Examples include knowledge of an unborn sister miscarried by his mother in 1998 and details of a great-grandfather who had died 30 years before Colton was born.

The Berean Call, a Christian ministry and newsletter, cited the book for its "extra-biblical" and "problematic" claims, as well as the lack of any medical evidence that the boy was clinically dead during the surgery.

[10] Author and pastor John MacArthur has criticized the book for presenting an un-Biblical perspective on the afterlife.

Some of Hanegraaff's reasons include that people reporting near-death experiences generally relate stories that "are wildly divergent and mutually contradictory," and that the Burpo family appears to be biased by their simplistic belief in hyperliteralism.

"[16][17] Following Malarkey's statement, Colton Burpo said that while he acknowledged that some among the public had doubts about his account, he stood by Heaven Is for Real's contents nonetheless.

The film was released on April 16, 2014, starring Connor Corum, Margo Martindale, Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Thomas Haden Church, and Jacob Vargas.