VALIDITY OF NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES
“Heaven is For Real” Commentary
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: WHEN NOTHING HURTS
1. Renee and Daniel had been married for over 50 years. One morning, they both awoke from a good night’s sleep. As usual, Daniel reached over and took her hand in his.
2. "Don't touch me," says Renee. "Why not, my dear?" replies a shocked Daniel. "Because," says Renee, "I'm dead."
3. "What on earth are you talking about?" says Daniel, "We're both lying here in bed together and we’re talking to one another. How can you be dead?"
4. "But I am, Daniel," says Renee, "I'm definitely dead. I’m sure of it." "So what makes you think you're dead?" asks Daniel.
5. "Because I woke up this morning and nothing hurts."
B. TEXT
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man…4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.” 2 Cor. 12:2-4.
[This is not a NDE, but describes a trip to heaven & back.]
C. “HEAVEN IS FOR REAL” MOVIE
1. “HEAVEN IS FOR REAL” movie trailer ************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mydh4MEo2B0
2. "Heaven is for Real" is a $12-million Christian drama about Colton Burpo, the 4-year-old son of a Nebraska pastor who comes close to death during an emergency appendectomy, only to recover and tell a tale of visiting heaven, where he speaks with characters from his family's history.
3. They include the great-grandfather he never met and the older sister he never had (his mother miscarried before he was born, an agonizing ordeal his parents had kept to themselves).
4. He also describes seeing John the Baptist and meeting Jesus, who rides a rainbow-colored horse and lets the boy sit in his lap.
D. FASCINATION WITH NDE’S. Fascination in the afterlife has become a national pastime. Some Books:
1. It all started with Weiss's 1972 book, The Vestibule and Dr. Raymond Moody's 1975 book, Life After Life. He coined the term, “Near Death Experience” (NDE).
2. In 1978, Maurice Rawlings, M.D., described the experiences of people he resuscitated in the operating room in Beyond Death’s Door.
3. In 1981 the International Association for Near-Death Studies was begun and “scientific” journals began to study the subject.
4. In 2004, Don Piper wrote his 90 Minutes in Heaven that stayed on The New York Times best-seller list for four years. In 2006 Bill Wiese told his story of 23 Minutes in Hell.
5. In 2010, Kevin Malarkey, a Christian therapist in Columbus, Ohio, writes about what his 6-year-old son described to him as a short visit to the afterlife after a paralyzing car accident; The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven.
7. In 2012, Eben Alexander's book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife; an account of his being turned from an atheist to a believer during his seven-day coma battling meningitis.
8. And now comes Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (movie version).
9. Why are we so attracted to this subject? Because we know we’ll all die someday or we have a loved one who has gone, and we want to know about what comes next.
E. THESIS
1. Every day in the U.S., an average of 774 people have a near-death experience, according to the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation.
2. A 1997 Gallop Poll found 35 percent said they’d had an NDE -- approximately eight million Americans .
3. So due to the movie coverage and frequency, and because it borders on the Bible, we’re going to take a look at NDEs, the controversies surrounding them and the confirmations they may be real.
4. The title of this message is “The Validity of Near Death Experiences.”
I. WHAT IS A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE?
A. DEFINITION: [Wikipedia]
“An experience associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light, reported after an individual has been pronounced clinically dead or has been very close to death.”
B. TREATMENT
1. Medical Field treats them as hallucinations.
2. Parapsychologists & some scientists see them as evidence of an afterlife and mind-body dualism.[5-8]
3. Religious believers are divided on NDEs, since some aspects verify their faiths while others go against them.
C. CLASSIC NDE TRAITS
1. The notice of unpleasant sound/ noise [10].
2. Awareness of being dead. [24][26]
3. A sense of peace, well-being and painlessness.
4. A sense of removal from the world. [24][26-27]
5. An out-of-body experience. Sometimes observing doctors and nurses performing medical resuscitation efforts.[24][26-28]
6. A "tunnel experience". A sense of moving up, or through, a passageway or staircase.[24][26][28]
7. A rapid movement toward a powerful light. Communication with the light.[26][27]
8. An intense feeling of unconditional love and acceptance.[27]
9. Encountering "Beings of Light", "Beings dressed in white" or reuniting with deceased loved ones. [24][27] [28]
10. Receiving a life review.[24][26][27]
11. Receiving knowledge about one's life and the nature of the universe.[27]
12. Approaching a border,[26] or a decision by oneself or others to return to one's body, often accompanied by a reluctance to return.[24][27][28]
D. KENNETH RING’S (1980) 5 NDE STAGES [29]
1. Peace
2. Body separation
3. Entering darkness
4. Seeing the light
5. Entering the light [30]
II. PROBLEMS WITH NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES
A. WRONG FOCUS
1. "For anyone who truly believes the Biblical record, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that these modern testimonies -- with their relentless self-focus and the relatively scant attention they pay to the glory of God -- are simply untrue."
