Authors: J. Steve Miller
Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven: A Brief Introduction in Plain Language (10 page)
- If NDEs are dreams or hallucinations,
then why are
they so consistent among the thousands of NDErs who’ve been surveyed and
studied? Dreams and hallucinations are extremely random from person to
person. If NDEs were such, we’d expect a colorful array of almost
infinitely varied reports, such as talking to a fish named Wanda who claims
to be God, herding cattle which feed on sea scallops, etc. And why the
cohesive story line rather than unrelated segments? And why would stories end
with closure (“It’s not your time; you must go back now.”) as if the dream
or vision knew ahead of time exactly when it needed to end? - If NDEs are purely naturalistic
, then why do the
deaf report hearing, the colorblind report seeing colors, and the blind
report seeing, when this goes against everything we know about the dream
states and physical limitations of those born with these disabilities?
While
each of the lines of evidence has weight on its own, taken together they weigh
in powerfully – twelve lines of evidence that build a strong case for life
after death and the existence of higher spiritual beings. A close study of NDEs
has led many researchers to reject naturalism and embrace the idea that we’re
more than our physical bodies, with death being merely a transition to another
realm. We seem to have found a “black swan” that for many overturns
naturalism.
As
prominent Dutch Psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden once stated,
“All science is
empirical science, all theory is subordinate to perception; a single fact can
overturn an entire system.”
Chapter 6
What We Learn from NDEs
"You are not a human being having a
spiritual experience.
You are a spiritual being having a human experience."
-
Pierre
Teilhard
de Chardin
- French philosopher, geologist, paleontologist, and
priest
who also taught physics and chemistry.
They
are not consistent with every worldview.
Some
may assume that while NDEs seem incompatible with naturalism, beyond that they
don’t really support any one religion or worldview. “Since they’re consistent
with most any form of spirituality,” we may surmise, “they have no evidential
value for choosing a specific religious faith.”
But
if you agree that the main elements of NDEs paint a reasonably accurate picture
of life on the other side, they seem to throw doubt on several worldviews and
religious opinions. For example:
a. Philosophical
materialists
believe all that exists can ultimately be
explained in terms of the interactions of purely material things. NDEs reveal a
dimension where thinking, communication, and transportation aren’t apparently
dependent on material objects.
b. Determinists
,
whether religious or secular, believe there is no free will. Yet NDEs report celestial
beings discussing a person’s future and changing plans based upon a person’s
prayers or expressed will. The being of light may urge a person to “go back and
do better this time,” which implies the ability to make conscious life choices.
c. Pantheists and Deists
tend to believe in an impersonal God who created (or continues to create) the
physical universe, but doesn’t get involved in people’s lives. Yet, NDEs reveal
a personal God who both knows and cares about each of us.
What
NDEs
Don’t
Teach Us
We’ve
noted that a small portion of NDEs appear to contain a mixture of fantasy and
reality, which is understandable for some who’ve endured serious trauma and
long recoveries. Thus it would seem unwise to take everyone’s reported
experience in minute detail and try to paint an accurate picture of the
afterlife. If someone reports seeing Big Bird, I don’t take this as a
revelation that Big Bird exists and is waiting for me on the other side. (I am
aware this may disappoint some Big Bird fans.)
For
this reason, I think it’s safer to focus on the NDE elements that are most
commonly reported – those included in what researchers call a “remarkable
convergence,” which may indeed give insight to the other side.
If
NDEs were all the evidence we had to go on, it would be going too far to
conclude with finality that one certain religion is the true religion. After
all, NDEs don’t absolutely prove that there’s only one God. Perhaps different
people travel through different tunnels to meet different lights. Maybe the
light’s name is Jehovah; but then again its name could be Allah, or even Fred.
Or perhaps the Light is just a way to connect with the Cosmic Mind spoken of in
New Age circles.
While
it appears that those who meet the being of light during an NDE are all meeting
the same being (the descriptions of his personality and abilities and effects
are remarkably similar), it would be going too far to say that NDEs
absolutely
prove
that God is one. Rather, I’d say that they
suggest
there is
one God.
What
NDEs May Teach Us
Although
they don’t tell me all I want to know about God and the afterlife, they at
least provide strong evidence that there’s more to life than meets the materialist’s
eye. And for those who believe they provide a peek into eternity, they may yield
even more insights.
While
many of the NDE researchers I read don’t appear to be particularly Christian, their
primary findings (as I detail them below) seem remarkably consistent (though
perhaps not exclusively so) with Christianity. And since van Lommel’s patients
in particular contained many diverse beliefs, you can hardly take the below
similarities to be due to their Christian expectations.
Since
Jesus Christ claimed to have come from heaven, claiming to bring his own
corroborating evidence in the form of miracles, it would be relevant to know if
the Bible’s teachings either corroborate or contradict what people report from
their NDEs.
Furthermore,
those who believe that these are real brushes with eternity might aspire to
live
as if they’d experienced an NDE
, since NDErs typically claim that
their lives are fuller and richer as a result. Many of those who study NDEs
report that their lives change as a result of their research. I believe this
study has impacted my own life.
