Are near-death experiences real?, Assurance of eternal life, Do near-death experiences affirm God’s existence?, Do near-death experiences occur within or outside of the brain?, Overcoming fear, Pam Reynolds’ near-death experience, Scientific evidence for God’s existence, Strong logical proof for life after death, The Being of Light

#9: Near-Death Experiences, Part 1: Strong Logical Proof for Life after Death

(For much-more information about this blog, see the home page at https://reasonbasedfaith.com/.)

Note: if anyone desires to know whether there is life after physical death, I recommend that you read sections 5A through 12C at a minimum. The logic here is extremely compelling in favor of the real existence of an afterlife. (A “section” in my posts is a numbered group of paragraphs, such as “1A. Videos pointing to God’s existence.”) As we shall see, near-death experiences (or NDEs) can serve as objective evidence by the criterion of multiple attestations.

It’s taken awhile for me to study, assimilate, distill, and organize the information contained in this post. But the wait will be well worth it! This post logically and (I think) definitively answers the question, Is There Life after Physical Death? (By the way, this also answers the question, Do near-death experiences affirm God’s existence? Yes, they sometimes do.)

This post is also a unique one for me; it points out how the unique characteristics of a near-death experience (or NDE) defy all naturalistic (i.e. non-supernatural) explanations—especially so in the case of Pam Reynolds. Before I searched through the material in preparation for this post and the next, I thought that there probably were no adequate naturalistic explanations for near-death experiences; now I’m certain of this beyond any realistic or reasonable doubt!

Most of the analysis in terms of understanding the logical cogency of Pam’s NDE was done by Dr. Michael Sabom, a cardiologist and NDE researcher. In his book, Light & Death: One Doctor’s Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences (Zondervan, 2011), Dr. Sabom presents a logically-convincing case for life after death, (in part) based on the unique circumstances surrounding Pam’s NDE (covered here in sections 5A through 10.5C). Realistically, there is no naturalistic way of explaining this evidence. We could describe these sections as a logical proof of life after death—the most-cogent proof that I know. This may be the strongest logical proof for life after death outside of the Bible!

In summary, the existence of a real afterlife fits with every evidence we have—and the evidence does NOT fit with any alternate explanation. Death is not the end; it’s the beginning of a new phase of life! The choice is up to us as to what kind of phase it will be.

1A. Videos pointing to God’s existence

For those who haven’t recently viewed the home page: before we get to the main content of this post, and as a positive encouragement to those doubting God’s existence, I’ll embed three short, theistically-minded videos into this page, so that readers can play them right here, without going to a YouTube page. (These videos are from Discovery Science: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm3i_fqq8dqsV-dTAriv2KA.)

Click (or tap) on the center of the following YouTube blocks to begin playing the embedded videos:

Scientists Speak Out About Evidence of Intelligent Design in Nature

If the above video does not appear in your browser, the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEps6lzWUKk.

1B. Dr. Behe and the devolving neo-Darwinian mechanism

Dr. Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, is featured in the video below. It has been alleged that he does not respond to his critics. Yet he has extensively responded, explaining why his position is a reasonable interpretation of the scientific data, in his latest book, A Mousetrap for Darwin (Discovery Institute Press, 2020). I also recommend this video (Michael Behe: Darwin Devolves) and Dr. Behe’s book published two years ago, Darwin Devolves: The New Science about DNA that Challenges Evolution (HarperOne, 2019).

In a recent webinar, Dr. Behe explained that 99.9% (i.e. virtually 100%) of mutations that benefit an organism DEGRADE genetic information (i.e. in the DNA) or break genes (i.e. turn them off, so that they no longer function). A mutation that benefits an organism by imparting a noticeable amount of NEW genetic information (i.e. intelligible and meaningful information) has never been observed by scientists (on a biochemical level). In other words, it’s NEVER been observed that the neo-Darwinian mechanism (of natural selection acting on random mutations) produces any new genetic information!

How can degrading information produce a beneficial effect? Dr. Behe gave the example of a car. If you wanted to get better gas mileage, you could remove the hood, the doors, and the back seats. Doing this would decrease the weight of the car and thus produce better gas mileage! But, of course, the design blueprints of such a car would contain less information than before. Degrading information can produce a beneficial effect, depending on the type of effect you want to produce.

This video is a “Science Uprising” video. It first appears to be a video supporting a naturalistic or atheistic worldview, but it’s not … keep watching!

Michael Behe Exposes How Mutations Fail to Invent (Science Uprising EP6)

If the above video does not appear in your browser, the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ivgQFIST1g&list=PLR8eQzfCOiS1OmYcqv_yQSpje4p7rAE7-&index=6

At the risk of being redundant, I’ll rephrase the problem here: the way that the neo-Darwinian mechanism works to change an organism’s characteristics is by turning off genes that are already there or by degrading genetic information that’s already there. It’s NEVER been observed (on a biochemical level) that the neo-Darwinian mechanism imparts ANY new information into an organism’s genome (or set of genes)!

Thus, we are left with the question: where did this information (in the genes; i.e. in the DNA of all organisms) come from in the first place? Incontestably, the only-known source of large amounts of specified, complex, algorithmic information—is a mind!

(Hence, this reasoning for intelligent design is not the fallacious God-of-the-gaps reasoning; instead, it’s inference to the best explanation—a highly-respected form of reasoning that’s essential and vital to the scientific method. Without inferences to the best explanation, the scientific method would be glaringly inadequate and incomplete. Cf. Best Explanation Apologetics; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Abduction; Inference to the Best Explanation; On Guard Conference: William Lane Craig – What is Apologetics?)

Large amounts of algorithmic information—i.e. an extensive and logically-ordered set of instructions—is found in the developmental regime, in the genomes of all complex, multicellular organisms. (Although algorithmic information is found at an intracellular level as well—clearly so for eukaryotic organisms—my statements here are realistically incontestable from a biologically-knowledgeable perspective. In arguing from the indisputable, I allow for negligible “wiggle room” if one wishes to be realistic and reasonable. Cf. here, here, and here.)

