Customer Reviews

Be Not Afraid: Overcoming the Fear of Death

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The year 2001 was an incredible year, filled with shaking world events, but also with much that united us in our common humanity. As September 11th forced us to realize, we all grapple with weakness and fear, even as we cling to hope and faith and joy. As I witnessed in New York after the September 11th attacks, suffering brought forth an incredible strength of character in many people. It gave me hope in the ultimate triumph of Good like never before. And I found this message reinforced and echoed in every page of "Be Not Afraid."
After the events of this past year, including the wars now raging in many parts of the world, I cannot think of a more timely, more important book than this work of hope by Johann Christoph Arnold. As the subtitle suggests, the central theme is overcoming the fear of death, and yet the book is overwhelmingly about life-about living with joy and faith, no matter what meets us.
Through a treasure trove of personal stories that make the book near impossible to put down, "Be Not Afraid" meets the age-old human fear of death head on, with a power and intensity that leaves one changed. Again and again, the reader encounters a great and loving Power, far greater than the need and fear and weakness of human beings-a Power that draws especially near to the suffering and dying. We see glimpses of a reality so wonderful it takes one's breath away. I came away convinced: Death is not the last word. And the great Power in control of all things is telling us: Be Not Afraid!
The people whose stories fill the pages of "Be Not Afraid" have faced staggering obstacles and extracted life's deepest truths from them. If you want a true guide for the New Year (and the rest of your life), read this book. It is an extraordinary edifier of hope and faith-one that has the power to banish fear, even of the "last enemy," death.

Death is a subject that most people try to avoid, but let's face it, no one leaves this world alive! Christoph's book Be Not Afraid is another shining example of what we need to do with our lives! It has been said that the only thing we need to fear is fear itself. Be Not Afraid brings us back to the reason we are here in the first place. This book is written in the wonderfully profound simplicity that Christoph Arnold is famous for. It is another treasured reading in my personal library.

Not much to say, besides that this book helped me in a low moment to go on with life, no matter what...it's true stories of people who were 'between a rock and a hard place'. If you know very low moments in your life, read this!

A very subtle but eye opening look into why death is not something to be feared. I feel much better for having read this book.

If you, like myself, tear up at the end of "Touched by an Angel" episodes and are a professed Christian, this may just be the book for you. I was surprised by the reviews that the "surrender to Christ" aspect of this book was not emphasized; if you are not theistic in the sense of God intervening in your life, this book will be of little existential help. Let me tell you the plot: God and the belief in Jesus will sustain you in this life, and if you are imaginative enough, you can see God making people's lives better all the time, and hence, "why worry?" If you are reasonably convinced that consciousness as we now know it does not survive death and are looking for some insight to allay the fears that belief brings, you need not apply here.

I am very fearful of death and had hoped to find some tools for coping with such in this book. I was not so lucky. This is not the book for you if you are looking for the same.

As someone who is terminally ill with cancer, I found the hope-filled stories contained in this book very helpful. And, hope is the key to dealing with such a situation - to live and die in hope.

This book is not what I was looking for. I'm 0 for 2 on books about dying. This one is written with a heavy Christian base, and yet I am Jewish. This book was not for me. At least it did not tell me about what the title says it will.

OH How i loved the "FEAR OF DEATH" Book.........i laughed,i cried.I am no longer afraid of being flattened by a city bus.