"A Special Report: What Is Betty Eadie Hiding?"

When Embraced by the Light first appeared in bookstores, it didn't look very different from the hundreds of other near-death experience (NDE) stories that have surfaced since Raymond Moody's 1975 book Life After Life put the term "near-death experience" into the dictionary. Most of these post-1975 NDE-related books, after peaking the interest of only a few metaphysical loyalists, have faded into literary obscurity within a few months of being published. And while Embraced by the Light may have seemed destined for a similarly gloomy death, nothing could have been further from the truth.

Though at first, author Betty J. Eadie shared her story only with family and friends, they coaxed her into presenting it before discussion groups of the International Association for Near-Death Studies. Eventually, she began giving talks to local special-interest groups. One audience member took notes, which soon found their way into the hands of Curtis Taylor, a Utah-based book editor who was so enthralled by the story that he started Gold Leaf Press specifically to publish Embraced by the Light. 

The book's first printing of 20,000 copies sold out within two weeks. Its second printing of 30,000 copies was snatched up just as fast. Successive printings drew a similar response and soon, waiting lists to get a copy of the supernatural saga became an ever-present dilemma for the spiritually hungry—Betty Eadie mania had struck. Six months after its December 1992 release, Embraced by the Light hit the New York Times bestseller list. In May of 1993 Bantam paid $1.5 million for paperback rights to the story (a record for a first-time author), and audio rights were sold at auction that same month for $100,000.

As of February 7, the trade journal Publishers Weekly ranked it the no. 1 hardcover nonfiction bestseller after 37 weeks on the list—displacing such heavyweights as Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern. At press time, the 147-page "journey beyond death" adventure had sold over one million copies, and sales continued strong.

What is the attraction? Eadie, 51, says that "people are finding a lot of hope, and they are learning to use what I've written from the experience to modify their lives....it has helped them overcome a lot of grief that they've suffered from the loss of their loved ones."

Kimberly Clark-Sharp, president of the International Association of Near-Death Studies, states that "even after interviewing over 1,000 near-death experiencers, Betty Eadie's account remains the most detailed and spellbinding near-death experience I have heard." Raymond Moody himself describes her account as "the most profound and complete near-death experience ever."

Eadie's narrative opens on November 19, 1973 at Riverton Hospital (now Highline Specialty Center) in metro Seattle, where, after undergoing a routine hysterectomy, she allegedly started hemorrhaging, subsequently died, and didn't come back to life until almost five hours later. What she saw and learned while on "the other side" answered almost all of her questions about life and death.

"I had this wonderful experience that I believe was given to me from God," she says, "and I felt like I had to share it." Eadie explains that her main message is one of love and that "the book was never meant to proselytize....never meant to be for a particular church."

A Closet Mormon?

Eadie openly declares in her book and in public interviews that Jesus Christ is her personal Lord and Savior—prompting some in the media to call her a "devout Christian." Evangelicals, too, have now joined cash register lines to buy Embraced by the Light. The December 1993 issue of Bookstore Journal noted that the Berean Bookstore in Phoenix received "more than 80 requests for it." However, the Jesus Christ in whom Eadie believes is very different from the one in whom orthodox Christians believe.

Betty Eadie is a member in good standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)—in other words, a Mormon [at the time this article originally appeared in print]. Few of the millions who have seen and heard Eadie know of her religious affiliation because apparently she, her publishing company, and her publicist are now trying to keep that information quiet.

Except, of course, in Utah. A Salt Lake Tribune book review of December 20, 1992 observed that public-relations material circulated in Utah prior to Eadie's 1992 publicity tour of that state advertised her as "a recent convert to the LDS church." An Ogden Standard-Examiner article of March 6, 1993 quotes Eadie as saying that during her NDE she was told the LDS church was "the truest Church on the earth."

Yet, when asked by the JOURNAL which church was the truest, she replied: "If I were to tell [people]...the church that I find most rewarding, most fulfilling for me, they might not find that at all....I might be misguiding them from what they need to find for themselves....I have learned that many of the things that I have written about in the book matches with many of these other religions. And I think that there are common threads that run through all churches."

