NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE?

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE?

Before we can be sure that something is true or false there must be a source of truth, something to which our concepts, ideas or understandings can be compared. When we have doubts about science, algebra or even astronomy we seldom have the opportunity to go out and prove every theory over again. But we can turn to source books which have proven those theories and use them as our source of truth. That may be a weak example but it should make the point. A single experience is seldom sufficient as a proof. 

Also, when a group sharing a similar experience shows slight inconsistency, and more major inconsistencies when compared to similar groups around the world, that “proof” of a shared experience is weakened further. Add to this the many studies which have shown a loss of consistency in memory when removed from the event and an actual alteration of the facts when the initial event was unpleasant and the "truth" is even further skewed. It is for this and many other reasons that one must have a source of truth before placing one’s faith in any concept.  

The Bible is my source of truth. It has been proven to be true for more than 2000 years in its current form and, with the beginning of the Hebrew texts, as far back as 4000 years. A large percent of the Bible is material which can be proven or disproven (a smaller percentage is spiritual in nature and is proven by experience). And yet, since its inception, there have been myriad attempts to disprove it all of which have been unsuccessful.

Using the Bible as the source of truth there has been no one who has ever died and returned to this earth (Lazarus is the only exception and that was calculated and explained).  Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment….” Paul shows here that as soon as we die there is a definite event. But it is not one in which we go to a place of peace, brightly lit area to meet friends, or to float gently on a watery surface. Instead, the Bible declares that we immediately enter the presence of God. My first question to each member of any such group believing in near death experiences would be, “Did you enter the very presence of God?” Because it is in the presence of God (Revelation 20:4ff) that judgment occurs. You see Paul makes the statement that there is a judgment which occurs as soon as we die. So, either we believe stories of those who have had some very real experience however much they differ from one another and from the Word of God, or we believe the Bible.

Did something real happen to those who have had these experiences? Yes. But is it what the Bible calls death? No. For the experience to be Biblical death one must face the final judgment. However, the fact that each is still here to tell their story is proof that they did not die (Biblically). The judgment we face at death places an individual in eternal hell or eternal Heaven, not back on this physical earth. 

So, what happened? Nobody understands the human being fully. Our systems are far too complicated. And I do not lay claim to any form of special knowledge. My entire source of truth and knowledge is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. I can only conjecture on this topic. It would seem to me that when the human body shuts down there is a stasis yet undetectable to modern science. Call it what you will but it seems to be a level to which our ‘being’ resorts when the body is currently incapable of sustaining itself. But also a time at which God has not chosen to remove us from this earth. I would understand it as some form of imaginary realm dependent upon and created from our own life experience. Otherwise there is no accounting for the dissimilitude of the accounts given. But it is not Heaven. Heaven is only attained after death. Look at Luke 16:19-31, the rich man died and was immediately in hell. Lazarus died and was found to be in Abraham’s bosom (a place no longer existing after the resurrection of Christ…a longer study). The rich man asks Abraham to allow someone to come back here and warn his brothers. But Abraham says, (v.29) “…They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them….If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” In other words, there is no way anyone is coming back here after they have died. With the passing of Abraham’s bosom, we now go directly to Heaven: II Cor. 5:6-8; Heb. 9:27. Nobody we are currently speaking with has ever been to Heaven. They may well have experienced something but it was not Biblical death.

As one might readily see, there is a potential for the “dark side” to make use of this situation. If a person is in a peaceful state without judgment and without the fear of the long proclaimed dangers of hell, then is it not reasonable to question the veracity of the Scriptures? Or, in cases where something like a heavenly experience ensues, does it not give rise to the possibility that this experience might be another source of truth? Can we not add our experience to the Bible truths? It becomes one more way to cast doubt on the Word of God even when the near-death experience itself is completely subjective and unprovable itself.

 I am not saying all such experiences are demonic. However, they do readily lend themselves as useful devices if they should ever be needed.

We must decide. Is the Bible the source of truth for life? Or, do ‘near-death’ experiences supersede the Word of God. They cannot both be true because they are in contradiction.