Near Death Experiences and Visions of the Last Days

Much ado has been made over books that give titillating and detailed descriptions of near death experiences and last-days events. Such books are heavily advertised and rumored to be terrific sellers. I have serious reservations about such books for several reasons.

First, the acceptance of these books as revelations violates the doctrine found in Doctrine and Covenants 43:1-7:

1 O hearken, ye elders of my church, and give ear to the words which I shall speak unto you.
2 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my church, through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations from my hand.
3 And this ye shall know assuredly—that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me.
4 But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him; for if it be taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead.
5 And this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations or commandments;
6 And this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me.
7 For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received and shall receive through him whom I have appointed.

The gate referenced in verse seven is the established organization of the Church, not Amazon.com, Cedar Fort Inc., Sprinkcreek Books, or even Deseret Book. The second reason I have reservation about such books is that it violates the principle of keeping spiritual confidences. I have assembled quotes from authoritative sources on this principle here. Associated with this principle is the scripture in Alma: “It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.” (Alma 12:9.) By publishing sacred experiences, one is certainly not imparting according to the heed and diligence of another, rather, one is casting sacred pearls before swine.

The third reason I have reservation about these books is that it seems strange for one to seek to monetarily profit from a real revelation. When Paul wrote the Corinthians, he said, “Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:33) If those who publish these books wish to simply benefit their brothers and sisters with the content of their supposed revelations, I do not see the reason they charge more than their cost of publishing the revelation. Moreover, they are not sharing the revelation online, where others could access it at no cost. Rather, they are charging market prices and heavily marketing their books.

Ultimately, each person must decide for themselves what they will receive as truth. “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5)