................................................................................................................................................................
Questions
and Answers Related to Near-Death Experiences
.
BY RANDY
ALCORN, JIM HENDERSHOT
What are near-death experiences, and why are
they important?
Near-death experiences, which occur most
frequently with cardiac arrest, are generally defined as instances where
clinical death appears to occur, as defined by lack of blood flow to the brain
followed by shutdown of brain function, followed by a restoration of brain
function and a regaining of consciousness.
Near-death experiences have become important
because many people have developed a variety of conflicting views of death and
eternity based on these incidents.
How are near-death experiences different than
actual death?
Real death is final, with the exception of some
very specific instances of resurrection mentioned in the Bible.
Hebrews 9:27 tells us that it is appointed for
men to die once, and after that comes judgment.
The defining difference between death and a
near-death experience is that real death is very permanent.
Are there any examples of near-death experiences
in the Bible? How are they different from what is commonly described in modern
near-death experiences?
There are no instances of near-death
experiences, as defined above, found in the Bible.
However, there are several instances of
miraculous resurrections which take place.
Examples include
o the
son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17-24),
o Jairus’s
daughter (Luke 8:41-56),
o the widow’s
son (Luke 7:12-16),
o Lazarus (John
11:1-45), and of course,
o the resurrection
of Jesus himself.
In all of these cases, the scriptural emphasis
is on glorifying God who brings about the resurrection, while there is
absolutely no information on what the person experienced during the time they
were dead.
There is no emphasis on the experience of “being
dead” at all.
In fact, the account told by Jesus of the rich
man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) provides a clear indication that even
if a man were to rise from the dead and tell what eternity was really like, it
wouldn’t be any more effective in reaching those who reject God.
Can we learn about Heaven and Hell from
near-death experiences? How accurate is the information shared?
Near-death experiences, as mentioned above, are
quite different from death.
Death is final, so near-death experiences can
only tell us what it’s like to come close to dying.
The underlying false assumption is this: Coming
close to death is the same as dying and being resurrected, and that’s simply
not true.
Additionally, there are a lot of contradictions
in the testimony of those who have had a near-death experience, making it
impossible to create an accurate view of what awaits in eternity.
Many sincere people have had experiences that
differ greatly from scriptural truth. How do you explain this?
People may be sincere, but that doesn’t mean
they aren’t deluded.
Satan and his army have no problem imitating
angels, and even Christ.
We are always to “test
the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).
Another thing to consider: some near-death
experiences are very traumatic, and the mind, faced with such trauma, may
rework the experience into something more palatable.
One of Randy’s friends, a doctor, recounted an
experience where a man who was initially struggling later recounted the
experience as a wonderful dream of heaven.
This incident wound up as a story thread
in Randy’s book Dominion.
In addition to the spiritual and psychological
explanations, there are also a variety of medical explanations as well.
What are the medical explanations for what
happens during near-death experiences?
Near-death experiences occur most frequently
with cardiac arrest, resulting in blood loss to the brain, which begins to
undergo dysfunction if deprived of blood supply for more than ten seconds.
Higher consciousness is affected first, followed
progressively by lower and lower levels of brain function.
Like the orderly shutdown of a computer, more
complex things go first, followed by more basic things later.
This commonly occurs when fighter pilots “grey
out” during periods of high acceleration, and many pilots have reported effects
similar to near-death experiences.
It is the continuation of basic brain functions
that allow people to remember their near-death experience, as well as continue
to hear the voices of doctors and relatives during that time, as hearing is one
of the last brain functions to fail.
Many other specifics of near-death experiences
have explanations relating to changes in brain chemistry caused by lack of
oxygen, including the “out of body” experience described by many.
In short, many of the events common to
near-death experiences have a biological origin, and are not glimpses of
eternity at all.
What about deathbed experiences?
There is a huge difference between experiences
that occur during real death (remember, real death is final) and near-death
experiences.
One well known biblical example of such an
experience is the stoning of Stephen.
Just as in resurrection experiences, the
emphasis is on God’s glory, not Stephen’s experience (Acts 7:55-60).
What criteria should we use when evaluating
information from near-death experiences?
We should search the scriptures and evaluate
these experiences in the light of God’s truth.
Biology, spiritual deception, and lack of mental
clarity all contribute the potential of seriously misleading impressions during
near-death experiences, making it all the more important that we base our
beliefs on scripture, and not on experiences.
What about evangelical authors like Mary Baxter
who claim to have received revelation from God but relate descriptions which
differ significantly from your descriptions in your book Heaven? How can we
know what is right?
Let me use Mrs. Baxter’s book as an example of
how to evaluate this kind of information about near-death experiences.
Dr. T. L. Lowery wrote the foreword to Mrs.
Baxter’s book, A Divine Revelation of Heaven.
In it, he says, “The
inspired writings of Mary Kathryn Baxter are divinely anointed by God.”
Mrs. Baxter says, “The
Spirit of the living God revealed to me everything I am telling you.”
But we have to do what the Bereans did — search
the scriptures.
Mrs. Baxter says hell is in the center of the
earth, and is occupied by snakes and rats.
She speaks of “demons
taking turns poking a soul with spears.”
One room in hell is called the “fun center”
where there are special torments for mediums and witches.
Yet there is no mention of any of these things
in scripture.
Satan and demons are portrayed as ruling and
torturing people in hell, whereas the Bible says they will not go to hell until
after the judgment, and they will not go to punish anyone, but to be punished
by God.
Mary Baxter claims that Jesus twice abandoned
her in hell, even though He has promised in scripture to never leave us or
forsake us.
She says that God always wants to heal every
Christian.
But scripture tells of many instances showing
this is not so, including the example of Paul, where God did not heal him of
his thorn in the flesh, but rather told the apostle that His grace is
sufficient.
Mrs. Baxter says people are not healed only
because of their unbelief.
That, apparently, would include Paul, Timothy,
and a host of others mentioned in the Bible, who were sick but not healed.
Ultimately, near-death experiences must be
evaluated in light of God’s Word.
Where the experience contradicts the revealed
Word of God, the Word must be accepted over the experience.
For the Christian, there simply is no other
option.
For more information about this subject, see Randy
Alcorn's book Heaven.
Randy Alcorn, founder of EPM
Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of fifty-some
books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries.
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