2. "They are either figments of the human imagination (dreams, hallucinations, false memories, fantasies, and in the worst cases, deliberate lies), or else they are products of demonic deception." John MacArthur
B. THE MAJORITY OF NDE’s ARE POSITIVE
1. Is heaven our default destination after death, or hell? For children, the answer is certainly heaven, but for those who’ve reached the “age of accountability,” that is, knowing the difference between right & wrong & choosing to do wrong – the default destination without Christ must be hell. See Matt. 7:13-14; few will be saved.
2. Kenneth Ring stated that 60% experienced stage 1 (feelings of peace), but only 10% experienced stage 5 ("entering the light")[30]. This could explain why more didn’t have a negative NDE; they never got far enough.
C. ARE ACCEPTED OVER SCRIPTURE
Another problem is that we can’t argue with someone’s experience. Thus we don’t apply the rigorous standards of Scripture to these accounts. The Bible warns, “…if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them” Isa. 8:20.
D. ONLY 18% HAVE THEM
If a NDE is ‘consciousness after death,’ then why doesn’t everyone have them? Why do only a small minority have them?
E. HUMOR: THE MISQUOTE
1. The story is told of Helen Hunt, the famous author of "Ramona," that one morning after church service she found a purse full of money and told her pastor about it.
2. "Very well," he said, "you keep it, and at the evening service I will announce it," which he did in this wise:
3. "This morning there was found in this church a purse filled with money. If the owner is present he or she can go to Helen Hunt for it." The minister wondered why the congregation tittered!
III. SOME CONFIRMATIONS OF NDEs
A. 20% EXPERIENCE HELL/ ANGUISH
1. One would expect that if true, some of the subjects would experience the “outer darkness” Mt. 22:13 or flames of hell (Lk. 16:23-24) described in the Bible. 20% of the subjects said they experienced one of these.
2. Also, since children are innocent, we wouldn’t expect them to have the hellish NDEs. Atwater (1992) reports that only adults in her sample experienced distressing NDEs, not children.[46]
B. GREY’S ‘5 PHASES’ TOWARD HELL
If people were headed for hell, the Bible is confirmed by the following findings:
1. FEAR & PANIC.
2. OUT OF BODY.
3. ENTERING BLACK VOID, often perceived as dark & gloomy or as a black abyss [Greyson & Bush (2013)[47].
4. SENSING AN EVIL FORCE.
a. Lindley, Bryan and Conley (1981) report descriptions of demonic creatures or embittered human-like voices that mock or taunt the subjects.
b. Greyson and Bush [47] reported raging entities suspended in the darkness of the void, who maliciously jeered and taunted the subjects.
5. ENTERING A HELLISH ENVIRONMENT.
a. In Grey's study [44] some subjects reported sensing evil or malevolent forces or creatures, and environments intensely hot or cold. Atwater (1988) and Flynn (1986) confirm these.
b. Greyson and Bush [47] reported foreboding or menacing landscapes…filled with scenes of mourning, wailing, despair, or threat by a hostile presence.
c. In some cases [47], trapped souls endured tormenting "fire" or "flame"- the tormenting "fire" not being physical, but moral, in the form of remorse or anguish at their own choices, behaviors or attitudes, agony or regret at being separated from the Light or Light Being [48].
C. MORAL DIMENSIONS
1. LIFE REVIEW. Subjects said that they experienced a time of searching exposure and affirmation, having moral implications to confront, including his or her actions and the negative or positive impact they had on others.[50]
2. EXPOSURE OF TRUTH/ LIE. When they came before the "Figure of Light," his presence alone was standard of judgment [56] and made clear what was right & wrong.
3. JUDGED BY CONSCIENCE. It’s not the Being of Light who reproves the subjects for their bad actions, but their own consciences which hold them accountable.
4. ACCOUNTABILITY. A recurring theme in Life Reviews is that each person is responsible for every thought, word and deed of his or her life.[56]
5. REMORSE. The Review is generally in a larger context of being unconditionally loved, yet the subjects universally felt regret and remorse for the wrongs they’d done.
6. UNFINISHED WORK. Often the NDEr is told that a "work" or life must be completed; that’s why they’re being sent back. Their final destiny or fate is thus pushed back to some future time. [54]
7. BLESSING IN DISGUISE. Rommer 2001[59] suggests that distressing NDERs almost always come to see their experiences as blessings in disguise.
D. TRANSFORMATIONAL CHARACTER
1. SALVATION. Cardiologist (Maurice Rawlins) describes a patient fading in and out of consciousness screaming "I am in hell." Both doctor and patient were transformed by the experience, each becoming religious.
