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Vestibule
Book by Script representatives in
Paperback
First published March 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 20, 2024
THE FIRST COLLECTION OF FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNTS OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIECES
Editor Jess E. Weiss explains, “The purpose and motive of [this book] is to establish with more certainty that there is an afterlife, thereby alleviating fully, or to a degree, the sting of death.” He includes his own WWII near-death experience, and then adds in the Preface, “The Vestibule was one of the first books of its kind, and has been used the world over to provide comfort for those who have doubted the existence of God and the potential of the immortal soul… Today I can attest that life after death is a fundamental truth of man’s God-like infinite nature, and that man has to realize this truth and consciously lay hold on to eternal life. The reissue and revision of ‘The Vestibule’ … twenty-five years after its initial publication in 1972 brings again to light… there is life after death.” (Pg. xxxiv-xxxv)
Burris Jenkins says in his chapter, ‘I Was An Atheist Until I Died,’ “This experience started me thinking about religion and I knew then that someday I would get into the service of this Being. I suspected it would probably be through Christ. I really had no recognition of who or what Christ was. I became a believer in God at this point… the thought came to my mind. ‘I think I will go into the Christiani Ministry.’ … Later in my life... when I read of Paul’s happenings on the road to Damascus, I realized the similarity of the experience, but I was not physically affected, as Paul was.’ (Pg. 25-26)
Julia Phillips Ruopp recounts, “What I saw made all earthly joys pale into insignificance… I became aware of the Presence: a Presence of joy, harmony, and compassion. My heart yearned to become a part of this beauty. But somehow, I could not bring myself to go through the window. An invisible, tenacious restraint pulled me back each time I leaned forward with that intention…” (Pg. 44)
Elizabeth Kübler Ross tells of one patient she had interviewed, “Mrs. S. was the only patient among five hundred whom we truly considered to have died, from the standpoint of present medical knowledge… She was able to give minute details of who entered her room, how they reacted, and what they were doing on her body while she floated a few feet above … she said what had one desire, and that was to convey to the physicians and nurses to relax, to let go, not to be so upset… She then floated away---unaware that the team gave up their efforts to revive her.” (Pg. 55-56)
George Ritchie Jr. recounts, “In some unimaginable way I had lost my firmness of flesh… I was beginning to know too that the body on that bed was mine… and it was my job to get back and rejoin it as fast as I could… I thought suddenly: ‘This is death… this splitting of one’s self.’.... In the most despairing moment the little room began to fill with light… The light which entered that room was Christ… It was a presence so comforting … that I wanted to lose myself forever in the wonder of it… There they were, every event and thought and conversation… each one was contemporary, each one asked a single question, ‘What did you do with your time on earth?’… To this day, I cannot fully fathom why I was chosen to return to life… The cry in my heart that moment has been the cry of my life ever since: Christ, show me Yourself again.” (Pg. 72-76)
David Snell says, “It is a progressive thing, this death. You feel the toes going first, then the feet, cell by cell, death churning them like waves washing the sands. Now the legs… Hands, arms, abdomen, and chest… There is order and system to death, as in all that is life. I must try to control the progression, to save the brain for last so that it may know.” (Pg. 94)
E.L. Huffine reports, “With that blow on my head, I was suddenly observing the whole scene from about fifty feet away from the plane… It was such a profound revelation! I felt myself as clear as light. There was no sense of pain, only a feeling of completeness and well-being.” (Pg. 111)
Two doctors record the experience of 68-year old man, who told them after being revived, “My next sensation was of floating in a bright, pale yellow light---a very delightful feeling… I continued to float, enjoying the most beautiful tranquil sensation. I had never experienced such a delightful sensation and have no words to describe it.” (Pg. 129)
Weiss wrote in the concluding section, “Some of the most vivid descriptions of a life after death, and foretaste of a life beyond this human experience, come from the voices, including the voices of children, of those who say they have been called back from the brink of death. They say that as they moved toward death they seemed to enter a cosmic dimension, another state of conscious being where time and space and corporeal sense were absent… The near-death experience is nothing new. The Bible is quite descriptive in its account of similar occurrences centuries ago… The body is the abode of mortality and consciousness is the abode of immortality; but birth does not separate us from immortality and death cannot take it away… The spiritually awakened know that they do not have to become immortal---they know they already are. Life to them is a mystical journey between words and thoughts---beyond humanism… To acquire this mystical awakening, therefore, man has to make spirituality the primary objective of everyday life…. The search for immortality … is a mystical journey intent upon knowing God aright, without a road map… sometimes with a teacher, sometimes without… The willingness to believe that life continues after death IS the beginning of the realization that Infinite Being is our divine life.” (Pg. 147-153)
Included also are short writings by Rickenbacker (WWI ace pilot), Dr. Martin C. Sampson, Emanuel Swedenborg, Helen Keller, Ralph Waldo Trine, Joel S. Goldsmith, and George M. Lamsa.
This book will be of keen interest to those studying Near-Death experiences.
