Feb
01
2010
Review: Evidence of the Afterlife
You knew I was going to enjoy reading this book. In Evidence of the Afterlife Jeffrey Long, M.D., looks at “The Science of Near-Death Experiences.” The book really just contains the results and analysis of the largest-ever scientific study of near-death experiences (NDE). The study researched over 1300 NDErs (near death experiencers) from around the world, seeking to understand what causes such experiences and what greater realities they may point to. Ultimately, says Long, they point us to the stark reality that there is life after death and that those who experience NDE are bringing back just a little bit of that afterlife with them.
Let me cover a couple of complaints right off the top. Though Long claims that this is a scientific study, I doubt many scientists would be thrilled with his use of the term. The study involves analysis of tales of NDEs submitted via his web site. Though he offers some anecdotal evidence and occasional source evidence, all of his statistical analysis comes from anonymous submissions to a form on his web site. Needless to say, this hardly constitutes scientific rigor. Further, the book is quite poorly-written. For a title published by a major publisher (HarperOne in this case) Evidence of the Afterlife has a childish quality to it, like it is a high school essay rather than a serious book.
The book is structured around nine separate lines of evidence that, when taken together, point to the existence of an afterlife. Some are meant to stand on their own while others are meant to show the consistency in NDEs, thus providing proof of their validity. In brief, here are those evidences: 1) The level of consciousness and alertness during NDEs is greater than it is in the rest of life, even though the NDErs are unconscious or clinically dead; 2) What NDErs see and hear in an out-of-body state is generally realistic and verifiable; 3) Normal or supernormal vision occurs in NDEs among those who are legally blind. In other words, during an NDE the blind experience vision; 4) Many NDEs occur under anesthesia when conscious experience should be impossible; 5) Life reviews during NDEs include real events, including events that have otherwise been forgotten; 6) When NDErs encounter others during their experiences, those other people are almost always already deceased; 7) The NDEs of children are essentially identical to those of adults who may be accused of having their experiences influenced by what they have heard of other NDErs; 8 ) NDEs are consistent around the world; 9) Most NDErs experience profound changes in their lives following an NDE. These after-effects are powerful and long-lasting, leading the NDErs to become better people.
Through his studies, Long has become a believer in NDEs, saying rightly, it seems, that they are spiritual experiences more than medical experiences. Though doctors are not able to explain NDEs through medical science, those who admit the existence of a Higher Power most certainly can. This is an important thread to follow. Almost all NDE survivors claim that they are now more spiritual than before their near-death experience. Isn’t it interesting that such experiences drive people toward spirituality rather than away from it? As a Christian, this ought to make me glad, right? Yet all is not well, for rarely does that new-found spirituality look anything like a biblical spirituality. “Although they don’t necessarily become more religious, NDErs often state that they become more spiritual, and with that change comes a belief in the sacredness of life and a special knowledge that serves to guide them the rest of their lives. … Near-death experiencers are virtually unanimous that the afterlife is for all of us, not just for those who have had NDEs. This is certainly consistent with their uniform description of the afterlife as a loving and inclusive realm, a realm for us all. For decades NDEs have been a message of hope to millions of people that there is an afterlife for both themselves and their loved ones.”
Uh oh. Very quickly we see that a New Age kind of spirituality is what NDErs return with. Though they claim to now know that God exists, many of them also come to see that we are all god. In the words of a typical survivor, “We live in a ‘plural unity’ or ‘oneness.’ In other words, our reality is ‘unity in plurality and plurality in unity.’ That I was everything and everything was me, without essential differences other than in earthly appearances. That there is no God outside ourselves, but rather, God is in everything and everything is a part of God, as is life itself.” Did you get that?