And therefore, Darwin ascribed to biological evolution a creative or inventive power that it simply didn’t have. Dr. Behe has stated that we now have: “pertinent evidence from numerous studies on a wide range of species by many insightful investigators. These studies have only become available in the past few decades due to rapid advances in laboratory techniques that closely examine the molecular level of life. The studies indicate that not only is the Darwinian mechanism devolutionary; it is also self-limiting—that is, it actively prevents evolutionary changes at the biological classification level of family and above. … Darwinian processes nicely account for changes at the species and genus levels of biological classification, but not for changes at the level of family or higher.” (Darwin Devolves: The New Science about DNA that Challenges Evolution, HarperOne, 2019, Introduction & Chapter 6, pp. 11, 142-143; Kindle Locations 190-193; 2031-2032)

1C. A reputable scientist with no religious background embraces Intelligent Design

Here’s a third video that bears watching as well: A German scientist speaks out about Intelligent Design:

A German Scientist Speaks Out about Intelligent Design. This reputable scientist began to believe in the Intelligent Design paradigm on the basis of the EVIDENCE — WITHOUT having had any religious or churchgoing background.

This is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqiXgtDdEwM. The Intelligent Design paradigm is that (1) the universe shows evidence of being intelligently designed to support life on a life-friendly planet, and that (2) living organisms have, to a large extent, been intelligently designed. The neo-Darwinian mechanism (of natural selection plus random mutations) has played a secondary role, because (as I’ve stated) large amounts of specified, complex, algorithmic information—such as that found in the developmental regime of complex, multicellular organisms—comes only from a mind. Dr. Behe has demonstrated this in his book, Darwin Devolves: The New Science about DNA that Challenges Evolution; cf. Michael Behe: Darwin Devolves.

Gunter Bechly, the reputable scientist in the video, began to believe in the Intelligent Design paradigm purely on the basis of the EVIDENCE — WITHOUT having had any religious or churchgoing background.

2A. Near-death experiences in general

Some may assume I’ve forgotten that I planned this post to be, in essence, “The Strongest Historical Evidences, Part 2: the Bible’s Strongest Proof for God.” Yes, I did plan on this—but I’ve reconsidered. I now think it’s appropriate to first post on these questions, of “Are Near-Death Experiences Real? Do They Affirm God’s Existence? Is There Life after Physical Death?” We shall see how some near-death experiences affirm God’s existence and thus indirectly, the historical evidences. We shall also see how the existence of a real afterlife fits very comfortably with the evidence.

2B. What is it?

But what IS a near-death experience? Dr. Pim van Lommel, a respected Dutch cardiologist, worked in a hospital cardiac wing where clinically dead patients were often resuscitated. He didn’t believe in life after death—until “Many of his resuscitated patients reported trips to the other side, in vivid detail, that occurred when they were clinically dead. While their lifeless bodies lay on hospital beds, with their hearts flat lined and their brains should have been incapable of producing consciousness, they reported experiencing something that was vivid, astounding and life changing. After resuscitation they spoke of being very much alive somewhere else.”

Continuing: “As one patient said, ‘Dead turned out to be not dead.’ Corroborating evidence (things his patients saw and learned while clinically dead) indicated that the experiences were real. Van Lommel’s scientific inquisitiveness lit a fire under him and he embarked on a 20-year study of near-death experiences. … His research was so well done that it was published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet.” (Described by J. Steve Miller in his book, Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven, Wisdom Creek Press, 2012, Chapter 2, pp. 5-6, Kindle Locations 320-327)

Above is the featured image for this post, a black-and-white photo of the Sun shining next to a large jet passenger plane. However, it’s also a rough approximation (minus the plane) of what the bright “Being of light” (seen and conversed with in many near-death experiences) may look like, as he is first perceived from a distance. George Ritchie described the brightness of this Being thusly: “…like a million welders’ lamps all blazing at once.” (Return from Tomorrow, Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 1978, 2007, Chapter 5, p. 57, Kindle location 575) Parts of the plane may be seen at the lower left side of the Sun. Photo credit: Jordan M. Lomibao, Unsplash.com.

3A. Can anecdotes be considered evidence?

I’m amazed at the assumptions some skeptics make. One is, “An anecdote is not evidence; it’s just a story about someone’s theory of what happened.”

At Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7th, 1941, sailors reported to their commanding officers, “We see Japanese planes coming!” Would their commanding officer have said, “That’s just an anecdote! I won’t accept it as evidence! Go back to your duties.” Of course not!

An anecdote or reported observation is a possible fact; one should then see if it’s confirmed—if others report it as well—if this possible fact is multiply attested, and thus, it becomes a probable fact or, depending on the number of attestations, a highly-probable fact. One is therefore foolish if he regards a reported observation or “anecdote” as non-evidence.

3B. European explorers and NDEs

NDEs can be considered objective evidence (1) when there are common elements in numerous near-death experiences, which thus serve as multiple attestations from NDErs (near-death experiencers) or (2) when real-world observations are made by NDErs, which are later confirmed. Let’s consider the first here.

When Europeans first began to earnestly explore the “New World” (i.e. America) in the 1500s: how did the scholars of that day know which details in their accounts (of exploration) were factual and which details were exaggerated or fabricated? Answer: they considered those details that were multiply-attested to be likely reliable, especially when identical details (in topography, degree of forestation, kinds of plants and wildlife, and in the characteristics of indigenous people) were reported by a large number of explorers.