Evading the fact of her LDS church affiliation, she also commented: "I think it's...pretty much of an assumption....I don't divulge my religious beliefs...[or] the churches that I attend now at all. And the reason for that is, some people have contacted me and said that they would join any church that I belong to. And that is not why I wrote the book." (This despite the fact that, in published interviews, Eadie has referred to her many appearances at Mormon "fireside" gatherings. She told the Salt Lake Tribune that public speaking gives her "a chance almost daily to bear my testimony of Jesus Christ. It's like being at a [Mormon] testimony meeting every day.")

[Yet] Eadie repeatedly refused to admit she was a Mormon during the above conversation—even when confronted with a statement the JOURNAL obtained from Don LeFevre, Manager of Print Media Response for the LDS church, that Eadie is an active Mormon. Eadie feigned surprise, asking: "Who is this gentleman?....How does he know? Why does he think that?"

Two days later, however, the JOURNAL spoke with Tom Britton, Eadie's Executive Assistant. His story was somewhat different: "Betty doesn't only attend the LDS church. Her membership is in that church, but that's not the only church she attends." Hours later Eadie's Mormon bishop, Dan Miller, verified that she and her family have attended the Seattle, Washington 9th Ward for at least 15 years.

Mysterious Motives Why would Eadie—who belongs to a movement that prides itself on the phrase "every member a missionary"—first make her LDS membership known to prospective buyers, then all but deny it? One might suspect a commercial motive (her LDS identity, though a marketing plus in the predominantly Mormon "Intermountain West" region where the book was first released, could be a liability to a broader, unsuspecting public). Another possible reason is ecclesiastical disapproval of her story. According to an article in the October 23, 1993 Salt Lake Tribune, "in a meeting with male LDS stake leaders in Sandy [Utah] last spring, Apostle Boyd K. Packer called the book 'bunk,' a witness said."

The original cover of Embraced by the Light clearly portrays Eadie's "being of light" as Jesus. When the book went national, however, the Jesus figure was replaced by a non-descript white light—an image which could be interpreted as anyone or anything by the non-Mormon public.

But at least one observer sees Embraced by the Light as a kind of Trojan horse—a conscious attempt at indirect proselytism. Dick Baer, founder and director of Ex-Mormons and Christian Alliance of Orangevale, California, characterizes it as "a very, very, sophisticated pre-evangelism tool to get people to join the Mormon Church, because all the concepts of Mormon doctrine are laid out in the book." Baer also feels it is "a carefully crafted book to denigrate the teachings of Christianity, especially on the subject of deity."

The difficult-to-obtain flyer entitled "Of Special Interest to Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," was inserted into the first several thousand copies of Embraced by the Light, which were released in the predominantly Mormon "Intermountain West" region of America. It tells of Eadie's conversion to the Mormon Church, her desire to convert others to the LDS faith, and her status as an active Temple Mormon who once served as Ward Young Women's president. The flyer was removed from books distributed to the general public. But by then, Mormons had purchased so many copies of the book, that they had effectively catapulted Eadie into the national limelight as a bestselling author whose volume was literally flying off book shelves. This attracted the attention of other book buyers in America. Eadie's mega-bestseller was thus born.

It's no surprise that in 1992 Embraced by the Light was a no. 1 selling book in Salt Lake City and is used by Mormon study groups, since the book affirms important LDS doctrines:

Pre-mortal existence: "I began to see images...of an existence before my life on earth....The fact of a pre-earth life crystallized in my mind....Things were coming back...that had been purposely blocked from me by a 'veil' of forgetfulness at my birth" (pp. 31, 44).

Necessity of the fall of man: Eadie says that while in "heaven" she learned that Adam and Eve didn't really "fall." Instead, Eve "made a conscious decision to bring about conditions necessary for her progression, and her initiative was used to finally get Adam to partake of the fruit" (p. 109).

Plurality of gods: The Mormon doctrine that God the Father and Jesus Christ are entirely separate beings (gods) is advanced by Eadie (p. 47), who elsewhere hints at Mormonism's doctrine of eternal progression to godhood (pp. 45, 61, 109, 146) and subtly implies the Mormon view that God is our literal father (p. 52). In LDS teaching, our Heavenly Father begot us first through celestial sex with one or more heavenly mothers.

Salvation after death: Embraced by the Light also endorses the Mormon claim that salvation is obtainable after death (p. 85). Eadie expands on this doctrine, however, to include the belief that everyone will eventually be saved (universalism). Her only qualifier is that it will definitely be through Jesus that we "all" return to God.

