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Caught Up into Paradise
In this book Dr. Eby reveals the tender care of God's protective love in three generations of his family through miracle after miracle. Your heart will be stirred.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 24, 2012
I met doctor Eby in California in the '90's while working on his home. I was doing some electrical work and was impressed at how normal he was for a man who actually died for over 20 minutes and went to heaven. His account of his journey will amaze you and inspire you to seek the Lord
December 10, 2016
If you have heard Dr. Eby's testimony of his visit to Heaven, his miraculous return from death when his body was drained of blood, and his visit to Hell, and you expect this book to be a long detailed description of what happens in Heaven, you will be disappointed.
If you read this book and see how he was raised from the dead by the simple heartfelt prayer of his wife, and you think "that sounds great, why don't I do the same thing?", you will be sadly disappointed. Many people read books like this and think that they can then copy the same actions. They do, the actions fail, and they give up.
They do not understand the difference between the Logos Word of God which states what God wants and the Rhema Word of God when the Word becomes alive in your heart and you speak it with power and get results. They do not understand the difference between presumption and faith.
Most books about Heaven, Hell and supernatural healing emphasize the experience of the author without giving the lifelong path of spiritual growth that allowed him to arrive at that supernatural level where miracles occur. So we read the story of a heavenly encounter and wonder why we cannot have the same experience.
It is the same as reading the story of an Olympic champion at the Olympics. Sounds pretty great, but if you read a biography of his entire life, you see the true picture of the sacrifice and dedication of his entire family for his entire life. You see how he lived a lifestyle that led to his success. His victory was not a 5-minute experience but a lifelong commitment.
This book is like the biography rather than the event. There are a few pages describing his supernatural healing and his encounters in Heaven and Hell. Most of the book recounts the lives of 3 generations and their faith and commitment to God. It details the miraculous and the ordinary answers to prayers that were a part of their existence. It shows the faith walk that is required to build the "spiritual muscle" to receive the miracle of being brought back from the dead.
For this reason, this book is much more valuable than most books which I have read about the miraculous and about Heaven and Hell and I have read many.
I bought this book when it first was published 40 years ago; I then purchased more copies which I gave away, and recently bought another copy for myself. I was interested in details about the type of heavenly body which Eby had in Paradise. Because of Eby's medical experience, he gave a description with more understanding about how the "body" functions when it is no longer on earth.
However, I think that there are other books which give better insight. Eby himself says that he went to Paradise, the entrance to Heaven, but did not go to Heaven. I believe that he is technically correct and that people do not enter Heaven until they receive their raptured bodies when Christ returns for us in the air. In the meantime, they are in Paradise which was moved from the bowels of the earth beside Hell to the region of Heaven when Jesus rose from the dead. But, even though he says that he had no bones or flesh, I think that he was in his spirit/soul form but without the new body that he will receive when Jesus comes back for us.
I personally believe that Jesus already has this body. That is why he told the disciples after His resurrection that a "ghost" did not have flesh and bones like He did. So He was not a ghost. But I do not think that we get this body upon death. That is the only explanation that I have for why Eby's description of his body would be different from that of Jesus after His resurrection.
This may seem like an insignificant point, but I believe that any supernatural experience should be able to be backed up by the Bible. If Eby's account does not correspond with the Bible, it must be rejected. However, I think that his encounter was recorded accurately and that it really happened. His return from the dead certainly occurred and was documented.
So this is a very inspirational book that shows us how we can begin to walk in the supernatural daily. As we become more confident in our faith and closer to God, the degree and frequency of miracles increases. This is not a microwave miracle. It is the result of a steady consistent relationship with God in which His love just overflowed to produce miracles.
A book that is definitely worth reading.
If you read this book and see how he was raised from the dead by the simple heartfelt prayer of his wife, and you think "that sounds great, why don't I do the same thing?", you will be sadly disappointed. Many people read books like this and think that they can then copy the same actions. They do, the actions fail, and they give up.
They do not understand the difference between the Logos Word of God which states what God wants and the Rhema Word of God when the Word becomes alive in your heart and you speak it with power and get results. They do not understand the difference between presumption and faith.
Most books about Heaven, Hell and supernatural healing emphasize the experience of the author without giving the lifelong path of spiritual growth that allowed him to arrive at that supernatural level where miracles occur. So we read the story of a heavenly encounter and wonder why we cannot have the same experience.
