Into the light and love
What I'm reading
I’ve written in the past about my cancer (two actually, both melanoma and prostate cancer). One thing about facing serious illnesses is that it can shock you out of your comfort zone and make you question your assumptions.
For instance, you wonder if your religious beliefs are accurate. A lot of the time, we take religion for granted. Most of us are in a particular faith because we are born into it or because it is the predominant faith in our area. When you consider the possibility that death may be closer than you realize, it can make you want to validate your assumptions.
Over the years, I have questioned and doubted. I sometimes looked deeper into the evidence for the validity of the Bible and the evidence for the God that it describes. It can be scary to question deeply held beliefs, but I typically found my faith affirmed when I investigated it.
Something that I wondered about for a long time was near-death experiences. NDEs have been around for a long time but seem to have gotten more common with the advent of more successful life-saving technologies. At this point, there are millions of cases for scientists to study.
I wondered whether NDEs are really life-after-death experiences and if they are, what they tell us about the truth of biblical teaching. If NDEs are just a trick of a dying brain, they wouldn’t tell us much about what occurs after life, but if those who experience NDEs are really dead and really travel somewhere beyond this life, the information that they bring back could be invaluable in determining and confirming religious truths. For example, do NDEs confirm or disprove any particular religion?
So, a few months ago, I was listening to a podcast that mentioned a book that addressed many of these questions. John Burke, a Christian pastor and former agnostic with a background in engineering, had written a book that examines more than 1,000 near-death experiences. I had not seen a book that attempted to do this before so I found a copy of “Imagine the God of Heaven.”
Burke’s book is a fascinating look at the phenomenon. He relates the experiences of a multitude of NDE experiencers as well as discusses the basics of Christian theology. Depending on the reader, this may or may not be a familiar topic, but the most interesting aspect of the book is how closely NDE experiences harmonize around the world.
NDEs are not unique to Western and Christian cultures. Burke relates how people from around the world, even those with no knowledge of Jesus and Christianity, have very similar experiences. In some cases, Jesus reveals himself by name to these dying/dead people while in other cases they recognize him after the fact. In a number of cases, adherents of other religions have converted to following Christ after their experiences.
Every NDE is different but there are common themes and experiences. Often the recently deceased person finds themselves floating above their body. In many cases, they go through a tunnel or are escorted by angels to heaven. Ironically or not, the treatment of death in popular culture projects such as “Beetlejuice” and “Ghosts” bears at least a superficial resemblance to what some NDE experiencers report.
After arriving in heaven, they frequently describe being overwhelmed with light and love. They also describe a figure who often identifies himself as Jesus. Many of these descriptions are similar to biblical descriptions of Jesus, even when the experiencer has no knowledge of the Bible. Happiness and joy are common themes.
Similarly, many NDE experiencers describe heaven as a massive and light-filled city. These descriptions also closely mirror biblical accounts such as those from Revelation 21. Heaven is described as a beautiful place where the colors are more vibrant and indescribable than those on earth. Some tell how the grass and flowers seem to sing out in praise.
And yes, there are some NDE experiencers who describe hell. They seem to be warned against continuing on their current path that will lead to the dismal and terrifying dark place.
There are other hints of judgment as well. Believers often report a life review with Christ, but one in which they feel no shame for their failures. Some say that the life review is joyous and they become aware of the impact of their actions on others, like ripples in the water of a pond.
The most common themes from NDEs seem to be extremely bright light and a feeling of overwhelming love. Many don’t want to leave this love to return to earth but prefer to cross the boundary that prohibits return. In some cases, they are given a choice and feel the need to return for the sake of others. In other cases, Jesus gives them no choice but tells them they have unfinished business on earth.
There are a couple of anecdotes that I thought were interesting. It is not unusual for NDE experiencers to report seeing dead loved ones (one account from the 1800s even reported seeing the family dog), but one NDE experiencer said that no one in heaven is older than Jesus at the time of his death, although they can appear older to help newcomers recognize them. This would make the common age early 30s.
Several experiencers reported asking Jesus questions and getting the response, “Have you read my book?” That seems to be an endorsement of the Bible, and from the data related by Burke, the Bible’s teachings about death do seem to be confirmed. Indeed, in many reports, Jesus quotes himself from the Bible, even when the NDE experiencers have not read the Bible.