In the same way, details commonly-observed in the thousands of reported NDEs can be considered as likely-reliable; these details are what likely occurred and was observed, especially when they have been reported by a very-large number of NDErs (near-death experiencers). Frequently-mentioned details in NDEs are:

  • The NDEr perceives himself/herself leaving the physical body
  • NDErs feel more alive outside of their physical body than they ever felt before.
  • NDErs often experience enhanced mental clarity and functions, like having 50 senses instead of only 5 (this is OPPOSITE to the effect that oxygen deprivation would have on the human brain; we’ll discuss this more in Part 2).
  • In a hospital, the NDEr often views the resuscitation efforts (directed at the physical body by doctors and nurses), while the NDEr is well outside of his/her physical body (e.g. even a blind woman could see the resuscitation efforts in her NDE; she recognized her body by a unique ring on one of its fingers; cf. Imagine Heaven, Chapter 2)
  • NDErs often move through a tunnel toward a bright pinpoint of light that seems to get bigger as the NDEr approaches it
  • Inside this environment of light (like being “in the middle of a light bulb”), NDErs often meet a bright Being of Light
  • NDErs often feel loved by this Being of Light, more than they’ve ever been loved before
  • NDErs often have their life reviewed—notably, while the NDEr consistently senses that the Being of light still loves and accepts them, despite their sins or wrongdoing (this implies that the NDEr had repented and believed; cf. Mark 1:14-15)
  • NDErs often meet deceased relatives—sometimes ones who died before the NDEr’s birth, but who the NDEr later identifies in photographs
  • NDEs consistently have closure, unlike many dreams and reported hallucinations; often the Being of Light tells the NDEr, “You have to go back.” Typically, the NDEr says, “I’d rather stay here,” after which he/she finds himself/herself back in his/her physical body.

Note: hellish NDEs have been reported as well; we will cover two of the less-frightening ones in Part 2, as well as the way to receive an assurance of not going there. (This is also discussed in some of the later sections on the home page.) A number of hellish NDEs are reported in Chapter 16 of John Burke’s book, Imagine Heaven (Baker Books, 2015) and discussed in this video: 4. Imagine Heaven – what about Hell? John also provides his reasons for believing in Appendix A of his book.

4A. Do NDEs occur within or outside of the brain?

Skeptics tend to assume that our mind can’t exist independently of our brain, and so they proceed to rationalize away NDEs. For example, they say, “Our mind becomes more forgetful as we get older. This must be due to our aging brain. Therefore, our mind is in and produced exclusively by the brain.”

4B. The brain as a receiver

Although this may seem to make sense at first, we can easily see that this may not be the case (i.e. may not be a true or valid explanation). J. Steve Miller elaborated in his excellent book, Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven, as follows: “Decrease in mental functions could just as easily be explained by the brain functioning as a receiver. Imagine that you’ve never seen a radio. You turn it on and hear music. But where does the music come from? Is the music contained completely in the radio, much like the music in a CD player is contained in a CD within the player? … The radio doesn’t produce the music; it’s merely a receiver that allows you to hear the music. Granted, the condition of the radio impacts the quality of the music that you hear through it. But the invisible [radio] waves that carry the music to the radio are still carrying the music whether your radio is in a condition to receive it or not. If the radio dies, the waves that carry the music don’t die.”

Continuing: “Similarly … the brain functions as a receiver for the mind. The mind connects with the brain while we are in our body, but isn’t dependent upon the brain for its existence. Damage to the brain impacts our ability to access our minds, much as damage to a radio impacts our ability to access radio signals. This hypothesis would seem to be just as compatible with our observations (mental decline during Alzheimer’s, aging, etc.) as the hypothesis that the mind is merely a function of the brain. … [Also] NDEs provide strong evidence that the mind is very much alive and well while the brain is dead.” (Miller, Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven, Wisdom Creek Press, 2012, Chapter 4, pp. 16-17, Kindle Locations 479-498)

4C. NDErs see and hear things

Why do NDEs provide strong evidence? It’s unquestionable from abundant evidence that NDErs (near-death experiencers) see and hear things that they could not possibly know with their physical senses.

Dr. J. P. Moreland is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He stated, “The most provocative evidence for heaven from near-death experiences seems to me to be cases where people come back from near-death experiences, and they have information there’s no way they could’ve had if they had just had a physical experience while on an operating table.”

Continuing: “For example, some people come back and they’re able to recount conversations that their relatives have had five blocks away from the hospital. In other occasions, people have actually had experiences of [seeing] objects on the hospital roof or somewhere else, where, when people go to investigate whether those experiences were real, they see the objects just as the people [who had the NDE] saw them. In other occasions, people have met dead relatives that died about the same time the person died in the near-death experience, and they came back and reported the death of a relative that no one there in the operating room knew about.”

Concluding: “Now, this provides pretty strong evidence that something more is going on than just a lack of oxygen to the brain.” (Quoted in the video: Near-death experience #2 of #9.)

Also, in Chapter 2 of Imagine Heaven, John Burke shares accounts of NDEs that have convinced previously-skeptical medical doctors, professors, and researchers that life DOES continue after bodily death.

4D. Dr. Michael Sabom

Dr. Michael Sabom, cardiologist, was initially skeptical. But after hearing about near-death experiences, he agreed with Sarah, a psychiatric social worker, to ask some of their patients if they had experienced anything like an NDE. When he asked a patient named Jane, this is how he described her response: “…the tone of her voice fell reverent. Beneath her words rose powerful emotions. I became quickly aware that she was entrusting to me a story deeply personal. That story unfolded like the pages of [Dr. Raymond] Moody’s book [on near-death experiences]. I was flabbergasted, but tried to maintain a sense of professionalism as I listened.”

Continuing: “…You can read a book of stories about near-death experiences and walk away as skeptical as you were before you picked it up. But when you look into the eyes of an experiencer, and from four feet away watch the ebb and flow of authentic tears, your skepticism begins to wash away.” (Sabom, Light & Death: One Doctor’s Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences, Zondervan, 2011, Chapter 1, Kindle Locations 111-117)

Dr. Sabom’s curiosity was piqued; he decided to do his own research. He shared: “After five years of research, I published my findings in the book Recollections of Death. Perhaps the most startling discovery I made through my research was that, as many people came close to death, their essence, or spirit, actually seemed to leave their body. These people, like Pete Morton, saw details of their resuscitation that they could not otherwise have seen. One patient noticed the physician who failed to wear scuffs over his white, patent-leather shoes during open-heart surgery. In many cases I was able to confirm the patient’s testimony with medical records and with hospital staff.” (Ibid, Chapter 1, Kindle Locations 120-125)

