Near-death experiences and damnation

Near-death experiences and leaving the body. What is behind the border and is everyone's destiny good after death? Learn why hell needs to be taken seriously

Probably most people are interested in what is after this life and beyond the border of death. Because of this, they may look for information in spiritualism sessions or in books that reflect on the same area. Many also have specific personal near-death experiences - that is, experiences where their heart may stop in a hospital or in an accident, and where they may see themselves as if from outside, see CPR being performed on them, and see the entire operating room. Some may have also seen a light being, which seems to be full of "compassion and love".

The biggest debate in this area is usually about whether all near-death experiences are positive and will good happen to everyone in spite of how they have lived on Earth. Many researchers want to believe this is true, but is it? We consider this topic below. Several observations and examples suggest that good will not happen to everyone.

Not a final death. The first thing to note is that a near-death experience is not a final death -- it is only a visit to the border between the two worlds.. Those people who tell about their experiences "beyond death" are not actually dead, but have come back to their bodies (unless it is a question of visions where they can see themselves as a separate person outside the body). So these people have not come back from the dead, but only been very close to it. Their out-of-body experience - if it is true - is not the same as true death, from which there is no return to the body.

Dr. Michael Sabom explains the same thing in his book "Recollections of Death". He points out that visiting the border is not the same as actual death. He separates these two from each other:

Naturally, I cannot say for sure whether the near-death experiences are a foretaste of what will happen at the time of physical death. They have been experienced when someone’s life power has been fading. The narrators of these experiences have not returned from the dead but have been saved when they were very close it. So it is actually a question of encounters with the border of death, not death itself. I think that the experience of the border of death reflects the separation of the mind and the brain from each other but the puzzle is why this occurs when death is approaching. Could the mind that separates itself from the physical brain actually be the ‘soul’, which according to some religious doctrines still lives after the death of the body? (1)

Not everyone experiences them. Another important fact to note about near-death experiences – if experiences outside the body really do occur in connection with these experiences – is that not everyone experiences them. Even though the hearts of many people have stopped and they have been in the same physical condition, still only a little over 20% of the patients have experienced experiences outside the body. Even fewer of them have seen beings of light.

So why is the figure not 100%, why do all people not have similar experiences? Are some of these phenomena only internal visions, as some have suggested? This alternative cannot be ruled out because some people really can see themselves from an outside vantage point as a separate person. (Actually, ordinary dreams also resemble this state because we may see ourselves flying or doing other spectacular things in them.) They might have experienced these as a result of paranormal experimentation, but have usually been freed from them once they received salvation:

For example, a young man living in my neighbourhood called me and requested help for a problem involving so-called out of body experiences (OOBE phenomenon). These experiences began after he took part in a program, which, according to an advertisement, could help a person to develop his or her latent abilities and to achieve their goals in life. The leader of the course assured in the first meeting that it was not a heretical cult and actually did not involve religion in any way. (…) But the deeper the young man went in the teaching of the group, the stranger experiences he started to have. When he asked the leader of the group about these strange phenomena, he was told not to care about them – they are common.

The young man confessed that he was a victim of delusion and he rejected those powers that he had unknowingly called into his life. He gave himself again as a subordinate to Jesus Christ and the truth of the Bible. Then, the out of body experiences ceased. (2)

The identity of the being of light. When it comes to the identity of the being of light, which appears in some near-death experiences, and which seems to be full of "compassion and love", many do not consider the possibility of deception. They don't think that a being of light, who feels loving, can betray them.

However, it is good to take this possibility into account, because the Bible talks about the evil spirit world and the devil in so many places, which can lead us astray. He can appear as an angel of light and thus lead us astray. In addition, it is possible that the deception can extend to the state outside the body as well, and not just to the normal state - there is probably no difference between them. Apparently, the purpose of everything is to make us think that everything is fine with us and we will go to heaven anyway, no matter how badly we have lived. The purpose of the deception is to lull us into a false sense of security.

- (2 Cor 11:14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

- (1 John 4:1-3) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2 Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3 And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Randall N. Baer writes about the same matter in his book Päättymätön painajainen (original edition: Inside the New Age), p. 82, 83. He tells us that his special experiences were full of light, yet may have come from the fountain of evil:

Then came the time to deal with the shock that I experienced: that the light, which had seemed so heavenly was actually an imitation of the all-devouring darkness. How was it possible? Could all the teachings of the spirit guides I so greatly respected, all the wonderful mystical experiences, and the fine books that I had read; all the experiences of my enlightened, respected eastern mystical friends; could it all have been a great delusion?

(…) Most New Age people do not want to admit that there is anything wrong with their experiences. I myself was one of them, but because of my horrible experience I was ready to accept the possibility of deceit.

Also negative experiences. When some researchers are under the impression that everyone will go well after death and that everyone will get into a better place, Heaven, it is not consistent with all near-death experiences. Even though many near-death experiences with beings of light may seem positive, there are also negative experiences among them.