2. ESPECIALLY CONNECTED TO SUICIDE
Rommer (2001) found that NDE suicide attempters made up 55% of people in her research who reported a Type II Eternal Void experience, 18% who reported a Type III Hellish experience, and most of those who reported a Type IV Negative Judgment experience.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: FIRE IN THE HOLE
1. Centralia was a small mining town in the eastern part of Pennsylvania with about 1,100 residents making their income off of the coal dug just underneath the crust.
2. But in 1962, a small fire created from trash burning near the dump swept slowly into the tunnel causing a problem that the city couldn’t figure out how to deal with since they couldn’t come up with the couple thousands dollars needed to extinguish the flames.
3. Today, the fire rages. At the heart of this underground inferno are blazes that register hotter than Mercury, an atmosphere that is as poisonous as Saturn, and lethal clouds of carbon monoxide. It will burn for at least 250 more years.
4. The town’s population now has only 5. The schools, 7 churches, 5 hotels, 2 theaters, bank, offices, 14 general stores, 27 saloons are all closed. Even their own zip code has been declared extinct.
5. It’s fascinating that there’s a town that hangs suspended over a monstrous fire. Can you imagine living there and at any moment a hole opening and you falling into it?
6. We actually do live on top of such a fire; the Bible calls it Hell. Until we’ve experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we’re in danger of falling in.
B. THE CALL
1. “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.
2. Will you make that decision for Christ now?
3. Not all of us will get a second chance as the NDE people did. Paul said, “If we would judge ourselves we would not be judged.”
4. Since we’re going to be accountable for every word, thought, and deed, it’s about time we made the decision to live for Christ 24/7/365.
5. Let’s make a complete commitment of ourselves to Him.
FOOTNOTES
5 Grossman, Neil (Indiana University and University of Illinois), Who's Afraid of Life After Death? Why NDE Evidence is Ignored, Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), 2002
6 Fontana, David (Cardiff University and Liverpool John Moores University), Does Mind Survive Physical Death?, 2003
7 London Telegraph, 10/22/2000 article: Soul-searching doctors find life after death, about Drs. Peter Fenwick and Sam Parnia studies of heart attack survivors
8 Carter, Chris: Science and the Near-Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death (2010). Toronto, Inner Traditions. ISBN 1-59477-356-4
10 Moody, R. (1975) Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon - Survival of Bodily Death. New York: Bantam
24 Mauro, James. "Bright lights, big mystery", Psychology Today, July 1992.
25Greyson, Bruce (2003) "Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population". Psychiatric Services, December, Vol. 54 No. 12. The American Psychiatric Association
26 van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands," The Lancet, December 15; 358 (9298):2039-45. Table 2.
27 IANDS Near-Death Experiences: Is this what happens when we die? Durham: International Association for Near-Death Studies.
28 Morse M., Conner D. and Tyler D. (1985) "Near-Death Experiences in a pediatric population. A preliminary report", American Journal of Disease of Children, n. 139 PubMed abstract PMID 4003364
29 Ring, K. (1980). Life at death: A scientific investigation of the near-death experience. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan., p. 40
30 Kenneth Ring, quoted in Ketamine - Near Death and Near Birth Experiences Dr Karl Jansen
37 Lindley, JH; Bryan, S & Conley, B, 'Near-death experiences in a Pacific Northwest population: The Evergreen study – Anabiosis 1. p109, 1981
38 Raymond Moody, 1988. The Light Beyond, pp. 29-64; Howard Storm (2005). My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life, 19-57, 131-133
44 Margot Grey. 1985. American Society for Psychical Research. Return From Death: An Exploration of the Near-Death Experience, London, England: Arkana, 1985
45 Lee Bailey, Jenny Yates (1023). The Near Death Experience: A Reader, pp 210-214
46 Atwater, P.M.H. (1992). Is There a Hell? Journal of Near-Death Studies, 10(3).
47 Greyson and Bush's (2013) "Distressing Near Death Experiences" in Lee Bailey, Jenny Yates (2013). The Near Death Experience: A Reader, pp 210-214
48 "Swedenborg, E. Heaven and its Wonders and Hell. From Things Heard and Seen (Swedenborg Foundation, 1946)".
49 Bruce Greyson 2006. Near-Death Experiences and Spirituality. Zygon 41:2 393-414; Atwater, P.M.H. (1992). Is There a Hell? Surprising Observations About the Near-Death Experience. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 10(3).
50 Greyson, 2006, 393-414
54 Moody 1975, Greyson, 2006, 393-414; Yates and Bailey, 2013
56 Elie Kaplan Spitz. 2002 Does the Soul Survive?: A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives. 137-142
56 Spitz, 2002
59 Rommer 2001
[A large part of the information about NDEs here was garnered from the Wikipedia article on NDEs.]