Many NDErs go further still, returning from their experiences to claim supernatural abilities, either during that experience or continuing after. Many claim that they were omniscient while they were near-dead, knowing all there is to know. Many claim to have brought back knowledge that they are now tasked with imparting to the rest of humanity . Others claim to have gained psychic abilities, especially in regard to empathizing with people’s moods and troubles. Most claimed that the NDE has left them with little or no fear of death. Having experienced death once, they feel prepared to face it again, knowing in their hearts that they will go to a better place for a better existence. Time would fail me to offer a point-by-point look at what the Bible teaches in contrast to the spirituality of these NDErs. Suffice it to say that on almost every point, NDEr spirituality is directly opposite to what the Bible teaches.
Looking at all of this evidence, and having determined that there is, indeed, an afterlife, Long says “Because NDEs happen to people all over the world, they are a spiritual thread that binds us together, a common experience that reminds us of our mutual spiritual nature.” Later he writes, “This book has important implications for religion. The great religions have always spoken of the belief in God and an afterlife. The evidence of near-death experiences points to an afterlife and a universe guided by a vastly loving intelligence. Near-death experiences consistently reveal that death is not an end but rather a transition to an afterlife. This is a profoundly inspiring thought for us all and for our loved ones. I hope that this book helps to promote such an encouraging message.” He even feels that an understand of our common end in the afterlife ought to be able to bridge us to worldwide peace.
Stuff and nonsense. Let me know how that works out for you, Dr. Long. World peace through NDEs may be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard in a long time. Of course as a Christian I have to grapple with asking exactly what a NDE is. It seems irrefutable that many people, when gravely injured and often when clinically dead, do experience something. The accounts are too common and too consistent to ignore entirely. So we see that such experiences do appear to exist and that they seem to lead directly away from what the Bible teaches us. What recourse do we have, then, but to state with some confidence that these experiences are somehow a trick of Satan? And would it not be just like the Enemy to use such an experience to convince people of their own divinity–to lead people as far from what is true as is possible? I am persuaded that NDEs do exist but that they exist to deceive, to provide false comfort, to provide false hope, to enslave, to trap, to destroy.
I think Amazon already knows this. Evidence of the Afterlife is filed under Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult. Well done.
Verdict: Read it if you want to see how Satan continues to ensnare and enslave.
16 Comments
Are there any born-again believers who’ve experienced a NDE? Are there brothers in the faith whom we know to be orthodox, even reformed/calvinistic while we’re at it, who’ve had a NDE and have remained faithful to the Bible and Jesus Christ? I mean, besides Don Piper? Just curious…
Hello Alex, Faith and Knowledge are Oxymoron
Alex,
One of my step-daughters was clinically dead twice in one day and brought back both times, thank God. She was and still is a born-again believer who was and still is faithful to the Bible and Jesus Christ. Afterwards, she got asked many times, including by me, whether she remembered experiencing anything. She does not remember anything from when she was “out.”
Are you familiar with the story of cardiologist Maurice Rawlings? I first learned of him when Dr. James Kennedy told his story in a sermon, around 1990. Rawlings was an atheist cardiologist, who dealt with patients doing heart stress-tests, and observed patients who died (whom he was able to resuscitate) — and thus observed these people’s near-death experiences immediately afterwards. He had one man who repeatedly died and came back, and each time the man was revived he was in terror of hell, to the point that the man was even asking the doctor to pray for him and tell him how to be saved. The doctor was unconcerned and unknowledgeable about salvation, but remembered something from long ago church days and said it to the man, something about how I promise to follow you Jesus and if you save me I’ll be on this hook forever. The man followed those words, and then the next time he died (and then revived) he went to heaven, and told of that experience. Several days later, the doctor wanted to know more about it, but the patient only remembered the trip to heaven, not the multiple trips to hell. The doctor continued to study and observe, and learned that patients at the time of death and resuscitation did have hellish, horrific experiences — yet their later memory was different. He also noted that the authors of these Near Death Experience books were interviewing the people much later and not seeing the immediate, actual experiences. God used these experiences to save Dr. Rawlings, who published a book — Beyond Death’s Door — about his testimony and the near-death experiences of his patients.
