Review of Snatched Up to Heaven!

[Seetha E]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Snatched Up to Heaven!" by Jemima Paul and Arvind Paul.]

---

3 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Snatched up to Heaven!, is a book inspired by Priyanka’s (then four years old) and Deepika’s (then two years old) visions. These visions are about their visits to heaven and hell and several meetings with God and Jesus. Through this book, the parents, Jemima Paul and Arvind Paul, who have also authoured the book, have described these visions in detail and followed them up with interpretations backed by verses from the Bible. She goes on to state the precise text in the Bible to explain everything.

Heaven, as expected, is described as a beautiful and happy place where God and Jesus are loving and caring. As opposed to this, hell is exactly the opposite. She has listed the rewards awaiting them and is sure the entire family of five will be in heaven eventually. The author has tried to build trust to get readers to believe that her kids were the chosen ones to visit heaven and hell and carry the message of God to lost men.

The author has used kids’ visions (which cannot be substantiated) to propagate one religion and has almost put all others and non-believers in contempt. Through her interpretations, she has lured people with materialistic rewards for believers and threatened all others and non-believers with eternal hell.

Hence, I would personally rate this book 3 stars out of 5 stars. I picked this book with images of young kids on the cover picture, hoping to get to read something about raising young kids towards spirituality and learning about Christianity as a religion, but what I got is one set of parents promoting one particular religion by using kids’ visions and relating them to Bible verses for justification. It seemed like the author grew up in a very guarded Christian upbringing, which may have seeped into the kids right from conception.

Faith is pure and should be based on freedom, love, and trust. Acceptance of any religious sect or the path of spirituality should not be rooted in fear of hell. I found the title itself a little inadequate. The name suggests something else. With more than a couple of typos, the editing was not perfect.

I believe in Priyanka and Deepika, but I still would not recommend this book for children, as I do not feel the tone is appropriate. Only a person who has read the Bible and understands its very essence can read this book to learn about a family’s experience.

******
Snatched Up to Heaven!
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes

[Odichimma Okoye]

Your review is quite nice, and having read the book myself I can easily disagree with some of the things mentioned here. But everyone has their opinions and I completely respect that.
You don't need prior knowledge of the Bible to be able to read this. Kids have no prior knowledge of the Bible per se, and they'd simply enjoy reading this and learning what Heaven's like...The descriptions would tickle their fancy. It's a book for Christians and those open to learning about Christianity...
Visions and revelations are also not a factor of age really. But understanding those visions and revelations would probably be a factor of age and spiritual strength. And by reading this book you're not learning about the family's experience, you're learning what it's like to experience Heaven, you're simply learning what Heaven's really like. The family's experience is simply to add more of a fictional base to the book. For instance, imagine Arvind & Jemima Paul wanted to write about Heaven, and rather than including dreams and the concept of family (which as I said makes it more appealing and gives a fictional base), they compile a bunch of Bible verses, monotonously explaining each one in a few paragraphs. There'd be no pictures, no dreams, no being 'snatched up to Heaven', and no kids relaying a story excitedly to their parents...Imagine that. It'd be boring...

[Odichimma Okoye]

I fully understand where you're coming from though. There are several other wonderful religions out there, and I'm sorry if this book evoked some contempt in you, but I'm 100% sure that that wasn't the authors' intention. And no, other religious sects or paths shouldn't be rooted in fear of Hell.
I love that your review is unbiased and sincere though.

[Jay Alex]

Reading through your review brings to my mind a verse that says train up a child the way he should grow and when he grows up he wouldn't depart from it. Your review well summarized the book. Welldone.

[Nkem blessy]

I would have loved to read and review this book only that it is self purchase. I don't know where to get it

[Seetha E]

I fully understand where you're coming from though. There are several other wonderful religions out there, and I'm sorry if this book evoked some contempt in you, but I'm 100% sure that that wasn't the authors' intention. And no, other religious sects or paths shouldn't be rooted in fear of Hell.
I love that your review is unbiased and sincere though.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts. I value the fact that you noted that it was objective and not anti-religious. I too agree that spirituality must be fostered from a young age. Thanks again.

[Seetha E]

Reading through your review brings to my mind a verse that says train up a child the way he should grow and when he grows up he wouldn't depart from it. Your review well summarized the book. Welldone.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts. I sincerely believe that spirituality must be fostered from a young age. Thanks again.

[Seetha E]

I would have loved to read and review this book only that it is self purchase. I don't know where to get it

I believe you should be able to add it to your bookshelf using the Bookshelves link at the end of the review. Hope this helps and you are able to get a copy.

[Thangam 1212]

This seems like a nice book for Christian homes. Intriguing to know that kids had these visions but with Him nothing is impossible. Nice review Seetha!

[Seetha E]

Thank you for your kind words.

[VPNair]

This is a religion and faith oriented book. I seldom speak about it for the fear i may hurt the other person's sensibilities. The review was nice to read. Really young kids feeling the presence of God. Seems a book to help nurture spirituality right from a young age.

[Nisha DSouza]

I have read the kid's version of this book, and I agree with your thoughts that, "the path of spirituality should not be rooted in fear of hell." Thank you for an honest and thorough review.

[Seetha E]

This seems like a nice book for Christian homes. Intriguing to know that kids had these visions but with Him nothing is impossible. Nice review Seetha!

Thank you for your kind words.

[Seetha E]

I have read the kid's version of this book, and I agree with your thoughts that, "the path of spirituality should not be rooted in fear of hell." Thank you for an honest and thorough review.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts:)

[Ram Uday Mahajan]

I have read the same book before. It was great to here your perspective.