He interestingly added that, “NDEs seemed to produce a stronger faith and a higher level of commitment to traditional religious practice. … Scientific studies were suggesting that a patient’s depth of religious faith was a strong predictor of survival and healing in clinical situations. … Other medical studies, including one with seriously-ill cardiac patients in a major American hospital, had suggested that prayer was a major factor in survival and recovery. My patients were confiding in me that prayer had played an important role not only in their NDEs, but also in their healing.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 158-165)

4E. Pete saw his resuscitation

Dr, Sabom mentioned Pete Morton (above) and told how he had given an accurate description of his resuscitation: “Pete had suffered two cardiac arrests several years earlier, and was resuscitated each time. … He told me he had left his body during his first cardiac arrest and had watched the resuscitation. When I asked him to tell me what exactly he saw, he described the resuscitation with such detail and accuracy that I could have later used the tape to teach physicians.” (Ibid, Chapter 1, Kindle Locations 71; 83-84)

Pete’s viewing of the resuscitation had to have occurred while he was in cardiac arrest, while his heart was not beating and thus while no blood was flowing to his brain or to his eyes—i.e. at a time when it was physically impossible for him to see anything. Otherwise, if his heart was beating, the doctors would not have been trying to resuscitate his body, which he did observe because he described the resuscitation accurately and in detail. Many NDErs have stated that they viewed their resuscitation well ABOVE their own physical body.

5A. Pam Reynolds’ unique NDE

Pam Reynolds had a unique NDE from an evidential standpoint; she was out of her body, having conscious experiences, when her physical body was TRULY clinically dead—by EVERY sign that medical instruments could measure! Nevertheless, after her surgery, she reported occurrences in the operating room, leaving no doubt that she had accurately seen and heard what had transpired.

The problem for skeptics is that, at the Barrow Neurological Institute, in order to perform this particular type of surgery (a delicate brain surgery on an aneurysm), Pam’s eyes were taped shut, she was deeply anesthetized, the temperature of her physical body was lowered to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (by a cardiopulmonary bypass machine), and all the blood was drained from her head! By all medical signs, Pam was clinically dead during the surgery! (Cf. Sabom, Light & Death, Chapter 3, Kindle Locations 548-559)

In other words, as it pertains to her physical brain, she was incapable of being conscious at the time of her NDE! This incapacity was verified by medical instruments (EEG & electrogram; see below, in the next section; cf. Ibid, Kindle Locations 552-559).

This incredible scenario is correct! In order to operate on the delicate aneurism without causing profuse bleeding and death, a team of doctors had to take these drastic steps. The aneurism was already leaking—a sign of imminent rupture. And if it ruptured, Pam would die—and not just temporarily! Performing this operation—and performing it this way—was necessary.

5B. Dr. Sabom’s perspective

Dr. Sabom explained: “The size and location of the aneurysm … precluded its safe removal using the standard neurosurgical techniques available to Pam in her hometown of Atlanta. She had been referred to Dr. Robert Spetzler, Director of Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Spetzler had pioneered a daring surgical procedure known as hypothermic cardiac arrest, which would allow Pam’s aneurysm to be excised with a reasonable chance of success. This operation, nicknamed ‘standstill’ by the doctors who perform it, would require that her body temperature be lowered to 60 degrees, her heartbeat and breathing stopped, her brain waves flattened, and the blood drained from her head. In everyday terms she would be dead.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 474-479)

After the doctors administered general anesthesia, “For the next hour and twenty-five minutes, Pam’s unconscious body was instrumented with the most advanced technology, some of which had been specifically designed for hypothermic arrest.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 491-492) Thus, Pam’s NDE is unique because, at the time it occurred, her physical body was connected to the most-advanced medical instruments, measuring every sign of life.

6. Resultantly, during her surgery

Resultantly, during the actual surgery, Pam’s EEG (electroencephalogram, which measures brain activity) was silent, and her brain stem was unresponsive (monitored by feedback on an electrogram, from the stimulus of loud, 100-decibel clicking sounds which assaulted her ears 10 times per second; the auditory nerve center is in the brain stem). In short, she had no blood pressure, no breathing, no heartbeat, and no brain waves.

Thus, every physical sign that she was alive was negative! She was unquestionably clinically dead! Of course, since her body temperature had been lowered to 60 degrees, and since all the blood had been drained from her head, this is perhaps understandable!

And yes, she did fully recover after the surgery, though her recovery required electrically shocking her heart twice (at 50, then 100 joules), to stimulate it back into its proper (sinus) rhythm. (Light & Death, Chapter 2, Kindle Locations 458-461; Chapter 3, Kindle Locations 471-671)

A more-pertinent point (for this blog) is that, during this period of clinical death for Pam’s body, she had a vivid out-of-the-body experience in which she viewed the procedure and later described a conversation in the operating room AND the characteristics of the specialized surgical instrument used upon her head. (Miller, Preface, Kindle Locations 126-132) And then she had further adventures …

7. Pam’s description: her NDE begins

Pam’s own description of her experience is also found in Chapter 3 of Dr. Sabom’s book, Light & Death (Zondervan, 2011).

(Dr. Sabom believes that the sound she refers to was from the bone saw; Light & Death, Chapter 10, Kindle Location 2890.) Pam stated that, after being anesthetized, “The next thing I recall was the sound: It was a natural D. As I listened to the sound, I felt it was pulling me out of the top of my head. The further out of my body I got, the more clear the tone became. I had the impression it was like a road, a frequency that you go on. … I remember seeing several things in the operating room when I was looking down. It was the most aware that I think that I have ever been in my entire life. … It was not like normal vision. It was brighter and more focused and clearer than normal vision.” (Light & Death, Chapter 3, Kindle Locations 522-526)

Pam’s description of the operating room is as follows: “There was so much in the operating room that I didn’t recognize, and so many people. … The saw thing that I hated the sound of looked like an electric toothbrush and it had a dent in it, a groove at the top where the saw appeared to go into the handle, but it didn’t. … And the saw had interchangeable blades, too, but these blades were in what looked like a socket wrench case. … I heard the saw crank up. I didn’t see them use it on my head, but I think I heard it being used on something. It was humming at a relatively high pitch and then all of a sudden it went Brrrrrrrrrr! like that.”