As a seven-year-old (and, I believe, truly a Christian), I was in a very serious car accident and my skull was fractured and my heart stopped beating. God miraculously started it beating again when my mother and the driver of the other vehicle prayed for me. I have no memory of any near death experience.
nobody believes the internet they just talk about it.
[...] the whole review. And be sure to check out others at 10 Million Words for help in understanding a bit more about [...]
I have to disagree, not having read the book (I know, that’s kind of lame). What I mean is that I see no conflict between the evidence that people experience NDEs and my Christian faith. We will all indeed experience eternal life- either in the “death” of hell and torment or the “life” with Christ in Heaven praising, learning about and living with God.
The fact that these folks are driven toward greater spirituality seems to me not a trick of Satan but instead yet further grace poured forth by a God who would draw them near. It’s not surprising that most don’t find Christ- no more surprising than all my other friends who live their lives surrounded by God’s work yet still reject Him. Heartbreaking.
We are created beings, with throbbing hearts and electrical brains- it stands to reason that we would have similar experiences as our physical bodies pass from life to death. Those folks were not yet fully dead and judged. “For it is appointed once to die and AFTER THIS the judgement.”
I have trouble agreeing with the conclusions of the reviewer because I have heard of a number of NDEs and ALL of them (as far as I recall) were either from Christians who had biblically orthodox visions or non-Christians who became Christians as a result of their experience, such as Ian McCormack ( http://tr.im/MSen ) In all cases glory was given to the God of the Bible.
So I find it strange that according to this book and this reviewer all NDEs lead people away, or at least of the mark from Christianity and thus are a trick of Satan, when all the ones I have heard of are quite the opposite.
The Bible is relatively unclear about what happens to non-believing people in the period between natural death and final judgment. It seems possible that this state might even be reasonably pleasant.
[...] Christian blogger, has been reading through the New York Times bestsellers at 10 Million Words. He recently reviewed a book on the science of near death experiences. His conclusion is: Of course as a Christian I have to [...]
My belief is that in these last days that God is not willing that any be lost and so, perhaps, He has provided this as “tangible” evidence of His existance. Remember, the people that have this experience are just messengers or eye-witnesses. This place called heaven may not be their final destination, after all, they did return to finish out their lives. I think these glimpses of the afterlife are, perhaps, God’s gift to us as a last ditch effort reveal Himself and bring as many as possible to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus said ” I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except by Me.” Either that is a true, or false. If it is true, it disqualifies every other religion in that one statement. If is is false, then you are free to pick whatever way you think is best. I believe Him simply because He is the only God who has ever been seen in person as far as we know and proved Himself in many ways to many eye witnesses. I believe that when we leave this physical realm, we return to a spiritual reality that we are unable to percieve here. I recommend Dr. Maurice Rawlings book – Beyond Death’s Door. It provides a little more perspective on the fact that there are also many “hell” type experiences – perhaps many more than the positive, pleasant ones which would indicate the existance of two possible destinations when we leave this physical realm. This, to me, becomes an issue of paramount importance when deciding whether to take God up on his offer of salvation. These are my thoughts about this interesting subject – provided at no charge
The truth is that a near death experience will NOT occur every time someone is near death. I experienced one at as a teen while drowning but not recently after 2 cardiac arrests.
Unlike other respondents to your very good review, I have read the book in some detail. You are quite correct about the total lack of science in the book. Jeffrey Long has a large database of experiences suitable for scientific analysis, yet he writes a book he claims provides scientific proofs, but is actually an embarassingly unscientific explanation of unproven beliefs. Anyone who writes a book as bad as this deserves being mislead by satan. Perhaps he is a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction (Rom. 9:20-23)
Finding proof in science and/or in faith is not possible, unless of course you believe in Neal Boar and quantum theory!
[...] Evidence of the Afterlife by Jeffrey Long [...]