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4753
Wills-Brandon, Carla. Seven Heavens: The Afterlife in the Jewish Tradition. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2023. J.R. Barrett, pp. 1-2.
31
Moderate Evidence
8
Low Compatibility
All paths lead to God
This experience contains both biblical and problematic elements that create significant compatibility concerns. The positive biblical aspects include the out-of-body experience, which aligns with Paul's account of being "caught up to the third heaven" whether in or out of body. The encounter with a guiding being could represent an angelic presence. The warm, non-harmful light parallels biblical descriptions of divine radiance. The description of feeling like "sitting in the lap of good" evokes the comfort and safety found in God's presence. The vision of interconnected reality could reflect the biblical truth that all creation is sustained by God.
However, the message "All paths lead to God. All paths lead to truth" directly contradicts core biblical teaching. Jesus explicitly stated "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). This universal salvation message fundamentally opposes the biblical doctrine of salvation through Christ alone. The concept that all religious paths are equally valid contradicts numerous biblical passages about the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ. While the experience of divine love and interconnection has biblical parallels, the theological message received promotes religious relativism that is incompatible with biblical Christianity. The absence of any mention of sin, redemption, or the need for salvation further distances this experience from biblical theology.
J.R. Barrett, a prolific writer of over thirty books whose family included Holocaust survivors, experienced a profound NDE when thrown from her horse during a ride. Her father was a French-Romanian Ashkenazi Jew and atheist lawyer who never recovered from his anger toward the Nazis. Her uncle was in a German POW camp during WWII. Her mother, a Swedish Sephardic Jew and agnostic, later had departing visions on her deathbed. Before the accident, the sky was golden bright and the wind was blustery.
While riding on a ridge, she saw a man on an Arabian horse screaming as he galloped down the hill, causing her horse to rear up and flip over her. The horse reared a second time with feet skidding downhill. At this moment, she left her body with no care about her physical form. She observed her sisters putting their hands over their faces in horror. She felt someone on her left say "come with me" as a three-dimensional hand came forward. They held hands and were "surfing" together through space. Before hitting a barrier, she could differentiate individual things, but upon hitting the barrier, she saw that everything was connected - "we were all connected." She encountered a warm light that didn't hurt her eyes, feeling like she was "sitting in the lap of good." A face was buried in this light. The being pulled part of himself away, and she could see far away - every blade of grass, every flower in perfect detail. People were coming through a meadow. The guide with the three-dimensional hand told her "You have to go back." When she said "No," she had a panic attack and was slammed back into her body. Charlie, the ranch owner, threw her across his horse and took her for medical help. She had suffered a broken pelvis and broken lower back. The message she received was profound: "All paths lead to God. All paths lead to truth." The experience left her with a deep understanding of universal connection and spiritual truth. |