The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven

Summary

According to his own account, Alex Malarkey says that he and his father were driving on a highway near Rushsylvania, Ohio when his father turned onto another road, and was hit by a car, which he did not see behind a blind hill. After the automobile accident, he says he saw his father fly out of the window of his car, only to be caught by an angel and carried to safety. He says he was out of his body while he saw this happen. His body was taken to a hospital in an emergency helicopter. 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 and Satan, who appears through a "hole in heaven". After he woke up in the hospital, he told his family his account of his near-death experience. Tyndale House promoted the book as "a supernatural encounter that will give you new insights on Heaven, angels, and hearing the voice of God."

Reception and aftermath

Books about visits to Heaven make up a popular and highly lucrative genre of religious books in America. 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, while the book Heaven Is for Real has sold over 10 million copies and the film adaptation earned $101 million at the box office. The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven sold 112,386 copies in its first year of sale, and received a platinum award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 2013 for over a million sales.

In November 2012, Alex's mother, Beth Malarkey, wrote several blog posts saying that her family is 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." Later that month, she claimed the book's account had been embellished, adding that, "The truth is getting twisted, distorted, and packaged to be sold to the highest bidder." She also revealed that Alex himself had written a comment on the book's Facebook page in November 2011 calling the book "one of the most deceptive books ever." That comment was deleted, and Alex was banned from commenting after the moderators suspected he was an imposter. Beth and Kevin Malarkey have become estranged since the book was published.

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

On January 13, 2015, Alex Malarkey released an open letter to Christian publishers and bookstores via the Christian Apologetics blog known as 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. His letter is as follows:

"Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short. 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 that 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 is only through repentance of your sins and a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died for your sins (even though he committed none of his own) so that you can be forgiven may you learn of Heaven outside of what is written in the Bible... not by reading a work of man. I want the whole world to know that the Bible is sufficient. Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough.

In Christ, Alex Malarkey.”

On January 15, 2015, Tyndale House confirmed it would be pulling the book from shelves and would no longer distribute it.

According to psychologist and paranormal researcher Benjamin Radford, part of the reason that the story was so well-received and accepted among 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.

Recovery

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. Later in 2009, he was able to stand upright in a supporting frame and, with helpers moving his legs, to walk on a treadmill.