Rating: 
Summary: Phenomenal!
Review: I found this book sitting on my parents bookshelf yesterday. It had been there for years but I had never even opened it. I started reading and couldn't put it down. It was so fabulous! This book greatly changed my outlook on God, heaven, and Christianity. I believe that it has changed my life. I am 15 with clinical depression, social anxiety disorder, and bulimia. I have read many self-help books with no avail, yet this one gave me hope. For months I have been struggling with my Christian relationship and wondering why God would "punish" me like this. This book helped me to realize that this IS a growing experience and God would never deal me anything that I could not deal with or lead to me grow from. It also assisted in coming to terms with my friend's suicide and made me realize how her death had made me a more compassionate and caring person. This book gives me hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and made me realize that the spirit has the power to overcome anything (with patience) through God. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK! I pray that everyone can gain as much from this book as I have.
Rating:
Summary: Peace, Love, and Joy
Review: I recieved this book four years ago as a gift. I tried reading it at that time, but could not seem to get through it. As of 1 week ago, I attempted it again, and I finished it in 2 days. I truly believe we are all at a different level of spiritual learning as the author states, and now that I have read this book, I am able to look at myself more closely and work on the person I want to and am able to become. As much as it pains me to have to let a loved one go, it feels my soul with peace to know that I will see them again. I know their mission is not over and that they graduate to another level where life does go on. Whether one wonders about the details of Ms. Eadie's experience, there is only one thing that one can really do to recieve confirmation on anything. I recomend this scripture from James Chapter 1, verse 5. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." I know that if you humbly pray about the goodness of any book, you will recieve a peaceful answer to your prayer. I know that god lives, and that Jesus Christ is not only his son, but our savior and brother. I am very grateful to Betty Eadie for her inspiration in writing of her experience and touching my life for the better.
Rating:
Summary: Love this book
Review: I bought this book after my dad died 10 years ago. I was very sad and lost feeling and was drawn to this book in the book store. When I got to the part of the nde and how she describes heaven and what things "mean" in this life, I was so happy. It just helped me see so many things! It gave me great peace. I have offered this book to many people over the years upon the death of loved ones when they have that same empty feeling that I did. Each person that has read it has been touched and feels better for having read it. Thank You Betty Eadie
Rating:
Summary: We don't die!
Review: I was handed Betty's book when my 18 year old daughter was diagnosed 'brain dead' after a car accident. I have given the book out to others who have experienced a loss in their life and will continue passing out Betty's book of hope after death! The book explained a little about what happened to me when I was clinically dead from an injury in an accident, 1980. Although I didn't see anyone, I remember being in a beautiful green pasture with flowers and the feeling of total love, peace and harmony. It was a place I never wanted to leave! My mother had a NDE when my little sister died. She remembers being in a beautiful place floating with an angel or guide as Betty describes. She then asked about her baby and was able to see her baby flying around very peaceful and happy. My mother said "she doesn't know me" and was told "she will when she grows up." Thus, I have always felt babies grow in heaven. My daughter's best friend was struck by a truck and in a coma for months. When she awoke from her brain injury, she was recovering in a rehab center for months. The first words she spoke was seeing her grandparents - who had died several years before. Four months after her accident, she was allowed to go home for a few hours to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner. She saw a picture of Jesus on the dining room wall, not able to talk well or use her arms to function, she pointed to the picture and said "uh, uh, no, he doesn't look like that -- Jesus doesn't look like that." These were the only words she spoke during her brief visit. I can go on and on about other people who have had NDE and I have no doubt we all of have destiny beyond this world! As for my daughter, she is in a much better place. I know because I was there once and look forward to returning to Heaven when my time is up!
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't matter if it's true or not
Review: Oh, how these reviews have evoked emotion in people...talk about religion and the afterlife and people just can't deal with each other. Many are afraid to face their imminent deaths. I gave this book 4 stars because it doesn't matter whether or not it's true. What Ms Eadie describes is a heaven where people do nice things for others, and love is unconditional. They have learned the principles of life: faith, hope, altruism, patience...and LOVE...things most people in our world have yet to learn. If this is indeed, as Ms Eadie states in her book, why we have come down to earth, then it is obvious by our world's problems that the education is much needed. Whether or not it is true is irrelevant. I am an educated woman, not a religious zealot but not a close-minded skeptic either. I read the book with open eyes, and was entranced by her images of a perfect heaven. This book brought peace to a woman terrified of death; now my visions of a cold grave are replaced with a heaven full of singing flowers, perfect buildings and unconditional love. If the only thing that awaits me is indeed a cold grave, will it have hurt me that I lived my life with a beautiful vision of the afterlife? Will I have lived in vain if I learned from this book to love others unconditionally, to give of myself, of patience and faith that my purpose will be fulfilled? Judge for yourself how you will view heaven, but for God's sake don't attack a woman for her views.