(1)
Here
are my comparisons. Each point begins with an observation by an NDEr or
researcher, followed by a related passage from the Bible.
Questions
regarding the existence and character of God have occupied not only
philosophers and religious scholars for millennia, but also average folks who
wonder and fret about eternal matters. What are NDErs telling us about God?
a. God exists.
According
to van Lommel, “During an NDE, the encounter with ‘the light’ is felt to be the
most intense and most essential part of the experience.”
(2)
Moody
calls it “the most incredible common element” of the experience, “which has the
most profound effect upon the individual.” No matter what the person’s
religious (or nonreligious) background, “not one person has expressed any doubt
whatsoever that it was a being, a being of light.”
(3)
While
it’s theoretically possible that each person is seeing a
different
being
of light, they seem to describe the same personality and attributes, leading us
to believe there’s
one
being at the end of the tunnel rather than a
pantheon of competing gods. Nobody that I read claimed to meet multiple gods.
“In
the beginning, God….” (Genesis 1:1)
b. God is love.
“This
encounter [with the light] is always accompanied by an overwhelming sense of
unconditional love and acceptance.”
(4)
“God
is love.” (I John 4:8)
c. God knows us intimately.
“It
is often obvious that the being can see the individual’s whole life….”
(5)
“Indeed,
the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:7)
d. God is personal.
“…it
is a personal being. It has a very definite personality.”
(6)
“The
LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in
lovingkindness and truth….” (Exodus 34:6)
e. There’s an attractiveness
to God.
“The
love and the warmth which emanate from this being to the dying person are
utterly beyond words, and he feels completely surrounded by it and taken up in
it, completely at ease and accepted in the presence of this being. He senses an
irresistible magnetic attraction to this light. He is ineluctably drawn to it.”
This description is “utterly invariable.”
(7)
“Whom
have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee I desire nothing on earth. My flesh
and my heart may fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever.” (Psalm 73:25,26)
f. God is just.
It’s
instructive that nobody I read of comes back to life saying, “I got so
infuriated at God - He was so
wrong
in his evaluations of things!”
Rather, they seem convinced that He’s right in His ways.
“It
was clear to me why I’d had cancer. Why I had come into this world in the first
place. What role each of my family members played in my life, where we all were
within the grand scheme of things, and in general what life is all about.”
(8)
This
reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ statement that he believed one of his first
exclamations, upon meeting God in heaven, would be “Of course!” Because at that
time he’d presumably understand the answers to all the questions he had on
earth.
“…all
his ways are just….” (Daniel 4:37)
g. God is associated with light.
“The
light…was of a kind that I’d never seen before and that differs from any other
kind such as sunlight.”
(9)
“There
will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of
the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.” (Revelation 22:5)
According
to atheist Susan Blackmore, there is no ultimate purpose in life. And if life
is pointless, we’re pointless as well; as Blackmore puts it, we’re “eminently
dispensable.”
(10)
But what if Blackmore is wrong? What if we were put
here for a purpose? Wouldn’t we want to discover that purpose?
I
want to know what’s important in life – what counts in the final analysis. What
if being kind to my younger brother is more important than winning a book
award? What if helping struggling students is sometimes more important than
achieving all A’s? What if being kind to a waitress is more important than
developing six-pack abs? Here’s what NDErs report about what really matters in
life.
h. Your life choices matter
to God.
“…[during
the panoramic life review] people understand how they lived their life and how
this affected others. They realize that every single thought, word, or action
has a lasting effect on themselves and others.”
(11)
“…so
that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what
he has done, whether good or bad.” (II Corinthians 5:10)
i. Material things are temporary and not worth obsessing over.
“…some
aspects of life become important while others become completely irrelevant.
After an NDE, people only want to spend time and energy on things of lasting
value. Almost all ephemeral and material things, such as a lot of money, a big
house, or an expensive car, become less important.”
(12)
“Do
not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal….” (Matthew 6:24)
j. It’s important, in fact a
huge part of why we’re here, to love people.
“As
they witness the display [life review], the being seems to stress the
importance of two things in life: Learning to love other people and acquiring
knowledge.”
(13)
“And
if I…do not have love, I am nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:2)
k. It’s important to love
God.
“Lovest
thou me?” (Question from the light during an NDE)
(14)
“You
shall love the LORD your God….” (Matthew 22:37)
l. Prioritize those closest
to you – family and neighbors.
“…other
differences [outcomes] pertained to a greater involvement with family.”
(15)
Pastor
Steve Sjogren (
The Day I Died
) returned from the other side with the
strong impression that although he had accomplished a lot of ministry outside
his family, he had done some of it at the expense of those closest to him - his
family and neighbors and friends. “Right there in the ICU ward, I realized that
I didn’t know the names of any of my children’s friends!”
(16)
"Husbands,
love your wives….” (Ephesians 5:25)
“You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. “ (Matthew 22:39)