Editor Jess E. Weiss explains, “The purpose and motive of [this book] is to establish with more certainty that there is an afterlife, thereby alleviating fully, or to a degree, the sting of death.” He includes his own WWII near-death experience, and then adds in the Preface, “The Vestibule was one of the first books of its kind, and has been used the world over to provide comfort for those who have doubted the existence of God and the potential of the immortal soul… Today I can attest that life after death is a fundamental truth of man’s God-like infinite nature, and that man has to realize this truth and consciously lay hold on to eternal life. The reissue and revision of ‘The Vestibule’ … twenty-five years after its initial publication in 1972 brings again to light… there is life after death.” (Pg. xxxiv-xxxv)
Burris Jenkins says in his chapter, ‘I Was An Atheist Until I Died,’ “This experience started me thinking about religion and I knew then that someday I would get into the service of this Being. I suspected it would probably be through Christ. I really had no recognition of who or what Christ was. I became a believer in God at this point… the thought came to my mind. ‘I think I will go into the Christiani Ministry.’ … Later in my life... when I read of Paul’s happenings on the road to Damascus, I realized the similarity of the experience, but I was not physically affected, as Paul was.’ (Pg. 25-26)
Julia Phillips Ruopp recounts, “What I saw made all earthly joys pale into insignificance… I became aware of the Presence: a Presence of joy, harmony, and compassion. My heart yearned to become a part of this beauty. But somehow, I could not bring myself to go through the window. An invisible, tenacious restraint pulled me back each time I leaned forward with that intention…” (Pg. 44)
Elizabeth Kübler Ross tells of one patient she had interviewed, “Mrs. S. was the only patient among five hundred whom we truly considered to have died, from the standpoint of present medical knowledge… She was able to give minute details of who entered her room, how they reacted, and what they were doing on her body while she floated a few feet above … she said what had one desire, and that was to convey to the physicians and nurses to relax, to let go, not to be so upset… She then floated away---unaware that the team gave up their efforts to revive her.” (Pg. 55-56)
George Ritchie Jr. recounts, “In some unimaginable way I had lost my firmness of flesh… I was beginning to know too that the body on that bed was mine… and it was my job to get back and rejoin it as fast as I could… I thought suddenly: ‘This is death… this splitting of one’s self.’.... In the most despairing moment the little room began to fill with light… The light which entered that room was Christ… It was a presence so comforting … that I wanted to lose myself forever in the wonder of it… There they were, every event and thought and conversation… each one was contemporary, each one asked a single question, ‘What did you do with your time on earth?’… To this day, I cannot fully fathom why I was chosen to return to life… The cry in my heart that moment has been the cry of my life ever since: Christ, show me Yourself again.” (Pg. 72-76)
David Snell says, “It is a progressive thing, this death. You feel the toes going first, then the feet, cell by cell, death churning them like waves washing the sands. Now the legs… Hands, arms, abdomen, and chest… There is order and system to death, as in all that is life. I must try to control the progression, to save the brain for last so that it may know.” (Pg. 94)
E.L. Huffine reports, “With that blow on my head, I was suddenly observing the whole scene from about fifty feet away from the plane… It was such a profound revelation! I felt myself as clear as light. There was no sense of pain, only a feeling of completeness and well-being.” (Pg. 111)
Two doctors record the experience of 68-year old man, who told them after being revived, “My next sensation was of floating in a bright, pale yellow light---a very delightful feeling… I continued to float, enjoying the most beautiful tranquil sensation. I had never experienced such a delightful sensation and have no words to describe it.” (Pg. 129)
Weiss wrote in the concluding section, “Some of the most vivid descriptions of a life after death, and foretaste of a life beyond this human experience, come from the voices, including the voices of children, of those who say they have been called back from the brink of death. They say that as they moved toward death they seemed to enter a cosmic dimension, another state of conscious being where time and space and corporeal sense were absent… The near-death experience is nothing new. The Bible is quite descriptive in its account of similar occurrences centuries ago… The body is the abode of mortality and consciousness is the abode of immortality; but birth does not separate us from immortality and death cannot take it away… The spiritually awakened know that they do not have to become immortal---they know they already are. Life to them is a mystical journey between words and thoughts---beyond humanism… To acquire this mystical awakening, therefore, man has to make spirituality the primary objective of everyday life…. The search for immortality … is a mystical journey intent upon knowing God aright, without a road map… sometimes with a teacher, sometimes without… The willingness to believe that life continues after death IS the beginning of the realization that Infinite Being is our divine life.” (Pg. 147-153)
Included also are short writings by Rickenbacker (WWI ace pilot), Dr. Martin C. Sampson, Emanuel Swedenborg, Helen Keller, Ralph Waldo Trine, Joel S. Goldsmith, and George M. Lamsa.
This book will be of keen interest to those studying Near-Death experiences.
January 25, 2015
This was pretty much the first book on Near Death Experiences. I read it years ago, and I've read it a couple of times since. It's always an interesting read that provides food for thought.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews