Customer Reviews

What Tom Sawyer Learned from Dying

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

 

 

As a Catholic Priest who has been a friend of Tom Sawyer's for over 12 years I can attest to the absolute beauty of this book..and the joy Tom finds in Life. Tom is one person you will never forget..to be in a workshop with Tom is to jump from one subject to another..and back again. He touches in a special way everyone who comes in contact with him. When had my Near Death Episode 7 years ago..I finally came to know fully the truth he was sharing. I may be a Catholic Priest..but above all I am a beliver in Love and the Power of that love to transend all our limits and travails. Tom's insights found in this book will indeed remain with you the rest of your life. Fr. Jim Waters, D. Min.

Having read a lot of books on the subject of NDEs, I purchased this after reading the positive reviews it received. However, I feel that this book will only be helpful to those who have never been exposed to anything but the most mainstream of religious ideas. Some of it is downright offensive -- Tom Sawyer is quite an arrogant character, talking about himself in the 3rd person, and he reflects, apparently proudly judging from the tone, on the days in his life when he frequently kicked people's a**'s and dominated his wife in a manner that is borderline abusive. Furthermore, he makes frequent contradictions of his own message (All religions are valid and God is unconditional love, BUT suicides (and apparently ONLY suicides) go to hell, even if they are retarded and not capable of making good judgments).

Having read a great deal of NDE literature, it seems that Tom, just like many people who experience an NDE, believes that his wonderful experience was THE TRUTH (TM). It's worth noting that almost everyone who has an NDE feels this way, and many of those accounts contradict. I am not saying that I doubt that there is something real going on here. What I think, rather, is that God presents himself in the manner that will be most helpful to each individual person, and the experience of God is so powerful that people come back thinking they have the ONE TRUTH. Tom tries to avoid sounding this way, but it's obvious he feels it -- he claims that he went to Heaven (the real deal) while other NDE'ers who might contradict him just go to Paradise (some lesser Heaven that isn't really the abode of God -- in other words, not as real as his experience).

Also, he makes a lot of predictions about what will happen to the Earth that, of course, never happened - the nuclear apocalypse is about 10 years late, by his reckoning. This is also something a lot of NDE'ers do.

If you're going to read, tread lightly; soak up the message of unconditional love and use your own best judgment when considering the weird/bad stuff.

Tom Sawyer gives more insight into the workings of the universe than anyone I have read. This is a transformative book. It changed my life for the better. I couldn't put it down.

A very great book. It varifies my belief/feeling system. Wish the other books in this series was availabe. There is life after the death on this earth but it is where we call the othersise. A very peaceful and wonderful place.

This book breaks a barrier about some of the myths of death. Very believeable and well written.

Tom Sawyer dies, goes to Heaven and talks to God. Then he comes back and starts being a better person. Pretty good read, slow start. I enjoyed his own way of talking about waking up to his own spirituality.

I read this on a recommendation from a former co-worker of Tom Sawyer's. It was a wonderful & comforting book & I just bought a second copy to lend - I can't let go of mine. It has had quite an impact on my life & beliefs.

This book is better than others by or about Eadie, Brinkley, and Harris. There are a few too many details about Sawyer's early life and the ending is a little weird. But some things really grabbed me and it was curious how I met the subject