Back from the AFTERLIFE?

Researchers, theologians, individuals at symposium to discuss claims of near-death experiences

It seems readers can’t get enough when it comes to tales of near-death experiences. Books on the topic have topped best-seller lists, with pastors, everyday people, children and even a neurosurgeon claiming to have glimpsed the afterlife.

Readers have snatched up Dr.

Eben Alexander’s book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey Into the Afterlife, as well Pastor Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven. Young Colton Burpo’s story in Heaven Is for Real, was also a hit with readers. The granddaddy of them all, Life After Life by Raymond Moody, was published in 1975 and remains popular today.

One of the most recent books on the subject comes from John W. Price, who heard hundreds of near-death stories during his more than 40 years in ministry. Price served as a National Guard chaplain, a pastor and as a chaplain at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. His book, Revealing Heaven, offers a pastor’s view of the phenomena and shows how these experiences can be used in ministering to the sick and dying.

Price said he was originally a skeptic and even dismissed the stories of two of his parishioners. However, his opinion changed when he met a young soldier while serving as chaplain at Fort Hood, Texas. The young man’s account of what he had seen when he was near death from a drug overdose changed Price’s mind. He urges his fellow ministers to take the stories seriously and use them when counseling those who are dying.

“It’s the most pastoral thing a member of the clergy can do - to talk to these people who are facing death,” he said.

The Institute for Theological Studies at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock will explore the phenomena during a symposium April 19-20. “The Near-Death Experience in Christian Perspective,” will feature national and international researchers, theologians and scientists. Participants will also hear from people who have had near-death experiences.

The Rev. Canon Chris Keller, who directs the program at St.

Margaret’s, said interest in

near-death experiences has been high among participants in classes sponsored by the institute. They’ve studied books on the subject and decided to delve into the topic further with the symposium. Speakers will include Dr. Jeffrey Long, author of Evidence of the Afterlife: The Sci

ence of Near-Death Experiences;

Michael N. Marsh, a University

of Oxford theologian and author of Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experiences: Brain-State Phenomena or Glimpses of Immortality?; and Janice Miner Holden, a professor and chairman of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas and co-author of The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation.

The symposium will examine near-death experiences and Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation.

The symposium will examine near-death experiences and how they fit into the Christian view of the afterlife, and will also explore alternate and naturalistic viewpoints on the subject.

Keller said Christians don’t have a consensus view on near-death experiences. Some see these stories as spiritual encounters, while others view them as hallucinations or even as the work of the devil.

“Fundamentalist Christians, some of them are alarmed about the whole thing and consider it demonic,” he said.

That’s especially true when people of Christian faith have experiences that include religious figures from other faiths.

“It’s a mixed bag and so for that reason it could be tempting to just dismiss them, but they are clearly profound for the people who have them,” Keller said.

Keller said Long, a physician practicing in radiation oncology, is a believer and will discuss near-death experiences from a scientific viewpoint. Holden will discuss her scholarly research on the phenomena and Marsh will share his view, which is that near-death experiences are not revelations of an afterlife.

Holden, who has been studying near death experiences for more than two decades, said a near-death experience is “an experience of consciousness functioning apart from the human body, in a situation of a close brush with death.”

“There are really three aspects to NDEs,” she said. “One is a feeling of profound peace that is not specifically associated with the physical body. Another is what we call the material aspect, where a person is perceiving the material world from a position outside their physical body.”

For example, a patient in cardiac arrest in an emergency room might relay an experience of floating above the scene, watching it unfold.

The third element often found is the patient will report seeing entities or environments not of this world.

“They might see deceased loved ones or spiritual entities,” Holden said.

But, are they real? Holden said yes, with qualifications.

“One of the things I’ve studied is veridical perception, where the person, based on their condition and the position of the physical body, they should not have been able to perceive things they report and that later have been verified to be accurate,” she said. “I have found the vast majority were completely accurate, so I think there’s good evidence they are real.”

Holden said near-death experiences do have elements that are subjective and possibly colored by the culture and belief system of the individual.

Long, the founder of the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation, said he also was originally skeptical of such stories.

“I went into this as sort of skeptic that consciousness can exist apart from the physical body and claims of life after death are a big deal,” he said. “I’m of the belief that big claims like that require big evidence.”

So Long set up a website and began soliciting stories from people all over the world. Today, he has more than 3,000 detailed, personal stories on the site, including some from non-Western countries. What he found is that they share many similarities, even though their cultures and religions are quite different.

“By the time you read any number of these stories, it’s obvious there are consistent elements occurring,” Long said.

Common elements include a life-threatening event, such as a car wreck or heart attack, followed by an out-of-body experience.

“They may go through a tunnel and at the end there is a beautiful, mystical light,” Long said. “On the other side there’s often what’s called heavenly realms with plants, trees and flowers and colors unknown on earth. There may be other people there and very positive interactions occur. They are in a sense of feeling overwhelming peace and harmony. There’s often a life review where they may see all or part of their prior life and may encounter deceased loved ones.”

Individuals often report that they come to a boundary - a point of no return - where they must decide whether to return to their earthly life, Long said.

“Some returned involuntarily,” he said. “You can imagine - friends, family, loved ones - that’s how powerful the feelings are that occur on the other side.”

Not all near-death experiences are full of happiness. Long said a small percentage of people report having “hellish” experiences.

Long said the phenomena happen to people across all cultures.

“Anybody can have an ‘NDE,’” he said. “They happen to children and adults, to priests and ministers, to scientists and doctors, to people from every walk of life and every corner of the earth and they are all strikingly similar.It doesn’t make a difference if you are Muslim, Hindu or Christian.”

Long said he’s convinced these experiences reveal that consciousness can exist apart from the physical body and he believes they are evidence of an afterlife. He said he uses that belief to comfort the cancer patients he treats.

“There is life after death. I know it,” he said. “And that’s very important information for patients and their loved ones - to have the reassurance, to say ‘I know there’s life after death - a wonderful life after death.’” Registration for the symposium is available at itssm.org. Cost is $40. The program will be at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1000 N. Mississippi St. (501) 801-0272

Religion, Pages 12 on 04/06/2013

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