But the big question is whether these NDE reports are reliable. Are they real or are they hallucinations or delusions? At least some seem to be real. As we get more data about the phenomenon, the number of cases of people with brain death, some for extended periods, makes it less likely that the physical brain is still active. That points to some other plane of existence. This isn’t a religious opinion. A number of scientific studies have come to similar conclusions.
Burke also makes the point that dreams and hallucinations usually fade after waking. That is not the case with NDEs, which remain vivid long after the experience and often lead to altered lives.
And then there are the cases of NDE experiencers who know things that they could not have possibly known otherwise. An incident that sticks in my mind is the woman who reported floating above her body in a hospital and noticed a sticker on the top side of a ceiling fan blade. When her NDE claim was investigated after her recovery, the sticker was there just as she claimed.
Interestingly, shortly after I finished Burke’s book, I saw an interview with Hugh Ross, a Christian astrophysicist and founder of the faith and science group Reasons to Believe. Ross was discussing UFOs and aliens and I was struck by how the reports of UFO close encounters and alien abductions differ from the reports of NDEs. As Ross explains, aliens are often malevolent, sometimes resulting in trauma to people or animals, while NDE encounters report overwhelming peace and love. UFO encounters are often paired with occult practices and aliens spend a lot of time attacking the divinity of Jesus while NDEs lend credence to biblical theology.
I think that Burke may be correct that NDEs are a window into life after death. Maybe they are meant to substantiate biblical teachings to a generation that is increasingly divorced from the Bible. Maybe they are intended to get the attention of a nation that has been turned off to Christianity by the actions of Christians, as Merrie Soltis recently described. Maybe paranormal phenomena like NDEs and UFOs are tangible aspects of a spiritual war raging outside our perception.
We are fortunate to live in a world in which there is more evidence for faith in Christ than ever before. We have the accounts of NDE returnees, centuries of archaeology, and the most complete versions of the Bible ever assembled. Yet, we also have unprecedented levels of cultural noise to distract us from God and the hypocrisy of the church to steer us in the other direction.
I think the key is to keep our focus on Jesus rather than his erstwhile and fallible followers. Even the best Christian falls short of living out Christ’s love and quite a few us misinterpret his wishes completely. We should take care not to let the shortcomings of Christianity and its adherents cheat us out of an eternity with Christ.
Frankly, this book made me feel a lot easier about what comes after death. If the NDE experiences are correct, it takes some of the uncertainty out of dying. Having heard these reports, it is easier to understand the desire of Paul and other biblical figures to experience what lies beyond this life.
I’ll close with another anecdote in which a visitor to heaven asked Jesus why he didn’t give everyone an opportunity to experience heaven and come to direct belief. Jesus responded, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
NDE NARRATION: As a bonus, here is a narrated account of the NDE of Dr. Ron Smothermon. Smothermon’s account is one of the first NDEs that Burke discusses in his book.
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blessed are those who have seen and believe
Interesting read David and as i get closer to the end, i find my self questioning how i have lived my life. Funny, because when i was younger, most of that mattered not. Life got in the way, of my spirituality and understanding one day i would drop dead.
Not completely though, with my sobriety in 1976 i did find a higher power. For most that means little; for many of us who stayed sober, it was at the essence of our fight to change and grow. The goal was invariably to become a better version of who and what we were as drunks. Not a very high bar.
It's good to believe in something. There-in is the problem. Just for curiosity i searched the number of religions on the earth. The Google answer; 10,000 distinct religions. Is there a real one? A right one? A better one? Or, is there at the very core of them is the goal to become a better person?
When my dad was dying in the emergency at the hospital, we were gathered around him, including a Catholic priest who had just given him his last rights. The doctor had told us there was nothing he could do and just let him go. He sat up and clear as a bell he looked at all of us and asked, "am i in heaven?" We said no, he laid back down and never said another word.
Nope, not reading anything into it other than he had converted to Catholicism as a teenager and found sobriety in his later years. I suspect both gave him comfort in death. If there is to be any solace in death, the peace of mind from finding religion (no matter which one) or serenity in my case might just be the best thing about believing in something beyond the here and now.
What a wonderful surprise I received this morning when I opened my inbox and saw this article! David, thank you so much for sharing this! I enjoyed the video as well and was in awe of Dr. Smotherman‘s story! I could go on and on sharing stories from my own family/friends of supernatural experiences that defied explanation. That definitely encourages all of us to “check ourselves“ every day to make sure that we are walking right with the Lord Jesus.
Much love to you guys today!