It is the same as reading the story of an Olympic champion at the Olympics. Sounds pretty great, but if you read a biography of his entire life, you see the true picture of the sacrifice and dedication of his entire family for his entire life. You see how he lived a lifestyle that led to his success. His victory was not a 5-minute experience but a lifelong commitment.
This book is like the biography rather than the event. There are a few pages describing his supernatural healing and his encounters in Heaven and Hell. Most of the book recounts the lives of 3 generations and their faith and commitment to God. It details the miraculous and the ordinary answers to prayers that were a part of their existence. It shows the faith walk that is required to build the "spiritual muscle" to receive the miracle of being brought back from the dead.
For this reason, this book is much more valuable than most books which I have read about the miraculous and about Heaven and Hell and I have read many.
I bought this book when it first was published 40 years ago; I then purchased more copies which I gave away, and recently bought another copy for myself. I was interested in details about the type of heavenly body which Eby had in Paradise. Because of Eby's medical experience, he gave a description with more understanding about how the "body" functions when it is no longer on earth.
However, I think that there are other books which give better insight. Eby himself says that he went to Paradise, the entrance to Heaven, but did not go to Heaven. I believe that he is technically correct and that people do not enter Heaven until they receive their raptured bodies when Christ returns for us in the air. In the meantime, they are in Paradise which was moved from the bowels of the earth beside Hell to the region of Heaven when Jesus rose from the dead. But, even though he says that he had no bones or flesh, I think that he was in his spirit/soul form but without the new body that he will receive when Jesus comes back for us.
I personally believe that Jesus already has this body. That is why he told the disciples after His resurrection that a "ghost" did not have flesh and bones like He did. So He was not a ghost. But I do not think that we get this body upon death. That is the only explanation that I have for why Eby's description of his body would be different from that of Jesus after His resurrection.
This may seem like an insignificant point, but I believe that any supernatural experience should be able to be backed up by the Bible. If Eby's account does not correspond with the Bible, it must be rejected. However, I think that his encounter was recorded accurately and that it really happened. His return from the dead certainly occurred and was documented.
So this is a very inspirational book that shows us how we can begin to walk in the supernatural daily. As we become more confident in our faith and closer to God, the degree and frequency of miracles increases. This is not a microwave miracle. It is the result of a steady consistent relationship with God in which His love just overflowed to produce miracles.
A book that is definitely worth reading.
February 24, 2023
A DOCTOR’S VISION OF HEAVEN AND HELL
Richard E. Eby was a certified obstetrician and gynecologist who taught at the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. He wrote in the Foreword to this 1971 book, “It is the author’s prayer that the reader will find in these pages the evidence of things not always seen and the substance of things he can still hope for… we can seek and find His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven wherein each dwells within the other. The author is using his personal experiences and memories to illustrate Divine truths in lives during the unbelievable human experiments of the twentieth century when God graciously tolerated mankind’s abysmal foolishness and over scorn… God still forgivingly awaits our awakening!”
The first 200 pages of this book detail Eby’s background and life (and frankly, it was of little/no interest to me). But eventually, he recounts what is one of the earliest Near-Death Experiences (NDE) put into print.
He recalls, “Maybelle [his wife] has described for me the day’s activities preceding my unscheduled visit to Paradise (the reception room to Heaven)… since my memory of that day was mercifully erased… Quickly noting the broken railing and broken cement slab, she saw the body lying… head-down in a pool of blood… She instinctively screamed in anguish and bent to check for pulse or breath. Neither.” (Pg. 200-201)
He recounts, “In the twinkling of an eye Jesus took me out of this world… My initial gasp… was as quickly followed by an overwhelming sense of Peace… so complete that I instantly knew that it was the promised gift of the Spirit from our Lord… Aside from the complete absence of pain… I looked like me, felt like me, reacted like me… Being a physician, my first instinct was to inspect my new body, and I instantly admired it!... I was clothed in a translucent flowing gown… I was instinctively aware that the Lord of Lords was everywhere about this place, though I did not see Him.” (Pg. 202-203)
He continues, “My gaze riveted upon the exquisite valley in which I found myself… There was no single light source as on earth. I realized that everything seemed to produce its own light… I had been aware of the most beautiful, melodious, angelic background music that the ear of man can perceive… I was not prepared for the … all-pervading aroma of heaven… Never can I be the same again… Fortunately for me, Jesus elected not to show me more of the heavenly wonders that day. I could not have coped with another revelation… I decided to find my wife and share this unbelievable peace and joy… I heard her distant voice calling ‘Richard, Richard…’ My mind stopped working and all was silent and black. Later I would realize that I was back on earth where the prayers of many had been answered for my return! And the next day I would hear Jesus speak to me on the fourth floor.” (Pg. 204-208)
