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What About Near-Death Experiences?

Yep. NDEs are a “thing.” And the basic shape of the experience has been identified, even though no two of these experiences are identical and none of them have all the elements in the list. There are twelve basic elements that NDE researchers have identified:

An out-of-body experience. (OBE)
Heightened senses.
Intense and generally positive emotions of feelings. (In about 80% of the experiences. The other 20% have “negative” experiences)
Passing into or through a tunnel.
Encountering a mystical or brilliant light.
Encountering deceased relatives/friends or mystical beings.
A sense of alteration in time or space.
A life review.
Encountering otherworldly (heavenly) realms.
Encountering or learning special knowledge.
Encountering a boundary or barrier.
A voluntary or involuntary return to the body.

The literature on NDEs has exploded since Raymond Moody MD published “Life after Life” in 1975. It surprised him by becoming an international best-seller. He figured he should continue the research, so he gathered a small group of doctors interested in these things and they began to meet to discuss and compare their findings. They had all treated patients who had reported these weird experiences. Among the first medical researchers were Dr. Michael Sabom MD, a Christian and a cardiologist, Dr. Bruce Greyson MD, a psychiatrist with extensive credentials, Kenneth Ring PhD, a psychologist, and a few others, all doctors of one sort or another. In 1981 they developed a website called the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). Later, another medical researcher who had worked with IANDS began his own non-profit website to gather more information. His name is Dr. Jeffrey Long. He started the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) in the late 1990s. He is a radiation oncologist and has become one of the best-known authorities in the field because of his painstaking research and the NDERF website, which uses well-established tools for evaluating data on thousands of NDEs. In the field of near-death studies these two websites are considered very credible. Interestingly, all these doctors began their investigations skeptically at first, even Sabom, who is now a Presbyterian elder and who did of course believe in life after death, but who doubted Moody’s research procedures and thought the whole thing might be phony. They had all been taught in med school that there is no life after death. All of them have reversed their views due to their research. They have all written books, of varying metaphysical flavors, but all agreeing on one thing…there certainly is life after death. This came as a huge shock to these doctors. (I smile when I read the stunned surprise in their writings because people who believe in God have known this for millennia) Over the last 50 years there has been a veritable stampede to join this popular and lucrative conversation. Books about the afterlife become best sellers. A huge percentage of them are written by new-agers, some of whom have basically started their own “religions.”

Reactions to the NDE phenomenon among Christians have ranged from angry denial (It is all fake, or demonic) to cautious investigation. Serious theological heavies like J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig in their book Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview 2^nd (IVP Academic, 2017) have used the NDE research to make the point that there is serious scientific evidence that the human soul is distinct from the brain and able to survive and thrive outside the physical body (the biblical view of course). They note that “nine to twelve million Americans have had NDEs and an estimated 200 to 300 million worldwide have had such experiences.” They continue, “Too many people who have had NDEs and too many carefully researched cases exist for people just to dismiss their veridicality out of hand. Additionally, no naturalistic explanation exists. The collaborative evidence confirmed by other people seems to show beyond a reasonable doubt that NDE experiencers leave their bodies and see and/or hear things. Moreover…there is worldwide consistency to the core components people experience during an NDE. These events are widespread and frequent; they happen to atheists, and very young children, the deaf hear and the blind see and the colorblind see colors. They have enhanced consciousness when they should have no consciousness at all, and incredible life changes result from them.”

Some things Christians should consider regarding NDE testimonies.

Interpretations

As researchers have pointed out, the core components of most NDEs are one thing; the experiencer’s interpretation of these events is another. For instance, some people interpret their experience as “teaching” reincarnation, when in fact they simply “retrofitted” the experience to support this idea. People tend to tell their stories in words drawn from their own worldviews, which may or may not be biblical, even though the same perceptions could possibly be described in Christian theological terms. Almost all experiencers tell us that what they saw, heard, and felt was inexpressible in our normal vocabulary (this should not surprise us). Yet, we must try to talk about these things. So, we tap the vocabulary we are used to. New agers use terms like “total energy,” “higher frequency,” “supreme loving essence,” “spiritual entity” “Om,” and the like to describe in impersonal terms what the Bible would refer to as “spiritual,” or eternal, or angelic or demonic, or God himself, using personal terms. The experiencer interprets the feelings, sights, sounds, etc., through their own pre-conceived worldview (in the case of new age thought an impersonal “power” of some sort) and then draws sometimes very odd “theological” conclusions from their own interpretation. These interpretations then are smuggled into the testimony as “facts” about God or eternal life when the NDE itself does not support those conclusions.

