Embraced by the Light

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Summary: A beautiful vision
Review: This is a truly beautiful version of Christian type afterlife. A well written story of her near death experience.

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Summary: Yeah, uh huh.
Review: Betty Eadie's book has captured the imaginations of the world with her story of her near death experience. Perhaps it's a wise idea to remember that's exactly what it is: a STORY, which (as it has done for many a story-teller) has made her rich.

Experiences such as dreams of the afterlife and near death experiences are sacred and should be treated as such. Telling everyone who will listen and setting herself up as a prophetess is a bit much. Perhaps her first thoughts after her experience would have been wiser: she had a near-death experience and it renewed her faith in God and reminded her that she needs to love others. End of story.

Every "psychic" and "medium" and "palm reader" out there knows exactly what she is doing. So, let's use some common sense and put her where we should put mediums and psychics: in the money for nothing category.

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Summary: Embraced by the Light - Saved my life
Review: This book is the best book I have ever read. It is also by far the best evidence of the life after death experience. It has literally saved my life when I felt there was nothing worth living for. Betty Eadie show me there was much more to life and living than we can see with our limited vision here on earth. I now feel that even on those really bad days God has something for me that is even more wonderful than I can even imagine. I thank God for this book that opened up a whole new view on death and most of all on LIVING.

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Summary: A personal experience packed with her revelation...
Review: I was a zealous "Bible Christian" who sought God with all of my heart, my mind, and my strength and wound up a zealous Catholic. My mom was amused, at best, but she considers me at least open minded. She asked me to read this book because it amazed her a great deal. I didn't want to show any concern, but I was, because, as we know, there is a lot of religious deception out there ready to be read. My mom is retired and has never shown any interest in religion or Jesus Christ, so I felt I had to make sure she wasn't being led down the river. (I've prayed much that my parents might at least show some real compassion, or at least acknowledgment or faith of how God works in our lives). I told her I'd be happy to read it so that we could discuss something spiritual on a common ground.

I'm impressed by the number of, and passion in, the reviews. We can't expect to all have the same experience after death, but this one doesn't seem necessarily inconsistent with basic Christian doctrine anyway. There might be a very slight "New Age" tone, but only by omission, expectation, or over-simplification, not explanation. The author refers to Jesus Christ as "Savior" and explains why - that's not bad. She admits that Jesus had a "ministry" on earth and demonstrates that he has risen. She also states the Truth is in the gospels. Altruism, Unconditional Love, Faith, the importance of Prayer, and Hope are well established in the book. What more do you (if a Christian) want? As far as what happens, exactly, after death - we should all be open to at least amusements - there might be a real lesson in there somewhere. Do you really think you can tell God what he should put into Heaven - wouldn't it be more fun to just read a few stories?

The author paints a very nice, well sealed, interesting picture. If one person died, saw Heaven, and returned - I would hope they would write a book so that everyone could read it and love God all the more for it and gain in Hope. It would probably be a popular book. If a person halucinated, thought they saw Heaven and returned - they should do the same, what's the difference? The number of book sales? They're both gifts from God, right? If Satan paints a beautiful, but deceiving picture of Heaven, maybe he should take up a new job. Beauty is beauty and it should be shared - I hope it's not limited ONLY to the eye of the beholder, haha.

Especially since becoming Catholic, I can say I have a very strong, well grounded faith which has alowed my "Bible Only" roots to penetrate deeper. (Some of you are asking "Yea, but faith in what?", haha - don't be so predictable, have some life in you, haha). I know I can actually comfort my mother and know that the book does at the least introduce the basics to her in a nice way. Maybe my prayers are being answered.

Personally, my faith and code of morals changes absolutely none after reading this book, and I can't find any terrible inconsistencies with them in this book, either. I think it would have been nice for some philosophical (or theological) points to be better explained, but it is smarter for her to not explain them, lest she be "disproven", haha. Besides, if the author never had any interest in explaining her opinions, that is not a concern of mine. Catholics especially know that explanations take longer than raising suspicions.

It's a good, quick read. By the reviews, even if you "disagree" (give me a break), you won't be bored.

Rating:
Summary: A personal experience packed with her revelation...
Review: This book is an interesting, detailed account of a near-death experience. It is unusual in the material content, making it unlikely to be a "me-too" type book. It is a quick, fun read, and is consistent with some colors of Christianity, but with the inclusion of extraneous and enticing details, and the subtraction of classical theology and the establishment of any "Church" on Earth by Jesus, including any need to specifically worship God. It does, however, demonstrate the power and workings of prayer. If you are a real God worshipper, you might not like the exclusions but might benefit from the ideas it proposes to help you relate with other people. The book suggests that Truth is in the Gospels and that spiritual perfection can be achieved on earth, but it offers little to help interpret scripture - so a reader's specific Christian understanding is really un-altered by the text.

My mother became interested and excited about Jesus from reading this book. She asked me to critique it, which surprised me because she has never showed much interest in Christianity before. It explains the practical need for LOVE of one's neighbor and that LOVE essentially is the purpose of life on Earth.

I recommend this book to non-Christians, agnostics, atheists and searching Christians who are looking for a bit more helpful insight. I do not specifically recommend the book for Christians who have come to love sacraments and other gifts that Jesus left behind during his earthly ministry, which might be better sources of nourishment for these Christians.

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Summary: Shallow and ethereal in both style and substance
Review: Betty J. Eadie died in a hospital due to complications from surgery-- but came back to life. Her nonfiction book about this two decade old event has been a success since it was published. Her after-life experience has a lot of the features now so common as to be cliche: the tunnel, the light, the warm feeling, etc. In one way this is beneficial: if she "saw" something so much different from other cases we might not have cause to believe her. But there's much more: she claims to have talked to God and His angels as well, an incident which has endowed her with a tremendous new knowledge of things.

All spirits, Eadie says, existed before their life on earth. All people actually witnessed the creation of the world, in this universe-- one of many. Those on earth choose to be born here and come into life with a purpose, and that each of us know that we will have to face a terrific struggle to achieve that purpose. Thus, all spirits are brave and noble-- some of us, she says, even choose the diseases we would suffer during our lives.

To live a happy life and acheive our purpose we need to harmonize our spirit with our mind and body. Each of these has laws of its own which should not be broken in order to exude positive energy (goodness and kindness), the opposite of negative energy (hatred and fear). An example of breaking a physical law might be to destroy the harmony by taking drugs, something which can ruin the physical body. Thoughts are actions and "color" our spirit. Words are powerful and can give off either positive or negative energy. The teachings of those who communicate God through fear is an example of negative energy, because according to Eadie we can never come to love something we fear. Eadie's God is not a vengeful or malicious one: He is a gentle, loveable one. She tells us several times that He has a sense of humor, omniscient and helps us all whether we realize it or not.

All things, Eadie says, happen for a reason, namely to bring us a better spiritual understanding. She stresses the importance of every human being, the dangerousness of suicide, and the essential existence of different religions. All of us must care for our fellow man, healing ourselves by reaching out to heal others. True fulfillment is attained in this way, moving away from the self. Eadie stresses that we are always capable of changing directions and giving off positive energy. Ultimately, we most always think positively.

For the sake of confusion, Edie's wealth of detail and lust for harmony give Leibnitz's Monadology a run for his money. There are many points on which I disagree, such as Eadie's equating depression with self-centeredness and her general dismissal of the entire human emotion of sorrow. Not nearly enough was said of the spirit's existence before life. Nor does Eadie mention why people act so cruelly if they are, as she says, so inherently good. No clear reason, other than a possible form of religious casuistry or blind adoption of Christian ethics, was given about why we should indeed love our enemies. Indeed, the entire well-meaningness of the volume is cast in doubt when you consider Eadie waited 20 years before writing her story. Perhaps the New Age climate in post-Vietnam America wasn't yet ripe.

Unfortunately the short book and its shorter message do not overcome these doubts of probability and preciseness to produce something truly humanistic or valuable as a statement on humankind. There are too many questions that remain: if someone has picked the disease by which they will die in life on earth, doesn't this imply a former knowledge of illness? how does the phenomenon of sadomasochism fit into the metaphysical sphere Eadie has mapped out, in which helping is preferred to hurting others physically or emotionally? if all people on earth have a purpose and exist here because of that purpose, doesn't this prevent a large portion of free, autonomous action on the individual's part?

I believe the earnest seeker for truth cautious of the precious amount of time used on quality reading would be better served by sitting down with a literary classic or a tract of philosophy by established, respected, canonized thinkers. If the God Eadie encountered exists and her journey didn't occur, as her skeptics have said, only in her mind, then there is a hope of life beyond this one-- though it is a life that in reading _Embraced By the Light_ I labored to properly appreciate or grasp.

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Summary: This book made a change in my life!
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely and I would recommend it for anyone who is interested to know that there is a good God beyond our skies. Betty Eadie is a remarkable woman who has shown us what to expect from a loving God.
I would also recommend another book that reveals the wonder that is God, "Apocalypse Angel," by Charles Rivers.

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Summary: Many good points
Review: I found many good points in this book. p.63 says that But when we make the effort to move ourselves away from self and begin to concentrate on the needs of others and how to serve them, we begin to heal. (This is so true.)
I also found Write from the Heart, A Healing Grief Journal and After the Tears, A Gentle Guide to Help Children Understand Death to be helpful grief resources.

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Summary: perspective
Review: In a fact , this book was as my salvator angel .This book got me the poweful of combating with my wrong beleif about the death , In other word i have wone the fighting with my fear of death , this wrong beleif has been made by my reading another book in same object but it just gave me a very dreadful perspective about our future living in next world ; when as with reading this book I found the very tranquillizing sentiment about death and the world which will be came after death accordingly.

In the final , I would like to inform you that I am fighting with very advanced cancer and this book help me more than i think about .

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Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: I've read a few books about life after death. I found this book to be simply written and just a joy to read. It goes back and forth with what's going on in her life and then back to her visions and memories. As a believer in the afterlife I was enthralled by the beauty described and magical experiences. It proves that there are no coincidences in life. One never knows what's coming next. Which makes the jouney of life even more exciting. Needless to say, I highly recommend this book to anyone who's interested in knowing about the afterlife. Keep an open mind and an open heart.