While visiting Lazarus’ Tomb in Jerusalem, the lights went out, and “In the twinkling of an eye Jesus was standing beside me. I could not see Him nor touch Him, but He was there… I heard the same wonderful Voice… ‘My son; I showed you heaven, now I show you hell. You must know about them both… You must be able to tell them they can choose heaven or hell… They must choose between My love and eternal life, or Satan’s lies and eternal death.’ … Then He was gone, and my two minutes of hell started!... A sense of absolute terror gripped my being. The immensity of my isolation… was overwhelming. I would have screamed but there was no voice. If it were not for Jesus’ explicit command that I tell about it, this experience would be too frightening to relate… No one could help but Jesus, and He was gone!... I would never see another person… I would never hear a voice again---either friend or enemy… Despite the utter silence I heard demons taunt me… And then I noticed the COLD… and the SMELL! Horrid, nasty, stale, fetid, rotten, evil… The clammy wet walls held me crushed for eternity without escape, without a Savior, without anything to maintain sanity! And then it was over…” (Pg. 228-230)
He advises, “[Hell] was designed for Satan and his demons---not for man! To get there one must buy a ticket from the Devil with a soul as payment. It is not worth it… not when Heaven’s mansions are free!” (Pg. 231)
This ‘early’ book may interest some Christians studying Near-Death Experiences.
Richard E. Eby was a certified obstetrician and gynecologist who taught at the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons. He wrote in the Foreword to this 1971 book, “It is the author’s prayer that the reader will find in these pages the evidence of things not always seen and the substance of things he can still hope for… we can seek and find His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven wherein each dwells within the other. The author is using his personal experiences and memories to illustrate Divine truths in lives during the unbelievable human experiments of the twentieth century when God graciously tolerated mankind’s abysmal foolishness and over scorn… God still forgivingly awaits our awakening!”
The first 200 pages of this book detail Eby’s background and life (and frankly, it was of little/no interest to me). But eventually, he recounts what is one of the earliest Near-Death Experiences (NDE) put into print.
He recalls, “Maybelle [his wife] has described for me the day’s activities preceding my unscheduled visit to Paradise (the reception room to Heaven)… since my memory of that day was mercifully erased… Quickly noting the broken railing and broken cement slab, she saw the body lying… head-down in a pool of blood… She instinctively screamed in anguish and bent to check for pulse or breath. Neither.” (Pg. 200-201)
He recounts, “In the twinkling of an eye Jesus took me out of this world… My initial gasp… was as quickly followed by an overwhelming sense of Peace… so complete that I instantly knew that it was the promised gift of the Spirit from our Lord… Aside from the complete absence of pain… I looked like me, felt like me, reacted like me… Being a physician, my first instinct was to inspect my new body, and I instantly admired it!... I was clothed in a translucent flowing gown… I was instinctively aware that the Lord of Lords was everywhere about this place, though I did not see Him.” (Pg. 202-203)
He continues, “My gaze riveted upon the exquisite valley in which I found myself… There was no single light source as on earth. I realized that everything seemed to produce its own light… I had been aware of the most beautiful, melodious, angelic background music that the ear of man can perceive… I was not prepared for the … all-pervading aroma of heaven… Never can I be the same again… Fortunately for me, Jesus elected not to show me more of the heavenly wonders that day. I could not have coped with another revelation… I decided to find my wife and share this unbelievable peace and joy… I heard her distant voice calling ‘Richard, Richard…’ My mind stopped working and all was silent and black. Later I would realize that I was back on earth where the prayers of many had been answered for my return! And the next day I would hear Jesus speak to me on the fourth floor.” (Pg. 204-208)
While visiting Lazarus’ Tomb in Jerusalem, the lights went out, and “In the twinkling of an eye Jesus was standing beside me. I could not see Him nor touch Him, but He was there… I heard the same wonderful Voice… ‘My son; I showed you heaven, now I show you hell. You must know about them both… You must be able to tell them they can choose heaven or hell… They must choose between My love and eternal life, or Satan’s lies and eternal death.’ … Then He was gone, and my two minutes of hell started!... A sense of absolute terror gripped my being. The immensity of my isolation… was overwhelming. I would have screamed but there was no voice. If it were not for Jesus’ explicit command that I tell about it, this experience would be too frightening to relate… No one could help but Jesus, and He was gone!... I would never see another person… I would never hear a voice again---either friend or enemy… Despite the utter silence I heard demons taunt me… And then I noticed the COLD… and the SMELL! Horrid, nasty, stale, fetid, rotten, evil… The clammy wet walls held me crushed for eternity without escape, without a Savior, without anything to maintain sanity! And then it was over…” (Pg. 228-230)
He advises, “[Hell] was designed for Satan and his demons---not for man! To get there one must buy a ticket from the Devil with a soul as payment. It is not worth it… not when Heaven’s mansions are free!” (Pg. 231)
This ‘early’ book may interest some Christians studying Near-Death Experiences.
