Near-death experience, Many stories of those who tell of the phenomenon often don’t reflect...

OSV.com ^ | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Salvation]

Near-death experience Many stories of those who tell of the phenomenon often don’t reflect what we know through Scripture

Msgr. Charles Pope

9/16/2015

Question: I read a book by an author who had a near-death experience and claims that God told him that one’s belief system was irrelevant. This seems like New Age indifferentism. Can you comment on near-death phenomena and what this author said?— Bob Tisovich, Ely, Minnesota

Answer: Near-death experiences (NDEs) seem to be a rather widely reported phenomenon with certain common features. One has an “out of body” experience with a reported capacity to see oneself as if looking down. There is usually some experience of a light to which the person is drawn, sometimes down a tunnel. There is usually some sense of peace and joy but also a sense that now is not the time, and one is “sent back.”

While it cannot be denied that NDEs are reported with enough frequency that likely they do happen, they are problematic in certain ways. First, they can reasonably be explained naturally as consciousness fades. The Church usually looks for natural explanations and seeks to rule them out before quickly asserting a supernatural cause.

A second, a more significant problem with many (not all) NDEs is that they would seem to violate or skip over certain biblical and Church teachings regarding the last things. One aspect that is missing in most of them is judgment. Scripture says, “it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27). St. Paul also speaks of us passing through fire to have our works tested and purified after death (1 Cor 3:13-15). The teaching on judgment and purification are seemingly absent in many, if not most NDE reports.

Even more problematic are the NDE reports that speak of being able to walk around heaven, see loved ones, etc. But heaven is not attained in bypassing the judgment scene and the purification that most, if not all of us, will need. Scripture says of heaven: “Nothing unclean will enter it” (Rv 21:27). So, such reports seem dubious, if Scripture is a reliable guide — and it obviously is.

Your question refers also to a book by an NDE “survivor” who claims that in his discussions with “God,” God didn’t care what spiritual tradition one had. But this is in contradiction to Scripture, which teaches there is no other name given by which we are to be saved other than Jesus (Acts 4:12). So, New Age gnosticism does not save one, and it would seem that the real God does care.

But here, too, is another societal ill of our times: the rejection of the Word of God in favor of often trendy visionaries. Death awaits us all, and we do well to simply heed the Lord’s warning to be ready by living sober, holy and devout lives.

[painter]

Love?

[metmom]

I’m not sure what you mean.

I can FReepmail you about it if you want.

[odawg]

Not really. When I thought I was starting to die, I had time to say a quick prayer.

[stevio]

Are you a Christian now?

[stevio]

Are you a Christian now?

[stevio]

Oops. Somehow I missed the first sentence of your post. Anyway, I think the worst thing you can say to someone is “go to hell”.

[Bob434]

[[It was believed that the soul remained, whether to say goodbye, see its past, I don’t know-it stemmed from the old country. Interesting...]]

Hmm, I was not aware o that- I was just musing aobut what ‘could be possible’ - I guess I can see where they could think that as I’m sure folks have wondered the same thigns for all of time

[Bob434]

Yep -exactly-

[[Screw a bunch of theologians]]

Well- they do study God’s word and corroborate the fact that once saved always saved is indeed the message of the bible-

Keep in mind, there are some verses which make it SEEM LIKE we can lose our salvation, however, when those verses are carefully examined in context, and the original words used for clarifying- we see that those verses almost always are talking about the unsaved who lose their opportunity to become saved because they came close to salvation, but never took that final step, then they turn their back and now blaspheme the Holy spirit- or they are talking about apostates, people who never accepted Christ-

The bible can SEEM contradictory, and there are a good many instances where it seems that verses are talking directly to we Christians which make it seem like we must ‘make Him Lord and Savior’ and ‘give up all our isns or else lose our salvation’ however, again, upon close inspection- that is never the case- and the bible is very clear we never lose our salvation

Like you said, there are many verses which state very simply, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Which means ot believe HE is God, that He died, rose again, and will save us WHEN we believe on Him)— and He tells us right flat out that is ALL we need do- and never gives the command that we must commit to lordship salvation in order to be saved- never-

[Bob434]

I wasn’t telling anyone ot go to hell- My joke was that hwen people tell me to go to hell, I can now tell them I’ve been there already- thanks to a frightful NDE or NDE-like experience

[[Are you a Christian now?]]