Continuing: “Someone said something about my veins and arteries being very small. I believe it was a female voice and that it was Dr. Murray, but I’m not sure. … I remember thinking that I should have told her about that.” (Ibid, Chapter 3, Kindle Locations 526-541)

8. Pam moved upward

Then Pam began moving upward: “There was a sensation like being pulled, but not against your will. I was going on my own accord because I wanted to go. … You’re very focused and you have a place to go. The feeling was like going up in an elevator real fast. … At some point very early in the tunnel vortex I became aware of my [deceased] grandmother calling me. But I didn’t hear her call me with my ears. … It was a clearer hearing than with my ears. I trust that sense more than I trust my own ears. The feeling was that she wanted me to come to her, so I continued with no fear down the shaft. It’s a dark shaft that I went through, and at the very end there was this very little tiny pinpoint of light that kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. The light was incredibly bright, like sitting in the middle of a lightbulb.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 563-572)

Pam began recognizing her deceased relatives: “I noticed that as I began to discern different figures in the light—and they were all covered with light, they were light, and had light permeating all around them—they began to form shapes I could recognize and understand. I could see that one of them was my grandmother. … Everyone I saw, looking back on it, fit perfectly into my understanding of what that person looked like at their best during their lives. I recognized a lot of people. My uncle Gene was there. So was my great-great-Aunt Maggie, who was really a cousin. On Papa’s side of the family, my grandfather was there.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 574-580)

9. Pam’s journey back

Pam continued: “I wanted to go [further] into the light, but I also wanted to come back. I had children to be reared. … My grandmother didn’t take me back through the tunnel, or even send me back or ask me to go. She just looked up at me. I expected to go with her, but it was communicated to me that she just didn’t think she would do that. My uncle said he would do it. He’s the one who took me back through the end of the tunnel. Everything was fine. I did want to go.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 584-607)

Dr, Sabom commented that, after the aneurism was repaired (or “excised”), Pam’s body began warming by means of warmed blood flowing from the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. (Ibid, Kindle Locations 587-589) This probably occurred around the time that Pam was journeying back.

However, there was a problem: “But then I got to the end of it [the tunnel] and saw the thing, my body. I didn’t want to get into it. … It looked terrible, like a train wreck. It looked like what it was: dead. … It was communicated to me that it was like jumping into a swimming pool. No problem, just jump right into the swimming pool. I didn’t want to, but I guess I was late or something because he [the uncle] pushed me. I felt a definite repelling and at the same time a pulling from the body. The body was pulling and the tunnel [i.e. the uncle from the tunnel] was pushing…. It was like diving into a pool of ice water…. It hurt! … When I regained consciousness, I was still on the respirator.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 607-619)

10. Life after death and the relevance of Pam’s body temperature

Pam felt that her body was like ice water because her body’s temperature had not warmed up to our normal 98.6 degrees; it may still have been much lower—which, deeply inside of our body, would feel cold. Dr. Sabom mentioned that Pam’s body temperature had been lowered to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and then raised gradually after the surgery was complete. The cardiopulmonary bypass machine was turned off when Pam’s body temperature had reached 89.6 degrees—life-sustaining, but still 9 degrees below normal. (Ibid, Kindle Locations 613-616) Based upon my (Roger’s) limited hospital experience (which certainly doesn’t compare to Pam’s), I speculate that further warming was accomplished by means of warmed blankets.

This may be obvious, but for the sake of complete clarity, I should point out that, since Pam felt that her body was ice cold when she returned to it; therefore, her NDE occurred AT the time of her surgery—when her body temperature was abnormally low AND when all of the medical instruments indicated that her brain was inactive and that her body was dead.

This was confirmed by Pam’s observation (in the third paragraph above), that. “I got to the end of it [the tunnel] and saw the thing, my body. I didn’t want to get into it. … It looked terrible, like a train wreck. It looked like what it was: dead.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 607-608)

On this basis, it can seem reasonable to infer that Pam was having a conscious experience AT this time (when her brain was inactive and her body was cold and dead), and that, therefore, human consciousness continues after the death of the body. This does make a degree of sense, but skeptics will object to these inferences by positing an alternate explanation …

10.5A Skeptics object

I know that skeptics will say that, “Her story was made-up! She said after surgery that her body felt ice cold because she knew that her body temperature had been lowered to 60 degrees during the surgery. And she said that her body looked dead because she knew that her body WAS clinically dead temporarily, during surgery.”

But then, if these assumptions are correct, we can’t explain how she accurately described the appearance of the surgical saw and (what appeared to Pam as) a socket wrench case—when her eyes were taped shut! Pam said that the saw “looked like an electric toothbrush and it had a dent in it, a groove at the top where the saw appeared to go into the handle, but it didn’t. … And the saw had interchangeable blades, too, but these blades were in what looked like a socket wrench case.” (Light & Death, Chapter 3, Kindle Locations 529-530)

Dr. Sabom reported that, “I phoned the Midas Rex Company in Fort Worth, Texas, and they sent me a student’s user manual with pictures of the bone saw used by Dr. Spetzler. I was shocked with the accuracy of Pam’s description of the saw as an ‘electric toothbrush’ with ‘interchangeable blades’ … and with a ‘socket wrench case’ in which this equipment is kept …” (Ibid, Chapter 10, Kindle Locations 2917-2919)

10.5B About the conversation

And, if the skeptical assumptions are correct, we can’t explain how she accurately described the conversation about her veins and arteries—when her ears were being assaulted by loud, 100-decibel clicking sounds 10 times per second AND when her body and brain were deeply anesthetized! Dr. Robert Spetzler, who excised the aneurism, told Dr. Sabom that, “Pam’s brain had been silenced with massive amounts of ‘barbiturate protection.’” (Ibid, Chapter 10, Kindle Location 2876) This was ANOTHER reason why there was no response from the EEG (electroencephalogram) during surgery; Pam’s brain was incapable of responding!