December 16, 2022
Rather than being divided into chapters, this biography focuses on the miracles that Eby experienced during his life. The incident of being caught up to heaven after a balcony railing gave way and Eby fell to the pavement below is just one of many and varied interventions of God in his life. It does not take many pages of the book and is only featured towards the end.
Much more interesting, in my view, was the story about Eby's father, an electrical engineer who was involved with the Hoover Dam project in the 1930s. The problem of finding an insulator capable of handling millions of volts carried through transmission wires was frustrating and exasperating and, despite years of effort, the team was no nearer a solution when pressure from the President made the situation even more difficult. Gene Eby was ready to give up when he happened to read the gospel of John where, in the second chapter, Jesus turns water into wine. It occurred to Eby that this would involve millions of volts - yet the stone pots in which it happened didn't explode. Suddenly he was confident there was an answer and that God would lead the team to it. It came, a month or so later, when the top porcelain expert returned from Egypt with a small fragment of a jug he'd bribed a guard at King Tut's newly opened tomb to turn a blind eye to his souveniring.
Much more interesting, in my view, was the story about Eby's father, an electrical engineer who was involved with the Hoover Dam project in the 1930s. The problem of finding an insulator capable of handling millions of volts carried through transmission wires was frustrating and exasperating and, despite years of effort, the team was no nearer a solution when pressure from the President made the situation even more difficult. Gene Eby was ready to give up when he happened to read the gospel of John where, in the second chapter, Jesus turns water into wine. It occurred to Eby that this would involve millions of volts - yet the stone pots in which it happened didn't explode. Suddenly he was confident there was an answer and that God would lead the team to it. It came, a month or so later, when the top porcelain expert returned from Egypt with a small fragment of a jug he'd bribed a guard at King Tut's newly opened tomb to turn a blind eye to his souveniring.
August 18, 2018
I liked this book mainly because each story that he told about his life was positive. I particularly enjoyed the stories about growing up in the Berkshires in the early 20th century. His parents are very likable people and he and his brother have a lot of fun fishing.
This is a Christian book and Eby is a Southern Baptist so those are his beliefs and they figure prominently, but he doesn't reach hellfire and damnation until the last pages of the book.
This is a Christian book and Eby is a Southern Baptist so those are his beliefs and they figure prominently, but he doesn't reach hellfire and damnation until the last pages of the book.
July 2, 2023
I borrowed this book from my sister-in-law. It was a little bit hard to follow in the beginning as he starts off talking about his dad and the accomplishments that he had for General Electric while living a vibrant Christian life. His own story takes shape towards the end of the book and his experience of dying and coming back to life. Very believable in most spots of his testimony, he certainly appears to be a very authentic believer and had a very productive life as a doctor in California.
December 30, 2019
I read about this book in another book, titled Meet the Bible. The Introduction to Caught Up into Paradise was written by the author's First Assembly of God Church's pastor, Rev. Harold C. Bither, Pomona, CA.
December 31, 2011
This is the story of a doctor who's life from even his very birth had the hand of God written all over it. If you are a person who believes in coincidences, you will change your mind. It's amazing how God can take what looks like an unanswered prayer only to see, with patience, how God orchestrates people's lives and answers many people's prayers in His timing, not our own. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
June 7, 2009
I read an excerpt of this in my Wheaton Alumni News and decided to read it. This book was written in the late 70's by a retired physician who also was a Wheaton alum. Each chapter is titled "Miracle #". Dr. Eby's life was a series of miracles, large and small, that built his faith and mine! It was fun to read, and I highly recommend it to all who doubt.
August 18, 2008
One of my favorites. It is a faith builder and even though it's been years, I can still remember the object lessons as the author learned about the character of God as provider, lover of our soul, and wisdom in death, finance and business.
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