I was a Christian when the experience happened- so yes, I’ve been a Christian right along- it’s just that that terrible experience really played with my mind and made me doubt for many years—

I had been fairly active in sharing my faith before the event, and after I kinda got quiet about my faith, and didn’t share unless someone really asked- so I guess you could say Satan accomplished what He set out to accomplish sadly- But eventually I regained my assurance thanks to studying God’s word on the issue of eternal salvation

Satan’s main goals are to cause Christians to fall, or to shut us up if He can so that we don’t give out God’s word- and He certainly knew how best to get at me-

His other main goal is to keep unsaved people blind to their need for God- and I believe He uses NDE’s and ‘visions’ of bright lights, and even of what appears to be Jesus and loved ones etc- to keep people from seeking the truth, and to keep them thinking they are ok with God when of course they aren’t because they never accepted Christ as Savior-

[onedoug]

Near death experiences are exactly that: “Near” death.

[Hulka]

My sister came to my mother one day and told her that while in school she was bored and stressed and was basically zoning out, staring at the teacher's desk, wanting to get away and thought; “I wish I was that rubber-band, no cares, no worries.”

It was then my sister ‘saw’ the room, too include herself, from the vantage point of the rubber-band. Thing is, from there she went room to room, observing other classes, eventually coming to the front office and ‘saw’ a secretary taking a phone call, and she read what the secretary was writing on her notepad; one of the students in her class was to be brought to the office, mother badly hurt in auto accident.

My sister immediately found herself back in the classroom and then ‘willed’ herself back into her body.

About 5-minutes later the secretary came to the room and handed a note to the teacher. A girl was called to the front of the class and then went to the office. After the girl left, the teacher asked for everyone to pray because her mother was hurt in a car accident

She was scared about the experience and because, as she said to our mom: “Mom, what if something happens and I can't get back?”

My sister was ‘troubled’ with emotional issues, lack of self-esteem/self-respect, bad grades, no true friends. A loner. Easy to attribute he school experience to an over-active imagination, that is why my mother ‘tested’ her.

My sister is much better now and reasonable personable.

[Hulka]

Hah!

When I was coming out of a gall-bladder surgery in the USAF hospital, I was waking up, still in a fog, and saw the anesthesiologist looking at me.

Me: “Am I in Hell?”

The doc: “No, just recovery”

Me: “Are you sure? As bad as I feel and as bad as you look, I must be in hell”

I promptly went back to sleep.

I don't recall saying that but a couple of nurses made a point to tell me what I said. . .they liked it because the doc was an arrogant a$$, apparently.

[Grateful2God]

Thank you so much for your post. I'm glad to hear that your sister is doing well, that age is so difficult to begin with, and a lot of people battle the same issues- maybe that's why such phenomena are more prevalent in females around that age. Both times, whatever the reason, she had a concrete reality to go along with what she experienced.
From what I've read, there is often the same kind of reality that goes along with OBE and NDE. There is so much in the world that we simply can't explain. Thank you again for sharing your story. Sounds like your Mom had a pretty smart idea, with a pretty amazing result.

G-d ♡ bless you!
Grateful ✟ ✡

[Hulka]

Thank you. Thank you. Sincerely.

[Grateful2God]

Lol! That doc got his!

[Grateful2God]

" Near death experiences are exactly that: “Near” death. "

I guess only God Himself has the true answer to that.

[Grateful2God]

Thanks so much! That was an interesting post- and a good discussion as well!

One last thought: you can read a thing a million times over, and then one time, something really pops out at you. Sometimes it strikes you funny... This tickled me one day:

"Jesus saith: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days."
--John, 11:39

"Stinketh" has since become a part of the "facetious" section of my vocabulary... The great Charles Schultz used Scripture often in "Peanuts." I remember one where Linus got so upset with Lucy, that he tore his shirt. The last frame read, "She hath caused me to rend my garment."

God has to have a sense of humor... It's a gift to us!

[TEXOKIE]

bttt

[dsc]

I knew a Japanese man who had an NDE during heart surgery.

There were interesting similarities and differences, in comparison to a Westerner’s experiences.

[GreyFriar]

I view that as being able to induce an out of body experience, rather than inducing a NDE. to me the difference is that NDEs come from when we have no control over what is going on, rather than being able to control going out of our bodies. And example of this is here:

http://www.bswett.com/1961-05LostTrackOfTime.html