Pam, in describing her NDE, recalled that, “Someone said something about my veins and arteries being very small. I believe it was a female voice and that it was Dr. Murray, but I’m not sure. … I remember thinking that I should have told her about that.” (Ibid, Chapter 3, Kindle Locations 539-541)

Could Pam have heard this with her physical ears? Dr. Sabom read operative reports of the surgery and then wrote: “At the beginning of the procedure, molded ear speakers were placed in each ear as a test for auditory and brain-stem reflexes. These speakers occlude the ear canals and altogether eliminate the possibility of physical hearing.” (Ibid, Chapter 10, Kindle Locations 2878-2879)

Continuing, about the content of the conversation: “Dr. Murray was the female cardiovascular surgeon in the case. In her operative report, she had dictated … that ‘the right femoral artery and vein were exposed, and the right common femoral artery was quite small … it would not accept a #18 arterial cannula. It was decided that, in order to achieve appropriate flows for bypass, bilateral groin cannulation would be necessary. This was discussed with Neurosurgery …’” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 2882-2886)

10.5C More conclusions

Continuing: “From this evidence, we can conclude that the conversation actually occurred and that its content was accurately recalled. Also, the timing of this conversation with the reported occurrence of the out-of-body experience was found to be precise. Pam stated that she did not hear or perceive anything prior to her out-of-body experience, and that this experience began with hearing the bone saw. At this point in the operation, she had been under anesthesia for about 90 minutes.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 2887-2891)

Continuing: “Dr. Spetzler dictated into his operative report that ‘simultaneous with the opening of the craniotomy, Dr. Murray performed bilateral femoral cut-downs for cannulation for cardiac bypass.’ ‘Craniotomy’ means cutting open the skull with the bone saw. Dr. Murray would have conversed about the size of Pam’s vessels at the time she was performing the cut-downs. Thus, the ‘opening [or beginning] of the craniotomy’ using the bone saw was simultaneous with the conversation about Pam’s small blood vessels—and, as it turns out, with her out-of-body experience.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 2893-2897)

Concluding: “This correspondence of Pam’s recollections from an out-of-body experience with the correct bit of intraoperative conversation during a six-hour operative procedure is certainly intriguing evidence in support of Pam’s story.” (Ibid, Kindle Locations 2898-2899)

In other words, at about 90 minutes into the surgery, six things happened:

  1. The surgical saw was turned on.
  2. Pam heard the sound of the saw.
  3. She exited her physical body.
  4. She observed the visual appearance of the saw.
  5. She observed the socket wrench case.
  6. She heard the conversation.

Therefore, the only realistic way that we can explain her observations of the surgical saw, socket wrench case, and of the conversation is to accept her story of being outside of her body—but if so, then, again, HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS DOES CONTINUE AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BODY!

11. The video about Pam and the light of God

What about Jesus or the Being of light? Why wasn’t he present in Pam’s experience? It’s a simple fact that, in the thousands of NDEs that have been reported, sometimes the Being of light (whose light is extremely bright) is present, while at other times not. Since NDErs are only in the spirit realm temporarily, perhaps some need to meet the Being of light, while others don’t.

In this video (that’s also embedded below), Pam stated that she was told (by her deceased relatives) that the bright light (that they were in) came from God: “The light is what happens when God breathes.” Scripture does not specify this, but it does specify that God can breathe, if He chooses to do so, in Genesis 2:7 and Job 33:4.

This video is so impressive that I’ve embedded it here. Click (or tap) on the center of the following YouTube block to play the embedded video:

This is a video documenting the case of Pam Reynolds, including her aneurism, surgery, and near-death experience, with comments from Pam herself.

If the above video does not appear in your browser, the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNbdUEqDB-k

12A. Howard’s proof of life after death

In terms of proof of life after death, Howard’s story is also convincing. It’s found in the intriguing book by medical doctor Laurin Bellg, titled Near-Death in the ICU: Stories from Patients Near Death and Why We Should Listen to Them (Sloan Press, an imprint of LifePath LLC, 2016). (Howard’s last name was not provided in the book.)

Dr. Bellg summarized his near-death experience thusly: “Howard not only remembered the events of his cardiac arrest – what was said, what people were wearing, who was present – but he recounted it in such detail that it was clear he was a witness to his own event, even though he was completely unconscious at the time.” (Near-Death in the ICU, Chapter 3, p. 38, Kindle Locations 711-713)

There are many details to what Howard remembered—the accurate details of what was done to his body and what was said about him—all seen and heard by him while his physical body was unconscious due to cardiac arrest. Dr. Bellg remarked: “Howard was not only telling me what he had heard but also what he had seen with incredible accuracy. What’s more, he recalled seeing it from a vantage point above his physical body – far above those of us who were working on him that day.” (Ibid, p. 39, Kindle Locations 716-717)

But what impressed me the most was the following, about the “other room”:

Dr. Bellg quoted Howard as he recalled that, after observing medical personnel working on his physical body: “…I felt myself rising up through the ceiling and it was like I was going through the structure of the building. I could feel the different densities of passing through insulation. I saw wiring, some pipes and then I was in this other room.” (Ibid, p. 39, Kindle Locations 725-726)

12B. The “other room”

Howard continued: “It looked like a hospital but it was different. It was very quiet and it seemed like no one was there. There were individual rooms all around the edge and on some of the beds were these people, except they were not people, exactly. They looked like mannequins and they had IVs hooked up to them but they didn’t look real. In the center was an open area that looked like a collection of work stations with computers …” (Ibid, pp. 39-40, Kindle Locations 727-730)

Dr. Bellg explained the significance of this “other room”: “That’s when my jaw really dropped. I stole a look at the nurse who looked equally surprised. What we knew, that Howard didn’t, is that right above the ICU is a nurse-training center where new hires spend a few days rotating through different scenarios. There are simulated hospital rooms around the perimeter with medical mannequins on some of the beds. In the center there is indeed a collection of workspaces with computers. I was amazed, but I was all in and wanted to hear more.” (Ibid, p. 40, Kindle Locations 730-733)

Now, it would be very unlikely than an average person would think that mannequins (lightweight, plastic “dummies” that are seen in clothing stores) would be on some of the beds within an actual hospital! Therefore, Howard’s observation of these mannequins is probably not guesswork on his part. Instead, his observation is probably what he really did see—according to his description, when he was outside of his physical body!

