What Happened When The Worlds Most Famous Atheist Had A Near Death Experience.

National Post | March 3 2001 | William Cash

[joesnuffy]

John 10 : 24-31
24: Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt?If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25: Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not:the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

26: But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you

27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow after me.

26: And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29: My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand

30: I and my Father are one

31: And then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.........


Faith is a gift of God....man is saved by grace..lest any man should boast

[Clausewitz]

Father Albert J. Hebert, S.M., "Raised From the Dead, True Stories of 400 Resurrection Miracles" (335pp.; TAN Books & Pub., 1986; Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur).

"Ti apiston krinetai par 'umin ei 'o Theos nekrous egeirei" --- Acts 26:8

[Oatka]

She was converted to Christianity due to many of these children testifying that they had spiritual encounters with Christ before their deaths.

Did Muslim or Jewish children see Christ? I suspect that these experiences trigger a "religious" part of the brain, for want of a better word. Now if she found that these children of other religions saw only Jesus, then it's time to re-evaluate my agnosticism.

[Zeroisanumber]

Deprive a brain of oxygen and it starts to imagine all sorts of wacked-out, crazy things. These patients (Ayers included) had experiences that were nearly identical to those of astronauts who passed out during high-G training. It doesn't pass muster for proof of an afterlife, just another example of the perceptual gymnastics that the brain is capable of.

[Jorge]

Did Muslim or Jewish children see Christ? I suspect that these experiences trigger a "religious" part of the brain, for want of a better word. Now if she found that these children of other religions saw only Jesus, then it's time to re-evaluate my agnosticism.

Many of them were neither Muslim, Jewish or Christian.
Their parents hadn't spoken to them about ANY religion EVER.

Some of them hadn't even told these children that Doctors had said they were terminally ill.

Yet shortly before their deaths they told their parents they had encounters with Jesus in dreams etc.(they named Him) where He told them they would die, or be going away, but not to be afraid because He was taking them with Him.

The stories were incredible. One child said that he had a dream where a school bus pulled up and the door opened and Jesus was on the bus. Jesus told him not to be afraid, that He would be coming back for him soon.
He told this story to his parents shortly before his death with a great sense of peace.
His parents had NEVER spoken to him about Jesus, or that fact that he was terminally ill.

This is just one example of the incredible stories this Doctor testifies converted her to Christianity.

[texgal]

Nobody has returned from the dead since the resurrection of Christ. Um, Lazarus?

Christ had not been crucified when he raised Lazarus from the dead, so the statement is correct.

Nobody has returned from the dead since the resurrection of Christ.

[GOPJ]

Do you have a link?

There was another thread today about an athiest who had such a terrifying NDE that he later became a minister.

[utahagen]

Thank you very much for posting this! I have read much about A.J. Ayer and consider him the "purest" atheist I know about, in that he thought the very concept of God was preposterous. (This is in contrast to one of his fellow philosophers, Isaiah Berlin, who was an agnostic but wasn't opposed to others' believing in God.)

Your post fascinated me.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

RE: "'religious' part of the brain"

Why would such a thing evolve?

I asked questions on the other thread that have long puzzled me. Why does the mind play these "tricks?" What's the point? Why did such a thing "evolve?" Other of our features evolved to help us survive. These matters happen when we die, way too late to have an effect on evolution.

My point is, IMO there is absolutely no reason for any of these experiences unless they are real.

Just as important I have a question about ghosts. Why aren't ghosts naked? Do clothes survive death?

[WilliamofCarmichael]

RE: "nearly identical to those of astronauts who passed out during high-G training"

I know I could google and google but you seem to have the knowledge. Please provide some sources that describe the astronauts' experiences.

[Ciexyz]

Heading off to Amazon.com to look for the book "A Window to Heaven", about the agnostic doctor who worked with terminally ill children.

[WKB]

bump to save

[Zeroisanumber]

Penn and Teller did a show on HBO a while ago called "Bullsh*t: With Penn and Teller" which went through the science of NDE's. I was a little curious, so I double checked and found that what they presented was borne out by the facts. It makes sense when you think about it, and a quick google for "Near death experiences + skepticism" will give you all the literature you might want on the subject.

[Ciexyz]

Is this NDE day? I just got through reading another thread on FR on the same subject.

After the Janet Jackson shockarama, maybe we're all finding religion?!

[Jorge]

Heading off to Amazon.com to look for the book "A Window to Heaven", about the agnostic doctor who worked with terminally ill children.

The author is Diane M. Komp, M.D.
She says she was an unbeliever who would "require the testimony of reliable witnesses" if she were ever to believe in God.

Her "reliable witnesses" appeared in the suffering lives of children she treated.
They lead her to believe in Christ. Her book is short, but powerful.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Clinton OD'd on crack?

[RightOnline]

"Nobody has returned from the dead since the resurrection of Christ."

Absolutely not true. Ever hear of a missionary in the mountains of Mexico named David Hogan?

Listen to.......or better yet, watch........one of his seminars some time. You'll be speechless.

[aculeus]

"I found a lot of secretions and sputum but the smoked salmon was a red herring."

Fishy sentence ping.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I was hoping that you'd have a source for the experiences like "those of astronauts who passed out during high-G training."

There's a show called "Bullsh*t" on TV?!

I'm glad I threw my TV out ten years ago.

[js1138]

Most people that have NDE or OBE seldom talk about it.

I can't imagine why not. I had an experience under ether when I was 10 that is similar to some of the NDE descriptions. I can still see some of the images 40 years later. It never occured to me that this was a religious experience.