Betty Eadie is a
Mormon who claimed to have had a
Near-Death Experience (NDE). She authored the books "Embraced by the Light" and "The Awakening Heart". "Embraced by the Light" originally was published as a Mormon book, by a Mormon publisher.
According to an article in the March 6, 1993 Ogden, Utah Standard-Examiner, "Eadie said she was an inactive member of the LDS [Mormon] Church at the time [of her supposed near-death experience] and since then has become active. She said she was told during her after-life experience that the LDS Church is 'the truest Church on the earth.' But her LDS background wasn't included in the book, she said, because 'the book was meant to go out to the world, not just to LDS members.'"
One of the Mormon doctrines repeatedly stressed in Embraced by the Light is the pre-mortal existence of human spirits: "Then I began to see images in my mind of a time long ago, of an existence before my life on earth….The fact of a pre-earth life crystallized in my mind…." (p. 31). Eadie further states: "Things were coming back to me from long before my life on earth, things that had been purposely blocked from me by a 'veil' of forgetfulness at my birth" (p. 44). The term "veil of forgetfulness" is distinctively Mormon.
Deceived by the Light
By
Douglas Groothuis. Betty Eadie's "journey beyond death" experience, she says, was given to her by God. However, none of her proclamations are in agreement with the Bible. In fact, her claims have clear connections with New Age philosophy. People view Eadie's testimony as a source of hope and comfort. Yet the hope and comfort offered by the God of the Bible are far superior to the "revelations" found in Eadie's book.
Embraced by the Light and the Bible Subtitled "Betty Eadie and Near-Death Experiences in the Light of Scripture" By
Richard Abanes
Betty Eadie