Also, he described accurately the layout of the nurse training center, with typical hospital rooms on the perimeter and a collection of workspaces with computers in the very center of that large room. Obviously, he had directly perceived it—again, from his description, outside of his physical body!

12C. Turn up the juice

Howard related what happened next: “I wasn’t there long before I got jerked back to my body with a jolt and then floated up again. As I floated up this time I heard someone say, ‘Turn up the juice’ and then, ‘Okay, charge.’ I didn’t know what that meant, so I just watched. I didn’t know what was happening, but then I saw the things they put on your chest to shock you like you see on TV, and I saw my body jump right after someone said, ‘Everybody clear.’” (Ibid, p. 40, Kindle Locations 735-738)

It’s interesting to me that what jerked Howard back to his body was apparently the first shock to his heart. Pages earlier, Dr. Bellg described the events of that day, including the fact that the first shock to his heart was applied before she said, “Turn up the juice” and “Okay, charge.” (She said “Turn up the juice” because the first shock didn’t restore the proper heart rhythm; cf. Ibid, Chapter 3, p. 34, Kindle Locations 642-647.)

In the book, Dr. Bellg reacted: “I was amazed. He had actually heard our conversations while unconscious, was able to recount it with great detail and correlate the words with visual events that he could accurately describe!” (Ibid, p. 40, Kindle Locations 739-740)

Dr. Bellg begins to share Howard’s story at 9 minutes and 39 seconds into this hour-and-12-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWN9zNcoRKY.

13. On the Being of Light and God’s existence

It’s noteworthy from Pam’s video that her physically-dead but spiritually-alive relatives affirmed God’s existence—which is also affirmed in Ian McCormack’s NDE, which we will consider in Part 2.

In addition, God’s existence is affirmed by the numerous NDEs which feature the Being of Light, who might conceivably be an angel, but who has been identified in some NDEs as Jesus. (Cf. John Burke, Imagine Heaven, Baker Books, 2015, Chapter 13.) This Being is a personal Being who emanates love (NDErs feel loved by this Being of Light, more than they’ve ever been loved before, correlating with Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 7:9; John 3:16-17; 13:34-35; 15:12-14; 1John 3:16; 4:7-19), who knows us intimately (correlating with Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 12:6-7), and who is therefore magnetically attractive to the average NDEr (correlating with Psalm 73:23-26). (Burke, Chapter 1 & 5, Kindle Locations 242-278, 306-308, 1121-1129; Miller, Chapter 6, pp. 68-69; Kindle Locations 1521-1543)

Whether the Being of Light is an angel or Jesus, this, together with other earmarks, points to our universe as theistic; i.e. based on the theistic Creator-God who intervenes in the universe He has made.

Other earmarks for theism include the scientifically-probable beginning and the scientifically-accepted fine-tuning of the universe, the profound applicability of mathematics to the real world, and the Moral Argument (which I cover in posts #6 & #7). In addition (as I explained in greater detail, in section 1), there is the inadequacy of the neo-Darwinian mechanism (natural selection plus random mutations) to explain the full panoply of the varied and diverse forms of life on Earth, particularly in all phyla, for which large amounts of specified, complex, algorithmic information—such as that found in the developmental regime of complex, multicellular organisms—would be required. The neo-Darwinian mechanism appears to be incapable of producing large amounts of such information, which then can only come from a mind. (Cf. Michael Behe: Darwin Devolves; Darwin Devolves: The New Science about DNA that Challenges Evolution by Dr. Michael Behe. HarperOne, 2019)

14. The question

As I described in sections 22-24 of Post #4, George Ritchie, a young, 20-year-old army recruit in 1943, had a profound NDE in which he met the Being of Light. (See George’s book, Return from Tomorrow, Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 1978, 2007.)

This Being of Light asked George a question: “What did you do with your life?” (Return from Tomorrow, Chapter 5, pp. 61-62, Kindle Locations 624 & 626)

George reflected: “It seemed to be a question about values, not facts: What did you accomplish with the precious time you were allotted? … Hadn’t I done anything lasting, anything important? Desperately I looked around me for something that would seem worthwhile in the light of this blazing Reality. … Hadn’t I ever gone beyond my own immediate interests, done anything other people would recognize as valuable? … It was not fair! Of course I had not done anything with my life! I had not had time. How could you judge a person who had not started?” (Ibid, pp. 62-63, Kindle Location 627-643)

The Being of Light responded with no trace of judgment, no harshness: “Death can come at any age.” (Ibid, p. 63, Kindle Location 644) As I stated, George was 20 years old at this time.

He reflected: “Well, sure. I knew that babies and little kids died. Somehow I had just always assumed that a full life span was in some way owed me. … [But] He was not blaming or reproaching. He was simply loving me. … He was not asking about accomplishments and awards. The question, like everything else proceeding from Him, had to do with love. How much have you loved with your life? Have you loved others as I am loving you? Totally? Unconditionally?… Why, I had not known love like this was possible. Someone should have told me, I thought indignantly! A fine time to discover what life was all about—like coming to a final exam and discovering you were going to be tested on a subject you had never studied. If this was the point of everything, why hadn’t someone told me?” (Ibid, pp. 63-65, Kindle Location 644-660)

The Being of Light’s answer was without rebuke or condemnation: “I did tell you. … I told you by the life I lived. I told you by the death I died.” (Ibid, p. 65, Kindle Location 662-664)

15. Who was the Being of Light?

Now, anyone who knows ANYTHING about the New Testament knows that Jesus lived a life of love and service to others, and that he even loved us so much that he willingly gave his life for us. (Matthew 4:23-25; Mark 6:54-56; John 3:16-17; 10:14-18; Romans 5:6-8; 1Corinthians 15:3-7; 1John 3:16) No other person in history loved so much and gave so much! His intense love is a distinctive characteristic of Jesus. (Matthew 5:43-48; 20:28; 22:34-40; Mark 10:45; 12:28-34; Luke 6:27-36; John 3:16-17; 10:14-18; 13:34-35; 15:12-14; Romans 5:6-8; 1John 3:16)

