[nandansahoo]

In line with the Christian movie trend of 2014, Heaven Is for Real opened this Easter weekend. Based on the bestseller Heaven Is for Real by pastor Todd Burpo, it tells the story of his son Colton and his supposed visit to heaven. I went and saw the movie on opening day. Surprisingly, it wasn't terrible—in fact, it may be one of the rare cases where the movie is actually better than the book. It also provides us with the perfect opportunity to discuss some basic critical thinking lessons, so I thought it would be fun to turn our logical eye to Heaven Is for Real.

(At first I was hesitant to do so—I don’t want to be seen as picking on a small child for credulity. But, really, the argument belongs to his father Todd—and many adults take it very seriously. So it’s definitely fair game.)

Just like The Amityville Horror, Heaven Is for Real is said to be based on a true story. Unlike the Amityville horror however, this "true story" is not actually a complete fabrication. (The Amityville Horror story was exposed as a hoax long ago.) That's not to say that I think Colton actually visited heaven—I don’t, and we will discuss why momentarily. But I don't think that Colton, or his family, are making anything up. It's not a hoax—at least, not an intentional one. Colton really did have an experience his parents had trouble explaining. That's also not to say that there isn't some exaggerating going on either. But I believe that Colton’s parents genuinely believe that Colton visited heaven. Their sin is not a moral one—they are not lying. Their sin is an epistemic one: credulity (i.e., a lack of basic critical thinking).