Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Typical fundamentalist response to Truth, November 25, 1998
By A Customer
When Mr. Groothius has a detailed near-death experience of his own that he can use for comparison to Betty Eadie's, then I will take him seriously. Until then, he inhabits the ranks of fundamentalists that interpret the Bible in their own way, debunking anything that contradicts their interpretations. We all interpret the Bible in different ways. We all have different views on the meanings of Scripture, and even each *individual* will have a different perspective on what, exactly, God is. That is why we have so many religions in this world, and so many hundreds of factions even within the realm of Christianity. Heck, I'm Lutheran, and there are factions of Lutherans (notably the Missouri Synod) that have viewpoints that don't mesh with mine. So clearly, the interpretation of Scripture is an inexact undertaking. Any tome, such as this one, that debunks what I believe is a person's real account of a near-death experience, based upon the flawed premise that this is not "what the Bible says," is taking a narrow-minded view of reality. Granted, Betty Eadie's account of her near-death experience is inevitably filtered through her *own* belief system, so some of her interpretations of what happened to her might be different than if the same events had happened to another person. But this, again, just goes to show how open to individual interpretation spiritual experience, and Scripture, really is. We won't *truly* know until we reach the other side, will we?
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bashing NDE theology of the afterlife, January 29, 2007
The wild success of books about NDEs (Near Death Experiences) in the last 20 years by medical professional like Raymond Moody and those, like Betty Eadie of "Embraced by the Light" fame, who claim to have experienced them - demands careful scrutiny and contemplation. Are these experiences real? And if so, do they tell us anything about the world that awaits us after we die? Or do these experiences only tell us what it's like inside a dying brain?
"Deceived By The Light" is the response to these books, especially Eadie's, from a conservative Christian perspective. The book is less a first-hand study of the phenomena, but a survey of the popular literature, such as it is, and a comparison of the "lessons" of NDEs to the lessons of the Bible as undertood by author Groothius's particular denomination. As such, the book does a creditable job of laying out a standard Christian rejoinder to Eadie. Groothius may surpise some by demonstrating that though it features "God" and "Jesus," Eadie's afterlife is a mutant thing that contains bits and pieces of many religious systems.
The book's greatest weakness is that in spite of its opposition to Eadie's theology, it takes the phenomenon of NDE much too seriously. This is partly due to the lack of original research into the claims. Nearly all quotes are taken from one of the NDE books, and little seems to have been done to dig deeper - to interview the subjects, or at least read the original transcripts of the interviews rather than the possibly-biased reports of their supporters. Groothius should have at least tried to verify whether those who experience NDE were reported accurately.
Groothius goes out of his way to deny the reality of the sinless, blameless land of love that NDErs supposedly tell of, which frankly is at odds with the moral system of either the Old or New Testaments. But when it comes to negative NDE experiences, in which a person finds himself in a land of torments or horror, the author becomes approving. Yet if the NDE "heaven," redolent of reincarnation and non-judgmental love-love-love, is a fantasy, why not the nasty "hell" as well?
All told, the book is valuable for raising questions about the reality of the phenomenon and the NDE theology that is part gnostic (learn this and be saved!) pantheistic (we are all God!) and monistic (all is One!). If the afterlife is truly a place where judgment is nonexistent, then perhaps we can relax a little down here. If it's not, then we are so screwed! Groothius also correctly points out that while NDErs experience existence after a certain definition of death, it could be argued that they really never died.
Groothius's book is an interesting paradox, for while it shows that Eadie's experience is at odds with much of Christianity, it also shows his version of Christianity as a rather bloodthirsty system that can be seen as excluding all but a certain subset of believers from its paradise. It's easy to see how some would experience a certain revulsion at a system that dooms so many to eternal torture. If you can tolerate Groothius's Christian bias, "Deceived by the Light" will at least get you thinking beyond the happy heaven they dangle before us.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A critical evalution of near death experiences, December 1, 2001
By A Customer
One reviewer below stated, "When Mr. Groothius has a detailed near-death experience of his own that he can use for comparison to Betty Eadie's, then I will take him seriously."Isn't this like saying, "If you've never experienced heroin, then you can't knock it"? Also, I wonder if that reviewer has had a NDE which he/she can use to determine if Eadie's experience is valid? Are all subjective/existential experiences beyond evaluation? If so, then anyone could claim anything, and all others would be forced to believe. Groothuis does a good job of cutting through this type of thinking and shows how truth-claims about NDE's can be tested, and evaluated.
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by Douglas Groothuis
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