Therefore, I believe that it’s overwhelmingly probable that Jesus of Nazareth was (and is) this Being of Light. The similarity to Jesus is striking, more so than with anyone else in human history! Why? If Jesus is who He said He is, only He willingly died out of love, for a specific purpose that applies, directly or potentially, to every human being. (Isaiah 53:5-6; John 3:16-17; 10:14-18; Romans 5:6-8; 1Corinthians 15:3-7; 1John 2:2; 4:9-14) Because many NDErs have testified to the strong, almost-overwhelming love coming from the Being of Light, I would expect Him to be the One who participated in such a purpose. (Cf. Imagine Heaven, chapters 10, 12, and 13.)

16. In Part 2

We’ll see more about the Being of Light in Ian McCormack’s NDE testimony in Part 2 or here or in the book that’s mislabeled as Clinically Dead: I’ve Seen Heaven and Hell by Jenny Sharkey (Gospel Media, 2013). It SHOULD have been labeled: Clinically Dead: I’ve Seen Heaven and Hell by Ian McCormack as told to Jenny Sharkey. She is the receiver, the organizer, and the editor, but she’s not the author. It’s Ian’s story that she’s telling.

There will also be another NDE testimony in Part 2 that leads to still more conclusions, plus more evidences and reasons supporting the reality of the afterlife.

17. Following my blog

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18A. Books and videos

Dr. van Lommel eventually wrote a book based on his research: Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (HarperOne, 2010).

I recommend two other books on NDEs; the first is Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future that Awaits You by John Burke (Baker Books, 2015). The topics in it include:

  • Skeptical doctors and the afterlife
  • The Common NDE experience
  • A better body
  • You’ll be yourself … finally!
  • The family you never knew
  • Alive in new dimensions
  • A love you’ll never want to leave
  • God is relational
  • Light of the world
  • The highlight of Heaven
  • What about Hell?
  • The Life Review
  • Exhilarating—not boring
  • The City of God (pets allowed)
  • Reasons to believe
  • Alternate explanations for NDEs

(No, I don’t get paid for this advertising!)

The second book is Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven by J. Steve Miller (Wisdom Creek Press, 2012). The topics in it include:

  • A four-year old’s near-death experience
  • Studies on near-death experiences
  • A collage of near-death experiences
  • Naturalistic explanations
  • Do NDEs provide compelling evidence that God and Heaven exist?
  • Reports (from outside the body) of the hospital room or accident location provide corroborating evidence.
  • NDErs report enhanced mental functions while their brains are severely compromised.[like having 50 senses instead of only 5]
  • The presence of remarkably consistent, yet unexpected elements are not what we’d predict from a psychologically induced dream state.
  • NDEs consistently have closure — distinguishing them from dreams or hallucinations.
  • Children’s NDEs provide unique evidence.
  • Deathbed visions provide corroboration.
  • Shared NDEs provide multiple eyewitnesses.
  • Face to face interviews have a strong impact on the researchers.
  • The deaf hear [within an NDE].
  • The color-blind see colors [within an NDE].
  • The blind see [within an NDE].
  • It’s extremely convincing to the one who experiences it, completely unlike a dream.

18B. Videos

There’s an informative video by Inspiring Philosophy: Near-Death Experiences: Irreducible Mind (Part 5)” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnTVPCwPjhI. It provides many evidences and cites research studies in support of NDEs.

Here’s another. Click (or tap) on the center of the following YouTube block to play the embedded video about evidence for the afterlife:

Imagine Heaven – evidence for the afterlife by John Burke and Dr. Mary Neal

If the above video does not appear in your browser, the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHM8QSAekMk&list=PLySIpE6fwXSKzIZwEvfMS-9LGvAfabZgS&index=1&t=47s.

Ian McCormack’s first recorded testimony, from 1988, in which his sincerity is quite apparent, is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg4188Ii-fg&t=4s.

18C. More recommended videos

Pam Reynolds’ NDE

Imagine Heaven / John Burke on 100 Huntley Street

Remembering the Hope of Heaven: John Burke on Focus on the Family

Holding on to the Hope of Heaven: John Burke on Focus on the Family

Here’s an outstanding testimony from a former atheist; this is one of the best testimonies I’ve ever heard!

Teen atheist becomes Christian because of the evidence

Partially-animated video: Is There Meaning to Life?

Published by

Roger, a Christian and former atheist

My interests are Christianity, apologetics, theology, and philosophy, along with a significant appreciation for astrophysics, cosmology, and biochemistry. I used to be a very committed and passionate atheist who tried to persuade Christians to become atheists! However, I was challenged by a Christian to investigate and determine for myself whether there was actual evidence for the biblical God. I took up the challenge, found a number of compelling evidences, and, as a result, became a Christian myself! Now I'm blogging about my journey and about how evidence and logic point to God's existence and identity. I believe that this reasoning is cogent by means of many (over thirty) inferences to the best explanation within a cumulative case. (No knowledgeable Christian uses the obviously-fallacious "God of the gaps" reasoning.) If more Christians were familiar with this valid method of reasoning, I believe there would be fewer atheists--the evidences are that strong, especially when they are cumulatively considered. This method is supported by Christians such as William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, Victor Reppert, Paul Copan, Gregory Ganssle, Craig Keener, Craig Evans, Craig Blomberg, Michael Licona, John Lennox, Timothy and Lydia McGrew, Robert Spitzer, Edward Feser, Frank Turek, Hugh Ross, Fazale Rana, Kenneth Samples, Anjeanette Roberts, Jeff Zweerink, Michael G. Strauss, James Sinclair, Sean McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, Vince Vitale, Abdu Murray, Amy Orr-Ewing, J. Warner Wallace, Gregory Koukl, and Lee Strobel—among many others..

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