In the "beyond" Eadie was taught that all religions are necessary for the spiritual progression of humanity (p. 45). She explained to the JOURNAL: "I think that we are all believing in the same God. I think that we just have had different instructors, or different leaders, you might say."

This last view is more suggestive of New Age concepts than of Mormonism. Significantly, Embraced by the Light promotes several teachings similar to those found in the New Age movement (pp. 57- 59) as well as ideas prevalent in the Mind Sciences (pp. 62-65). This is not surprising, since Eadie, a former hypnotherapist, claims to have a "Heinz 57" religious background and a history of paranormal experiences extending into her childhood.

Customized Comfort

Some of Eadie's life-and-death answers seem tailor-made for giving special comfort to those with special fears. For instance, Eadie discovered: "If our deaths are traumatic, the spirit quickly leaves the body, sometimes even before death occurs. If a person is in an accident or fire, for example, their spirit may be taken from their body before they experience much pain. The body may actually appear still alive for some moments, but the spirit will have already left and be in a state of peace" (p. 83).

She further states: "At the time of death, we are given the choice to remain on earth until our bodies are buried or to move on....Most spirits choose to remain on earth for a short time and comfort their loved ones....Sometimes the spirits will remain longer if the loved ones are in despair" (pp. 83-84).

There is even hope for atheists: "Some who die as atheists....stay on the earth until they learn to accept the greater power....eventually they learn to move on to accept the greater warmth and security of God" (pp. 84-85).

Perhaps the most "politically correct" section of Embraced by the Light intimates that abortion is acceptable, although "contrary to that which is natural" (p. 95). To Eadie, pre-birth babies are merely bodies waiting for a spirit's arrival from heaven (spirits living their pre-earth life can choose exactly when to enter a body). In describing abortion, she writes: "The spirit coming into the body feels a sense of rejection....It knows the body was to be his....But the spirit also feels compassion for its mother, knowing that she made a decision based on the knowledge she had" (p. 95).

When Eadie could not be reached for a comment on abortion, the JOURNAL contacted Tom Britton, Eadie's Executive Assistant, who stated that Eadie believes abortion is "not sin at all." When asked if Eadie was pro-choice, he said he preferred describing her as "pro-free agency." Britton further explained Eadie's position on aborted "bodies" that do not yet have a spirit: "Whether it is painful or not for the spirit, it's not the natural thing to do."

In all likelihood, Embraced by the Light has won broad acceptance because it contains the type of material that offends few, but pleases many. The danger, says Dick Baer, is that "when the Mormon missionaries come along,...anyone who has read this book -- 'click!'—they fall right into it."

Missing Evidence

What is missing from Eadie's fantastic story is not only doctrine consistent with her claim to be Christian, but also concrete evidence to support the claim that she died. None of Eadie's medical records has ever been made public. When asked by the JOURNAL if she will someday make such records available for inspection, she replied, "No, I doubt it."

According to Britton, "Hospital records and doctors' names are very personal to Betty. She also feels that people who need proof of her story, even if they get the proof, won't accept it."

The paperback edition of Embraced by the Light is due out in October. Eadie is already working on a sequel, which she hopes to release by year's end. She plans to follow that volume with an autobiography and perhaps more books about supernatural experiences she's had. Some of the experiences, says Eadie, have been recent spirit visitations from individuals she met while "dead."

Betty Eadie mania may not be over for quite some time.

Betty Eadie continues to write and make public appearances around the world. Since the publication of Embraced by the Light, she has written:

- The Awakening Heart, a further discussion of the various ideas, concepts, and beliefs initially revealed in Embraced by the Light.

- The Ripple Effect, an ongoing look at the concepts she introduced in her first book, complimented by various letters she received from her fans.

- Prayers and Devotions for Daily Living, described on her website as " a collection of passages from Betty J. Eadie’s work that touches upon important themes and wonderful truths. Together with a daily prayer, affirmation, and pertinent scriptural notation, each excerpt becomes a life-lesson that edifies and nourishes the soul. Ranging from aspects of prayer to one’s personal mission, these daily devotions provide us a valuable tool for our own spiritual growth" (released by her own publishing house).