The phenomenon of Near-Death Experiences (NDE) is nothing new. In his literary masterpiece, Republic, Plato (428-347 B.C.) writes of the battlefield death of Er only to somehow return from the dead to tell what he saw in the afterlife. One finds some frequency of recorded such experiences running through the Middle Ages. However, with the Enlightenment Movement of the 17th century, and the scientific revolution of the 18th century, reports of “mystical” phenomena became so heavily criticized that although NDEs no doubt continued, very few people were willing to report them. That all began to change in the late 20th century as improved resuscitation methods allowed for evengreaternumbersofpeopletobe “broughtback”andthusreporttheir NDE. In modern times, researchers contend that some 25 million people have reported having a NDE.
Interestingly, one of the most commonly reported experiences is that of love. Near Death Experience researcherJohnBurkesays,“Those whogetaglimpseofheavenagreeon onethingmorethananything—love is the point of it all. In the presence of God, they experience a love that words cannot explain, and the people of heaven seem to be filled with a light that is love.” Burke reports the case of Harvard neurosurgeon EbenAlexander,whosufferedarare illness that caused his neocortex to shutdown.Inshort,Dr.Alexander’s brain wholly ceased to function. While his NDE contained many of the classic elements—lush foliage, beautiful flowers, magnificent trees, lots of light-emitting people—Eben saidthecentralmessagehereceived was “You are loved.” Burke goes further, saying that the single most important thing that Eben said he learned from the experience was that “none of us are unloved.” And yet, God’s love feels uniquely personal. One NDEr said, “Everything about Him is love. Yes, love for you, and it seemed as if the love is only for you.” Another person reported after his NDE, “You know in yourself that he loves all, but the love for you is so personal it seems as if it is only for you.” Yet another NDEr echoes so many others, noting, “It was like I was the only one he loved in all his creation. I knew He loved others, but it seemed as if I was the only one.” Reading these accounts, I cannot help but think of C. S. Lewis, who once wrote, “He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” Personal indeed.
For the Christian, love is nothing less than the very purpose of life. And I find it incredibly fascinating that the same message is often brought back from the other side by NDErs, even by those who are not familiar with the Bible, because the details of NDEs so closely corroborate what the Bible has to say about life, love, and purpose. Case in point, no greater expression of love in heaven or on earth can be found than God’s so loving this world that He gave over the life of His only Son to secure everlasting life for believers (cf John 3:16). Since Christians hold, as John the apostle proclaims, that God is love (1 John 4:16), it stands to reason that the Bible would be full-filled with verses affirming just that. In reality, as much as the Bible has to say about it, all God’s love for humanity is subsumed under that singular passage: “For God so loved the world . . ..” (John 3:16). However, as so many NDEs make clear, there is an expectation of God concerning human reciprocation of the love He has shown in Jesus Christ. It is an expectation clearly put forward by Jesus Himself who taught: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:3739). Jesus said that the teachings of the entire Bible hang on these two commandments.
What is amazing is that NDErs essentially reported the same thing: that all humans must feel love toward each other. It is understood as an essential reality. Therefore, it is not surprising that how people love and treat one another is often a central component of the “life review” in the presence of Jesus, which is experienced by many NDErs. Howard Storm describes his life review, which covered the period from his birth to the present, in detail, “including knowing and experiencing the feelings of the people I was interacting with. . . .. The entire emphasis was on my interaction with other people.” Over and again, NDErs report seeing not all the things that they had accomplished in life, but how their words and actions impacted the lives of others. Like so many others, Lindi said of her life review, “It was all about relationships. All about how we loved other people.” All of this, of course, is just another way to say “love your neighbor as yourself.” And that has been the point of all of this—Near Death Experiences almost always closely corroborate what the Bible teaches about what happenstouswhenwedie.Andthat is that death is not the end of the story, but a new beginning for the eternal soul of believing individuals.
Join us again next as we look at the curious case of a “Death of God” atheist and his miraculous conversion after a NDE. Until then, I ask again, is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.