently wrote in his blog, The Spurgeon Archive, that Beth Malarkey had sent Tyndale "a stack of correspondence", in which she stated that Alex received no royalties from the book and "[Kevin] neglects his duties as a husband and a father" and "[Kevin was] not even adequately supporting his family financially."[27] She had also revealed this to an apologist, Justin Peters, who then e-mailed Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer, the heads of the publisher, LifeWay. They responded, but the book would not be withdrawn from LifeWay stores for another eight months [28]

On January 13, 2015, Alex Malarkey released an open letter to Christian publishers and bookstores, via a Christian Apologetics blog, Pulpit and Pen, confessing that the entire account of his journey to Heaven was fictional, and implored them to remove the book from their stores. In his letter he notes:[29] On January 15, 2015, Tyndale House confirmed it would be withdrawing the book.[16]

Kevin Malarkey did not speak publicly after his son retracted the book's claims and rebuffed efforts by journalists to contact him until a Slate interview in 2019. He told Ruth Graham that he stood by the book. He had not spoken previously because, after prayer, he believed God did not want him to since it would harm his children. He claimed that royalties from the book had come to approximately a million dollars, half of it from the advance, but most of it had been spent on Alex's care, or given to his church and other Christian charities, and none of it was left.

Lawsuits

In 2018, Alex Malarkey filed a lawsuit against Tyndale House, the main publisher based in suburban Chicago, accusing them of charges including defamation and exploitation, seeking an award at least equivalent to the book's profits. That same year Kevin and Beth ended their marriage, with Beth getting custody of Alex (now an adult) and the couple's other children going to live with their father. Beth says she and Alex are in a difficult financial situation and cannot guarantee that they will be able to remain in their house; she would like an accounting of how Kevin spent the money from the book.[30]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 'The boy who came back from heaven' Alex Malarkey says best-selling book is false. Mark Woods. January 15, 2015. Christianity Today.
  2. Web site: Boy Who Claimed He Visited Heaven Reads Bible and Recants Story; LifeWay to Pull Book From Stores. Vencent Funaro. January 15, 2015. Christian Post.
  3. Web site: Kid Named Malarkey Lied about Going to Heaven. Kelly Faircloth. January 15, 2015. jezebel.com. Gawker Media.
  4. Alex Malarkey, as quoted by Beth Malarkey Web site: November 20, 2012. Alex's post on the Boy Who Came Back from Heaven fanpage. https://web.archive.org/web/20150117235911/http://amomonamission.blogspot.com/2012/11/following-is-post-that-my-son-alex.html. January 17, 2015. blogspot.com (self published).
    as quoted by Web site: Phil Johnson. January 16, 2015. Setting the record straight. https://web.archive.org/web/20150117235901/http://www.gty.org/Blog/B150116/setting-the-record-straight. January 17, 2015. Grace to You.
  5. Web site: 'The Harbinger' marks a million in sales with two Evangelical Christian Publishers Association awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20150117064400/http://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/news/industry-news/25756-the-harbinger-marks-a-million-in-sales-with-two-evangelical-christian-publishers-association-awards . January 17, 2015. May 29, 2013. Christian Retailing. Tyndale also garnered two Platinum Awards for sales of more than 1 million copies for... The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin and Alex Malarkey (more than 1 million sold)..
  6. Web site: 'Boy Who Came Back From Heaven' going back to publisher. Ron Charles. January 15, 2015. Washington Post Style Blog.
  7. Web site: August 11, 2009. Eric Westacott Foundation Raises Over $30,000 to Help Young Quadriplegic Boy | News. April 25, 2014. Spinal Cord Injury Zone.
  8. Web site: Arturo Garcia. January 15, 2015. 10 Year-old Author of Best-selling Christian Book Admits He Never 'Came Back from Heaven'. Rawstory.
  9. News: Swenson. Kyle. 'The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven' now wants his day in court. en-US. Washington Post. February 8, 2021. 0190-8286.
  10. Web site: January 21, 2015. The boy who didn't come back from heaven: inside a bestseller's 'deception'. February 8, 2021. The Guardian. en.
  11. News: January 9, 2009. Boy, 10, Is Youngest Person to Get 'Christopher Reeve' Breathing Device. Fox News. Associated Press. January 16, 2015.
  12. News: Loehr. Many. April 4, 2009. Worlds away from 'sheer survival'. Bellefontaine Examiner. January 16, 2015.
  13. News: Mark Furler. The Boy Who 'Went to Heaven' . Sunshine Coast Daily . February 12, 2011 . April 25, 2014.
  14. Web site: Alex Malarkey, 'The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,' Admits He Made It All Up. Ed Mazza. January 15, 2015. Huffington Post.
  15. Web site: The Burpo-Malarkey Doctrine. February 8, 2021. Grace to You. en.
  16. News: Boy Says He Didn't Go To Heaven; Publisher Says It Will Pull Book. January 15, 2015. NPR. Bill Chappell.
  17. Web site: The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven . Tyndale House Publishers . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004807/http://www.tyndale.com/The-Boy-Who-Came-Back-from-Heaven/9781414336060 . December 3, 2013 .
  18. To Heaven and Back!. Robert Gottlieb. October 23, 2014. New York Review of Books.
  19. Web site: Piper's '90 Minutes in Heaven' Back on 'New York Times' Best-seller List. Christian Retailing. April 25, 2014.
  20. Web site: 'Heaven Is for Real' hits major sales milestone. https://web.archive.org/web/20141218031545/http://christianretailing.com/index.php/newsletter/latest/27680-heaven-is-for-real-hits-major-sales-milestone. December 18, 2014. Christine D. Johnson. December 11, 2014. Christian Retailing.
  21. Web site: Heaven Is for Real. boxofficemojo.com. November 4, 2014.
  22. Web site: Tyndale Pulls 'Boy Who Came Back from Heaven'. Claire Swanson. January 16, 2015. Publishers Weekly.
  23. Web site: Radford. Benjamin. Benjamin Radford. Why People Believed Boy's 'Visit to Heaven' Story. January 30, 2015. news.discovery.com. May 11, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160511215519/http://news.discovery.com/human/psychology/why-people-believed-boys-visit-to-heaven-story150120.htm. dead.
  24. Web site: Alex Malarkey: Author of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven says He Made Up Story. January 17, 2015. Sydney Morning Herald.
  25. http://amomonamission.blogspot.com/2015/01/public-statement.html Public Statement
  26. [Hank Hanegraaff]
  27. Johnson, Phil. Tyndale House Publishers Knew the Malarkey Book Was A Fraud; The Spurgeon Archive, January 16, 2015.
  28. http://pulpitandpen.org/2015/01/15/emails-reveal-lifeway-president-knew-of-heaven-scam-chose-not-to-act/ Emails Suggest Lifeway President Knew of Heaven Scam, Chose Not to Act
  29. Web site: Boy says he didn't go to heaven, publisher says it will pull book. NPR.org. January 15, 2015. February 26, 2020.
  30. Web site: I Did Not Die. I Did Not Go to Heaven.. Ruth. Graham. GetPocket. Slate. July 9, 2019. January 6, 2020.