I watched the movie, After Death, from Angel Studios a few weeks ago, and it has encouraged me in my faith about what heaven is like and what awaits us. The film is a documentary about near-death experiences (NDEs) and takes a very conservative, even scientific, approach to the issue of what happens to us when we die. Since seeing the movie, I’ve read the very first book published about NDEs, Dr. Raymond Moody’s Life After Life (1975), and read Dr. J. P. Moreland’s book, Immortality (1992), on the subject a few years ago.
Life After Life is a secular look at hundreds of NDEs, while Moreland’s book is a conservative Christian’s view of the experiences. I’m currently reading Imagine Heaven, another book based on more than a thousand NDEs from a Christian perspective. To take a Christian approach is important. These experiences happen all over the world with different interpretations of the experiences. Most are filtered through the culture of the individual. Since I am fully convinced of the truth of Christianity and the Bible, I see those as the standard for truth, the rule by which all other claims must be compared.
There are more than 20 commonalities in the thousands, maybe millions, of NDEs reported. About 80% report leaving their bodies upon death or near death; most experience extraordinary joy or happiness (as many as 75%). Most tell of a feeling of peace or calmness, an altered sense of time, seeing a brilliant light, and so on.
Dr. Michael Sabom, a cardiologist, studied a small group of cardiac arrest survivors comparing those who had NDEs and those who did not. He asked each patient to describe the CPR procedure done to revive them. Those with NDEs gave mostly accurate descriptions that could be checked against what actually happened; the group that did not have NDEs did poorly in this. This would imply those with NDEs are not making it up or simply visualizing what they heard while being revived.
One of the more famous cases took place here in Arizona. Pam Reynolds had a large brain aneurysm. Her surgery was extremely risky and rare. Ms. Reynolds was put under anesthesia, her body was cooled to about 60°F (15.5°C), her heart was stopped, breathing was stopped, the cardiopulmonary bypass machine was turned off, and the blood was then drained from her head, leaving the brain without normal cerebral circulation. Her EEG became electrically silent, and the brain-stem responses being monitored disappeared. She was in this state for 60 minutes.
When Pam woke up in her room, she described things that she said she saw from above her body that happened while she was without brain activity, including details of her procedure as well as doctors who entered and exited the room during surgery. These were people she had never met before or after the surgery, yet could describe them accurately. Ms. Reynolds’ experience included seeing a bright light and meeting some of her relatives who had died. This was not a trick of the brain, as the brain was totally inactive and monitored.
The reason I warned about studying NDEs from non-Christian sources is that there may well be counterfeits out there. Some may be the work of the enemy; some may be cultural misinterpretations. Dr. Moreland rightly, I believe, excludes from his research stories by anyone who did not see Jesus personally as a safeguard.
Why is this important?
Heaven is being with God. For the Christian, this is the greatest hope. To stand in the presence of the God of the universe, to listen to His voice, to fellowship with Him, is the most wonderful desire of the believer. Jesus promised this to the thief on the cross: Luke 23:43 (ESV) And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Will we see our families? Yes: 1 Thess. 4:13-18 (ESV) 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
What will it look like? Rev. 22:1-5 (ESV) Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Are there dark NDEs? Yes. Stories tell of fear, of dread, of punishment and even violence for those who have not turned to Christ for salvation, and these are stories of people who had not yet even reached their final destination.
The stories told by those Christians who have been revived after an NDE match what the Bible tells us. God has not left us uninformed as to what is to come for the believer.
One Thing almost all the Christians who have had an NDE tell us is that love is central to our relationship with God and with each other. We won’t be judged by our academic achievements or awards, promotions, etc. How we treat each other and how we love God is the standard. Matt. 22:37-40 (ESV) 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
WARNING: These are interesting and novel stories, to be sure, but not to be held above Scripture. Scripture is the test, not experience. When experience becomes the standard, heresy blossoms.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 