What Do Near Death Experiences Teach Us About the Afterlife?
The overwhelming majority of us will experience bliss; a minority encounter horror
OMG. Was I ever changed after reading Bruce Greyson’s riveting book “After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond.” I have never had an NDE, yet the true accounts of over 1,000 “experiencers” have permanently changed how I view my present and future.
Dr. Grayson meticulously interviewed 1,000+ experiencers, conducting scientific research on what they reported. The best part of Dr. Greyson’s research is that he was an agnostic regarding religion and the afterlife. Thus, he did not research to confirm his theory or theology. Greyson wanted to study exactly what experiencers are trying to tell us about life after death.
This article describes the ambiguity of theology and dogma, the common out-of-body experiences immediately after death, which in turn cast some potential information about God, heaven & hell, and the essentialness of love.
The Ambiguity of Theology and Dogma
“Theology” is the study of God, along with the specific religions that attempt to make sense of the unseen divine. Within every religion exist thousands of “dogma” — beliefs belonging to any tribe within one’s religion. Christianity is one form of theology, with differing dogma amongst many Christian tribes (a.k.a., denominations).
For example, Christians assert claims about the Trinity nature of the divine (i.e., Father Yahweh, Jesus the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit). Furthermore, dogma divides Christians (e.g., the importance of a bible as a credible, if not solely valid, source). Several Bible forms exist, such as the Hebrew text, the Good News about Jesus, the New Covenant, the Apocrypha, the Book of Mormon, and more.
Additionally, there are thousands upon thousands of different dogma formed from one’s bible. A few examples include: the nature of salvation; the need to attend a church; the method (or priority) of baptism and communion; the specific sins and consequences therein; and much, much more.
So what has scientific exploration of Near-Death Experiences taught us about theology and dogma? Generally, one’s theology and doctrine do not seem to correlate to one’s NDE. For example, only one-third of the religious experiencers stated that their afterlife experience conformed with their earthly theology.
The overwhelming majority (86%) describe the NDE as blissful. In contrast, only 8% reported it as horrific (more on that subject later in this article). The blissful experience did not differentiate one’s theology and dogma. In short, it appears that virtually all people experienced an incredibly positive, completely foreign state of being. Their state of being was so positive that it permanently changed their lives upon returning to their body.
If NDE gives us a sneak-peek into the afterlife, what can we deduce from these 1,000 firsthand accounts? Like it or not, it seems that theology and dogma have ambiguous predictions of the afterlife. Said differently, all of the tribal wars between theological and dogmatic differences seem to be, well, irrelevant (or at least non-essential). Do Christians go to “heaven?” It appears so. Do non-Christians go to heaven? Likewise, it seems so. Do members from all sorts of warring tribes still enter heaven.” Well, yeah. Do particular sins prevent us from entering heaven. Nope. Does it matter whether a person had an immersion baptism experience, engaged in pre-marital sex, or entered a gay marriage? Again, evidently not.
Well then, according to those who experienced an NDE, should we ignore theology and dogma? The answer seems ambiguous. What looks true is that perhaps here on planet earth, we should avoid tribal religious wars.
Out of Body
Based upon the firsthand account of experiencers, immediately upon being flatlined (i.e., no brain or vital functioning), the person’s “mind” seems to exist still. The NDE person is taken out of his body — often able to see his body from afar (and, in some cases, see-through walls). Experiencers universally describe a type of “transport” to a foreign experience. If the occasion is blissful, the transport is described as “velvety.” In contrast, the experiencers describe a dark void if the transfer is horrific.
Jesus, God, and the Divine
Experiencers often describe the “destination” as a most loving Being of brilliant white light. Depending upon one’s pre-death theology, those who experienced the NDE named the Light as Jesus, God, or simply a divine Creator. Experiencers who had no theology of God inevitably came away from the NDE believing in God (in various unique descriptions).
Every blissful NDE came to believe in some form of a divine being. Even for the previously atheist and agnostic.
Heaven & Hell
Heaven. Some who experienced bliss defined that state of being as heaven (others described it as “an unfamiliar setting”). Inside “heaven” were several common experiences. About two-thirds of the experiencers in heaven encountered formerly deceased people (often someone they knew from life on earth). Half of those experiencers in heaven could watch (and even interact) with loved ones still alive on earth.
About 67% of those who experienced heaven continued in their same personality and essence — with the bonus of being more capable of learning. Half of those in heaven experienced a “review” of their life events. This review was not painful or condemning. Rather, it revealed actual life events and a different understanding of how their actions negatively impacted others.
So, what might we conclude about this foreign experience that some call heaven? That it is blissful, in the presence of a divine being, part of a community, non-judgmental, and maintained our unique original self. For those who are gay Christians, this hints that we will still be gay (as that was our predominant and enduring condition on earth). And we will learn from any mistakes on earth and be fully accepted by heavenly beings.
Hell. In stark contrast, about one in ten experienced a horrific state of being. Experiencers described this “hell” as: a downward movement; cold; dark; hearing screaming wails, yet not seeing others; contrarily, seeing grotesque human caricatures; an unrelenting torment of agony; a burning sensation of one’s entire body; a hopeless, no escape feeling; separation and complete loneliness.
Virtually all who experienced “hell,” upon return to their body believed they were supposed to change their lifestyle. In short, those who encountered “hell” thought their horrific experience gave themselves a “second chance” in life.
Therefore, what might we conclude about “hell?” It exists for a very small minority of those in the afterlife. We cannot draw any theological conclusions about hell other than to say it is unspeakably horrible and hopeless.
The Preeminence of Love
The ~90% of people who experienced bliss during their NDE all kept emphasizing one word more than any other in describing their post-death state of being: love. One experiencer stated, “The nearest I can come to [describing] it in human terms is to recall the rapture of being ‘in love.’” Indeed, experiencers felt more compassionate and altruistic — and less concerned with their own needs.
Experiencers also felt a sense of community. This sensation was one of complete acceptance, plus being “one with everything” (i.e., with every person, with God, and even with the cosmos).
Furthermore, when experiencers returned to their body and life on earth, they became dynamically and permanently changed. In short, they became more loving people. They were no longer concerned about bodily appearance or body shame. Likewise, gone was their love of material things. They viewed their role in life as completely different — one of fairness and generosity toward all others, rather than obsessive self-seeking.
And why should any of this news about love surprise us? Jesus is described as love; many experiencers believed they encountered a Supreme Being who exuded nothing but love. Upon their return to their body, people told them they were different …
More Christlike.
Dr. Mike Rosebush (Ph.D., Counseling Psychology; he, him, his;) is the creator and editor of GAYoda, plus a writer for Backyard Church. A short synopsis of Dr. Rosebush’s life can be found at I Lived the Most Unusual Gay Christian Life Ever. He may be contacted at mikerosebush75@gmail.com.