The Spirit realm

The spirit realm is real, but is it the “final heaven”? Or is it simply a peek over the fence into what the Bible refers to as the “invisible realm” or “the heavenlies” (Eph.1:3, 20, 2:6, 3:10, 6:12)? In that realm there are malign spirits as well as good ones (Eph 1:20-23, 6:10-20; 1 Cor.10:20: Dan.10:10-14). When people ask me if I have ever been to the Netherlands, I say yes. But I was only there for a few hours…in the airport. I flew in and flew out. I would not offer to give lessons on Dutch culture and history based on that brief visit. All I could say based on my experience is that Holland exists and I had a pleasant time there for a little while.

Spirit Creatures

Spirit creatures (angels and demons of various kinds) certainly exist and in a dimension we do not understand but with which we may have contact under certain circumstances. The Bible is clear on this (Matt.17:1-8; 2 Cor.12:2-4; 2 Kings 6:17). But since Paul warns us that Satan himself can appear as an “angel of light” (2 Cor.11:14), we should be skeptical of testimonies in which the experiencer talks to or is taught by an impressive “angel” or even “Jesus” himself, but the “teaching” is not what Jesus really taught in this life. This is especially true if the spirit predicts events that do not come to pass. At the end of the book of Revelation (Rev.22:8-9) John falls down to worship the messenger (presumably because this angel is so impressive) but the messenger says not to do that because he is just a servant of the Lord like John. NDE experiencers relate interaction with “beings of light” or other mystical/spiritual entities but almost never ask who the beings are. Many experiencers insist that they talked to “Jesus,” but they are assuming it was Jesus based on his appearance and the deep feeling of awe, love, and peace they had. Interestingly, Michael Sabom in his book Light and Death (Zondervan, 1998) relates an account from Dr Maurice Rawlings who wrote Beyond Death’s Door, in which the experiencer encounters a spirit that seemed so much like Jesus that he was about to worship it, but instead he asked the spirit if he actually was Jesus. The spirit replied, “No.” It is interesting to me that people who in normal life are skeptical of biblical revelation (from the real God, who can talk) have little skepticism about spirit beings that appear in these accounts. Humans are gullible when it comes to spiritual things. This is why John the Apostle (no stranger to supernatural realities) warned his friends to not believe every spirit but… “test all the spirits to see if they are from God” (1 Jn.4:1). And the Apostle Paul warned the Colossians not to believe people who had fallen into the worship of angels, based on visions they have seen, inflated without cause by their fleshly minds, and not holding on to the head (Christ)… (paraphrase of Col.2:18-19).

Sources of Theology?

The real danger in NDE studies is to create a theology from these accounts without comparing them with God’s own revelation in the biblical material. The difference between biblical revelation and human “peeks into the spirit realm” is not that the biblical message is “human” and these exciting accounts are “supernatural” but that the resurrection of Jesus Christ (not his resuscitation on an operating table) has always authenticated an eternal and profoundly supernatural message far more intense, sobering, hopeful, and comprehensive than that conveyed by many of the secularly interpreted NDE accounts. On the one hand God, who can appear and communicate with living humans has initiated contact and covenant with us in Christ, authenticating the message not with vague statements of “universal love and oneness” but with physical resurrection (observed repeatedly by individuals and groups over almost six weeks), connecting the old and new covenants (see Rom.1:1-4; 1 Cor.15:1-8; 2Pet.1:16-21). On the other hand, we have humans in the process of dying who briefly glimpse a world they did not know existed and know nothing about and are overwhelmed by. Their descriptions and interpretations are then simply believed uncritically by many people (believing is called faith by the way). In the biblical view, God speaks and authenticates with miracles in this world. He enters a relationship with individual humans, even becoming a human himself. He then defeats the grave by being tortured to death and then returning in a resurrected body. He deals with evil by defeating it personally and offering eternal life to anyone who simply repents and trusts Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. In the secular NDE view, admittedly fallible humans “peek” into the spirit realm and draw their own conclusions, often treating them as divine revelation.

Secular Theology?

The “theology” that emerges from secular NDE research (and note that many of the best-known researchers insist that their work is secular in the sense that they do not subscribe to any “organized” religion) tends to be monistic, radically individualistic, spiritistic, relativistic, moralistic, lacking in any conception of divine justice (i.e., Atonement) and more or less universalist.

God?

Secular NDE researchers clearly do not want to be lumped in with “religious” people and at times remind us that they are not “doing theology.” This, however, seems a bit disingenuous. For instance, Dr. Jeffrey Long, founder of NDERF, well known secular researcher and author of two ground-breaking books on life after death, says in his second book, God and the Afterlife (Harper One, 2026) that “God judges no one…God seems to know us better than we know ourselves. God knows our successes, failures, strengths, and shortcomings… God seems to know everything (his emphasis). NDEs carry the message that God knows full well who we are, what we are, and still loves us totally and unconditionally (his emphasis). That is a message I find profoundly reassuring.” How is this not doing theology? These are statements that are obviously meant to be taken as statements of fact regarding God and how he deals with humanity. That is theology. This is a religion! It is not “organized” religion because that is viewed as “traditional” and “dogmatic.” It is disorganized religion. I am not convinced that disorganization is better than organization regarding eternal truth.

Note. The biblical gospel does indeed describe this amazing, divine unconditional love, but it is for people who have repented and trusted Jesus Christ (Jn.1:11-13; 3:16; 1 Jn.4:1-10) and specifically not universal in the secular sense implied by many of the NDE descriptions.

Theologian H. Richard Niebuhr, commenting on old fashioned liberal theology said that in it, “a God without wrath brings men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” (Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America (1937). The secular NDE religion is amazingly similar to this, no wonder it sells so well in western society.

Hell?

Secular researchers do point out that there are many scary “hellish” NDEs, in which the experiencer feels something terrifying. But these are treated as anomalies, indicating that super bad people might be there because of “very many bad life choices” (Jeffrey Long’s words). The term “sin” is conspicuous by its absence in this material probably because it smacks of traditional “organized” religion that heaps “guilt and shame” on people. The predominant secular “scientific” view is that good people do not end up in the “hellish realm,” regardless of their religious views, because “God doesn’t judge, but loves all creatures unconditionally, and all religious roads lead to the same place.” (Long’s conclusion in God and the Afterlife)

Recent research by Dr. Bruce Greyson, one of the original NDE investigators and author of the highly respected book, After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond (St. Martin’s Essentials Publishing Group, 2021) has shown that “roughly 11%-22% of recorded NDEs are negative, frightening, or ‘hellish.’” Greyson’s estimate came out of his review of all major studies in 2023.

In Long’s book, which does deal with the existence of the negative NDEs, there is a great deal of interpretation and speculation about why these experiences are “hellish.” He comments that “I never read an NDE describing God casting the NDEr into an irredeemable hellish realm.” One wonders how this “hellish realm” is populated if the “God” that these people believe in is as omniscient as they affirm. Interestingly, while Long and other secular researchers view the blissful experiences as proof that heaven exists, they are not making the same factual statements about the existence of hell. Long himself thinks (and he makes it clear that this is just his opinion) that perhaps the “hellish realm” is a place where people are encouraged to make better “life choices” and then be released into heaven where they really belong. There is no mention of repentance or forgiveness in any of this speculation. Entering heaven (what Christians call salvation) is based solely on “good life choices.” It is not a personal relationship with God. For those informed of theological ideas, this is called “works righteousness.” It is “salvation” based on how “good” a person is. Practical question: Would you fly in a plane that crashed 22% of the time?

Reincarnation?

Doctors Jeffrey Long and Bruce Greyson (among others) are aware of many NDE experiencers who, after they return from their NDE, adopt the idea of reincarnation. The experiencers usually base their opinions on their own perceptions of “past lives” and sometimes on the words of a spirit creature they encountered in their NDE. Neither Jeffrey Long nor Bruce Greyson considers these personal feelings about reincarnation as evidence supporting the view. They both say that NDE research itself does not indicate, demonstrate, or prove reincarnation, but that certain aspects of the NDE experience may leave room for the idea. Long thinks these affirmations of reincarnation by NDErs are psychological aftereffects. Many NDE experiencers change or develop their ideas of spirituality or religion after their N DE, but these changes reflect the interpretation of the experience, not the bare “facts” of the experience itself. This is why neither Bruce Greyson nor Jeffrey Long include a discussion of reincarnation in their books. They simply do not believe that NDE research supports it. And biblical material certainly does not support it (Luke 16:19-31; Heb.9:27).

Biblical Theology

NDEs, while not to be trusted as a source of theology, nevertheless do demonstrate some realities that the Bible clearly teaches and that people in our enlightenment/rationalist/modernist world have simply ignored or denied.

There is life after death. Contrary to contemporary materialist accounts which assume annihilationism.

There is a spirit realm that transcends this world in unimaginable ways. Contrary to the materialist view taught routinely in public education in the west.

There is a Creator God. (although he remains unnamed in most NDEs) Contrary to the neo-Darwinian myth of mindless evolution. This is a very widespread conviction among NDE experiencers, even though they often go on and “interpret him” in their own ways and create their own “theologies” and “spiritualities” based on their own feelings.

There is a “heaven.” A place of indescribable bliss, joy, and love. Very tangible and real. However, There are also many experiences of something like hell. These are not emphasized in the literature.

Love is at the center of the created universe. Contrary to the materialist view that reality is an accidental combination of “matter and energy.”This means that Personality and Relationship are ultimate and precede matter. The Bible teaches this of course (Gen.1:1; Jn.1:1-4;1Jn.4:8; Heb.11:1-3). God is the Three-In-One loving eternal and ultimate Reality. It is quite common for NDE experiencers to describe God as “pure love,” (referencing at times 1 Jn.4:7-9) and his “instructions” as exhortations to go back and love other people. Of course, these notions are biblical and deeply Christian. But the NDE view never references the rest of what 1 John chapter 4 says, which is a warning to test the spirits and reject anything that denies the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Christians encouraged by NDE research.

John Burke, pastor, researcher, and author of Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (Baker Books, 2015) has pointed out that the essential core of the common elements in NDE research (see above) are not in conflict with what the Bible teaches. Lee Strobel (bestselling Christian author) agrees, highlighting the hope conveyed by these experiences in his book, The Case for Heaven: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for Life After Death (Zondervan, 2021). Many Christians have had profound NDEs that comport nicely with biblical and gospel revelation. They have authored books of their own, such as Baptist pastor Don Piper’s well-known testimony, 90 Minutes in Heaven (Revell, 2004), and Captain Dale Black’s graphic testimony in his book Visiting Heaven (Black Eagle Publishing, 2023). Captain Black is an airline pilot whose NDE profoundly deepened his faith in Christ. Add to these the many recent studies and testimonies of Christians to their glimpses into the other realm, and, as Burke has pointed out, we will receive some added “color” to what the Bible tells Christians to expect when they pass into the Lord’s presence.

Pastoral Advice.

As a pastor myself, dealing with end-of-life issues through the years from a gospel perspective, I have benefited by personal testimonies that reinforce our grounded faith in Christ. What I advise for Christians in this area is that they listen to spiritual conversations with their mental and biblical filters on high. Paul told us not to despise prophetic utterances, but to examine everything and only hold onto what is good and stay away from any evil (1 Thess.5:20-22). And as mentioned above, John the Apostle tells us to test all spirits to see if they are from God, based on what they say about who Jesus is and the incarnation. (1 Jn.4:1-10). To the extent that a personal testimony of an NDE comports with biblical revelation and the gospel, let it strengthen your faith. But eat the meat and spit out the bones.