Rating: 
Summary: A Decidedly Mixed Review
Review: My father asked me to read this book right after my mother passed away. This book brought her great hope, and she passed it along to many people. To be directly honest with the reader, I write this review as a Catholic convert son of a Seventh Day Adventist mother. To be frank, I have a very mixed review of this book. Before I launch into its content, it should be stated that this book is written in a very readable and fluid style. It took me no more than two hours to read. That being said, I now begin with my thoughts about Ms. Eadie. If the book is true to herself, I find Ms. Eadie to be a very loving and kind person. I need not doubt that there are such things as near death experiences, and, for that matter, I do not doubt that Ms. Eadie experienced something wonderful. Her depiction of Christ as a loving redeemer is right on. Christ is all these things and more than we can imagine. That being said, however, there are matters in this book that directly contradict that which we know from the public revelation of God to his people. The first test of private revelation, such as experienced by Ms. Eadie, is whether that private revelation seeks to add to or contradict the revelation Our Lord has given us. Unfortunately, much of this book does just that. The preface provides that "Betty does not return from clinical death with grandiose claims of establishing a new church or of producing miracle cures for diseases, but rather with a simple message of love." I believe this to be true, she does not establish a new church, but Ms. Eadie does style her own religion based upon her experience. More specifically, on page 45 it Ms. Eadie states, "I wanted to know why there were so many churches in the world. Why didn't God give us only one church, one pure religion? ... All religions upon the earth are necessary because there are people who need what they teach." Ms. Eadie's question is a common one, and it is highly relevant. Nonetheless, God has provided the answer. In Matthew 16, Our Lord states "You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church." St. Paul later would state that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. Christ said he has a Church and it is His. That Church is the pillar of truth. Furthermore, this is very consistent with the revelation to the Jews. God's people, with all their faults, were given the truth of God. The religions of the people that they would displace were not on equal par. Through Christ, God wants us to know the truth. In short, it is not God's desire that there be multiple religions. It is his desire to let all people know Him. He accomplishes this through his Church. I'll illustrate with a rather extreme example. The Aztec people appeased their gods by sacrificing prisoners of war and children. Ms. Eadie's statement, if taken to its logical conclusion would mean that the Aztec people needed this religion and that it was good. Not true. If we draw out Ms. Eadie's analogy, there would be no need for anyone to become a Christian. Why? He is fine just where he is at. Christ said he is the truth and the life. We need to spread that message. Ms. Eadie does this in an indirect way, but this doctrine of hers cuts against this truth. Ms. Eadie also provides that we pre-existed the creation of the world and participated in its creation (page 47). She provides that we elect to accept our way of life, trials, and illnesses before we are born on earth (page 67). She explains that Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden because "she wanted to become a mother desperately that she was willing to risk death to obtain it" (page 109) I find no support for these statements in the Bible or the Apostolic tradition. If, as Ms. Eadie suggests, even our sins are intended for the benefit of ourselves or others, there is no condemnation for sin. If a person has chosen before his existence to be aborted as a fetus, the mother who aborts that child has no condemnation because she is merely fulfilling the will of the fetus and the tacit approval of God. This is a very dangerous doctrine in that there is no sin. To that end, Ms. Eadie also denies the existence of hell. On page 84 she suggests that our those who "die as atheists, or those who have bonded to the world through greed, bodily appetites, or other earthly commitments find it difficult to move on ... these spirits stay on the earth until they learn to accept the greater power around them and to let go of the world." Thus, there is no hell. There is only heaven, although some are delayed. In the final, analysis all go. This book was an interesting read. Ms. Eadie isn't establishing a new church, but she is establishing a new religion that denies so many things revealed to us by Christ. To that end, I recommend this book only to those that can recognize the difference between these two matters. Those who can't see the implications of Ms. Eadie's revelation are subject to being deceived. It is very true that Christ is love. It is also truth that Christ taught us what to believe in his love. We should not accept one over the other. Christ desires both for us.
Rating:
Summary: I love the Love inside this book
Review: This book reminds me of Tiffany Snow's book - the love expressed here, and how we don't have to have a NDE to wake up the real reason for living -LOVE- is wonderfully simple. The joy and changes made in her life have helped us all have a glimpse of the bigger picture, and not sweat the small stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Embraced by the Light, Betty J. Eadie
Review: Time after time, not only do I re-read this book when the need resurfaces, usually during and/or after the dying/death of a loved one or when a close friend loses a loved one. Betty's book brings me so much comfort. I have shared her book with many a friend, but the greatest comfort her book gave me was to share her experience in the garden with my mother as she lay giving her last breaths to her life here as we know it. As I read Betty's garden experience to my Mom, it was a way I could share the beauty and a reason to not be afraid of what we both knew was coming. I know in my heart of hearts, it brought us both great comfort. May it do the same for you.
Rating:
Summary: Do I have to have a NDE too?
Review: Embraced by the Light is a wonderful book, but so many people just focus on their own lessons they learned, which makes for an interesting story, but I am always looking for more - how does this apply to me? Do I have to have an NDE myself? I liked Tiffany Snow's book better, just one chapter about her great NDE, but the rest of it shows how anyone can open up, if they learn how. I'm not saying Embraced by the Light is a bad book, really, but I guess I was just expecting more.
Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: "wow" that is what you will say when you read this book. im not much for books, but my friend and her mom have been telling me about this book for a while, and it is so beautiful and inspiring, just them describing it. so after a while, (since i dont like reading that much), i picked up the book and borrowed it from her and i have been reading it. i like how betty J. Eadie is open-minded, unlike alot of christians. she is not afraid to tell it how it is. i can not tell you how inspiring this book is. and im not even done reading it. this is like the best book. im all for inspiration, and this is so beautiful and touching. it makes me realise that the few caring people in the world, actually want and care for what the spirits want in heaven. they think the same way. other inspiring books, and not boring books: Michael Jackson- Dancing the dream- that and this book is the most inspiring books ive ever read. actually when i was reading Embraced by the light, i was thinking that alot of what Betty was talking about, was like what Michael cares about and talks about. hes such an angel. i wonder if he realises how much he is describing heaven and what the spirits want,- love, and truth,and all that. his book is very complex and i have learned so much through that book.so many precious things, and it opened up my eyes.
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