Near-Death Experiences

Some of the most popular modern arguments to “prove” the theory of

the natural immortality of the soul are “near-death experiences.” In his

book Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon—Survival of

Bodily Death (Atlanta, GA: Mockingbird, 1975), Raymond A. Moody,

Jr., presented the results of his five-year study of more than one hun-

dred people who experienced “clinical death” and were revived. These

individuals claimed to have seen a loving and warm being of light

before coming back to life. This has been regarded as “exciting evi-

dence of the survival of the human spirit beyond death” (back cover).

Over the years, many other similar books have been published, promot-

ing the same idea. (See lesson 2.)

Read the resurrection accounts of 1 Kings 17:22–24, 2 Kings 4:34–37,

Mark 5:41–43, Luke 7:14–17, and John 11:40–44. How many of

them talk about any kind of conscious existence while the resur-

rected ones were dead, and why is that answer important?

All near-death experiences reported in modern literature are of people

considered clinically dead, but not really dead, in contrast to Lazarus, who

was dead for four days and whose corpse was rotting (John 11:39). Neither

Lazarus nor any of those raised from the dead in biblical times ever men-

tioned any afterlife experience, whether in Paradise, in purgatory, or in hell.

This is, indeed, an argument from silence, but it is in full agreement with

the biblical teachings on the unconscious state of the dead!

But what about the near-death experiences so commonly recounted

today? If we accept the biblical teaching of the unconsciousness of the dead

(Job 3:11–13, Ps. 115:17, Ps. 146:4, Eccles. 9:10), then we are left with

two main possibilities: either it is a natural psychochemical hallucination

under extreme conditions, or it can be a supernatural, satanic, deceptive

experience (2 Cor. 11:14). Satanic deception could indeed be the explana-

tion, especially because in some cases, these people claim to have talked to

their dead relatives! But it could be a combination of both factors.

With this deception prevalent, and so convincing to many, it is cru-

cial that we stick firmly to the teaching of the Word of God, despite

whatever experiences we or others might have that go against what the

Bible teaches.

How fascinating that NDEs often now come with the imprimatur

of “science.” What does this teach us about how careful we need

to be even of things that science supposedly “proves”?