Author: Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth
Genre: Christian Living
Tags:
Series:
Rick Shrader‘s Review:
Though I had known of this book for years I had not read it. It was first published in 1969 and updated in 2019. This is a secular book on the observation of dying patients by Dr. Elisabeth Kulber-Ross. For its time, it was a ground-breaking study from a clinical and observational perspective. The book has many extended interviews with dying patients. The best-known parts of the book are her four stages of the dying process: Denial & Isolation; Anger; Depression; Acceptance. In these she gives detailed descriptions of each stage with particular examples.
As a Christian pastor (and having performed over 125 funerals in my fifty years of ministry) I did not find a lot of help especially in the area of counseling, and almost nothing from a religious point of view. The reader can find a few helpful points about understanding a person who is dying. However, I have found the dying process of Christian people to be far different than what is described here. It is sad to read and see counselors usher dying people into eternity without giving their souls any hope of eternal life or any escape from wrath to come. I read the book because I am interested in helping dying people and because it is a well-known book. From a pastor’s point of view, I was disappointed.