Near Death Experiences

Post by **_PAULESPINO** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:46 pm

I read an article that a chemical reaction is produce by the brain when the brain does not recieve an oxygen. This chemical reaction is the one that is responsible for the hallucination.

Post by **_PAULESPINO** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:05 pm

I would like to rewrite my previous post.

Lack of oxygen in the brain causes a chemical rection in the brain.

Post by **_Paidion** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:35 pm

There appears to be a commonality to most near-death experiences. Typically, the one near death (or dead and revived) seems to be moving through a long tunnel toward a light. As he approaches the light, he experiences a great depth of love and peace and well-being.

Whether or not one is a Christian seems to have no bearing on the ND experience. This is the main reason I doubt whether ND experiences are an actual taste of the after-life.

Post by **_anothersteve** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:10 pm

I was recently reading a book called "90 Minutes in Heaven"

I actually read the book a few months ago. I, like many other people, am skeptical by nature. I did, however, find his story had a ring of authenticity to it. The fellow at the accident scene who prayed him back to life added some merit to the story for me. I still have some reservation...I guess that's the way I am. I will say it is the most convincing death experience I've heard so far.

Funny thing is, I actually found the part about his long, painful recovery just as compelling, or even more so.

I've also heard many claims of people being prayed back to life in places like India but they may not be as well documented as this pastor's story.

I've also heard, and I may have this wrong, that the medical profession decided to question people who experienced "death" in the hospital for a period of time. As I recall, the vast majority of people had the same experience as Allyn....they remembered nothing.

Steve

Post by **_anothersteve** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:19 am

FYI...

I stumbled across this discussion between an atheist(Keith Augustine) and a Christian (Gary Habermas). They each take a side on the validity of NDE's.

http://www.thethingsthatmattermost.org: ... 272006.htm

Post by **_Stephen Patrick** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:11 am

Goodmorning.

This is an excerpt from a study by Mike Heiser, Professor of Bible, Department of Religious Studies, Grace College,
Winona Lake, IN., from an up coming book of his. I'm wondering if this would apply to our understanding, or acceptance of NDE's. While the topic he is teaching in the book does not have anything to do with NDE's, I think these comments of his may shed some light on our "modern" thought processes. Just a couple of paragraphs.

"As I see it, the Bible’s cosmic narrative—its description of the otherworldly conflict raging all around us—has been lost to view because of a veil of familiarity that modern preachers, teachers, and scholars have draped around it. For sure most serious Christians would insist that they have not dumped their belief in miracles or the spiritual world. And yet something inside us as moderns compels us to not believe in an invisible, animate world or universe. There are a couple of reasons for this.

For one thing, we aren’t as open to the “supernatural” as we think we are. Many Christians are supernaturalists who think like skeptics. Ask yourself what would be going through your mind if a Christian friend confided in you one day about how they had been visited by an angel who gave them an instruction from God, or they audibly heard a disembodied voice warning them of some unforeseeable danger, or that they had seen an image of Jesus in some moment of crisis.

What if they related an incident akin to Martin Luther’s so many centuries ago, about throwing an inkwell at a demon that had been tormenting him while he tried to work on his translation of the Bible into German? What if your friend was convinced God had directed their life in some way through a dream? Or that their believing spouse had “said goodbye” to them in a brief encounter after they had died? Most of us would have to admit that our initial impulse would be one of doubt about what we were hearing. Our mind would immediately consider the possibility of other explanations—in fact we would seek other explanations because our modern inclination is to insist on verifiable evidence. We might even recommend counseling or a physical."

Heiser goes on to point out, "has our modern, rationalistic evangelical sub-culture trained us to think that our theology disallows these experiences or this kind of contact." Or has the "veil of familiarity" hidden these things from us since we are "modern" and much smarter than those who have come before us?

What do you think?

Post by **_anothersteve** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:51 am

Hi Stephen, thanks for posting this.

I’ve actually had similar thoughts to the author you’re quoting. Being a natural sceptic I’m always trying to keep myself on guard against unnecessarily rejecting people’s claims of experience. What makes this particularly difficult for me is that there are a myriad of experiences people claim that are obviously not genuine experiences from God (for example…”God showed me in a vision you will be healed” and the person dies.)

Also, even when someone encounters a true experience from God it can be misinterpreted. Peter, at the Mount of Transfiguration, seemed to have initially misunderstood the intent of his experience.

We are commanded to test everything and not be lead astray by signs that lead us away from God. Duet 13. There are also many godly experiences all throughout the Bible and in Christian lives today. Sometimes I find it difficult to know whether it’s genuine or not.

Post by **_Malachy** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:04 pm

Several years ago during an operation, my lungs filled with blood and I was told that my heart stopped. I do not remember any of this, due I suppose to the anaesthetics used during surgery. These discussion peak my interest, but they are in fact "near" death experiences.

I am and would be most interested in hearing from someone who has literally be in the grave, say for 3 days, and able to share their experience.

Post by **_Stephen Patrick** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:00 pm

anothersteve wrote:Hi Stephen, thanks for posting this.

I’ve actually had similar thoughts to the author you’re quoting. Being a natural sceptic I’m always trying to keep myself on guard against unnecessarily rejecting people’s claims of experience. What makes this particularly difficult for me is that there are a myriad of experiences people claim that are obviously not genuine experiences from God (for example…”God showed me in a vision you will be healed” and the person dies.)

Thanks Steve,

Heiser mentions in the very next paragraph of the study I quoted from ". . . . given the abusive manipulation of people through alleged “spiritual experiences” perpetrated in certain sectors of Christianity." Yes, I agreee with you about the "not genuine experiences".

Post by **_TK** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:01 pm

malachy wrote:

I am and would be most interested in hearing from someone who has literally be in the grave, say for 3 days, and able to share their experience.

I'll have to ask Lazarus someday. of course, his was a "death" and not a "near death" experience. i think there is a distinction.

TK