For example, Maurice Rawlings, who has been reviving the clinically dead for decades, states in his two books that almost every second person interviewed after resuscitation has had painful experiences (Similarly states Dr. Charles Garfiel in Robert Kastenbaum's book "Is There Life After Death?"). He noted that often these painful experiences are quickly buried in the subconscious, but if patients were interviewed immediately after resuscitation, bad experiences would likely be found as much as good ones. He writes about one such case in his book Kuoleman tuolla puolen (Beyond Death's Door) p. 12,13:

Before I collected material for this book, I personally regarded most of the after-death experiences as the product of imagination or guesswork. I believed most of the cases that I had heard or read to have been euphoric delusions, caused by a lack of oxygen. Then, one evening in 1977 I revived a terrified patient who said he was in Hell. He begged me to pull him out of Hell and prevent him from dying. When I realized how real fear he was experiencing, I was frightened as well. The patients I have run into later, who have had these kinds of experiences, have aroused in me a compelling urge to write this book. Now I am sure that there is life after death and that all conditions after death are not good.

Death-bed experiences. One reason to doubt the identity of the beings of light and many positive experiences is that many experiences reported by people on their deathbed have been negative; some people have even seen damnation. In books of history we can learn that such well-known people, such as Voltaire, King Carl lX of France, Queen Elizabeth (1603), Ethan Allen, Thomas Payne, David Hume, and Edward Gibbon suffered a horrible death. Voltaire is known to have spent his last months in such a horrible condition that his nurse was moved to swear that never again would she care for a dying atheist.

A similar experience was described in the book (Ihmeellisiä herätyksiä, p. 59,60), written by evangelist Charles G. Finney, who lived in the 1800s. He wrote about a certain woman:

During the revival, my attention was focused on a certain sick woman who had been a member of the Baptist church and was very well known in the locality but in whose piety people did not trust. Tuberculosis was rapidly weakening her and I was called to meet her. So I went and had a long conversation with her. She told me of a vision she had seen as a girl, which made her think that her sins had been forgiven. This was her argument and no evidence could shake her. I tried to convince her that this dream was by no means a sign of her conversion. I told her directly that her friends had assured me that she had never lived a Christian life or displayed a Christian disposition. I had come to try and get her to give up her wrong hope and to see whether she would like to receive Jesus Christ into her life so that she could be saved. I was very kind towards her but made my purpose very clear to her. She was, however, very insulted and when I left she complained that I only wanted to take her hope away from her and make her anxious, and that it was cruel to harass a sick person like this and disturb her peace of mind. Shortly after that she died. As her death approached, she received such a vision of God and the holiness that the inhabitants of Heaven must have that she cried in anguish and said that she was going to Hell. In this condition she died, as I was later told.

Returning. Sometimes it has happened that people have been dead for longer periods of time and then come back to life. One such case is described by Mel Tari in his book Kuin väkevä tuulispää (Like a Mighty Wind), pp. 77-80. He tells about a man who had been dead for two days and his body was already starting to rot, but who nevertheless came back to life:

When we arrived, we noticed that there were over a thousand people. The deceased had been dead for two days and had begun to smell heavily. In our tropical land, the dead start to rot six hours after death. But after two days – oh, it is almost impossible to be closer than thirty metres from the body. The smell is awful. In America, you cannot understand this because your funerals are organized so well. But they also cost you 2,000 dollars. In Indonesia we do not have the possibility to make the dead look attractive. The local dead look terrible two days after death. (…)

We went and stood around this dead man. We started to sing. (…)

Nothing happened even after the fifth song. But during the sixth song, the man started to move his toes – and the group was afraid. There is a story in Indonesia that sometimes the dead may wake up and come back to life. They will suffocate some person between the lid of their coffin and then die again. Despite of that we continued our singing. When we were singing the seventh and eighth songs, the dead brother woke up, looked around him, and smiled.

He did not suffocate anyone. He opened his mouth and said, 'Jesus has brought me back to life. Brothers and sisters, I want to tell you something. Firstly, life does not end when you die. I have been dead for two days and I have experienced it. Hell and Heaven are real. I have experienced it. The third thing that I want to tell you is that unless you find Jesus in this life, you can never get into Heaven. You will then certainly be judged to hell.’

We can find one description of life after death in the book Näkyjä taivaasta ja helvetistä [Visions of Heaven and Hell], by an evangelist John Bunyan, who lived in the 1600s. (He also wrote the well-known book Pilgrim's Progress, which is one of the most widely circulated books in the world.) This book mentions a person in hell. This person says:

Why was I given the chance? Why had I been equipped with an immortal soul? Why did I not care about it? Oh, how my own neglect pierces me so dreadfully and I still know that I cannot and will not die. But to live a deadly life is worse than ten thousand deaths, and I still could have been helped once but I did not want to! Oh, this is the gnawing worm that never dies. Once, I could have been happy; once I was offered salvation but I rejected it. If it had happened only once and I would have rejected it, even that would have been unforgivable foolishness, but it was offered to me a thousand times, and I resisted it as often (so lousy I was). Damn the sin, which with its deceitful enjoyment enchants mankind to eternal destruction! God called me often but I resisted Him as often. He reached out his hands but I did not care. How often did I go against His commands, how often I resisted His reprimands! But now the situation has changed, for now He watches over my misfortune and mocks the loss that has come upon me. He could have helped me then, but I didn't want to. Therefore, these eternal pains are only the reward of my own actions, which I am condemned to suffer.

SUMMARY. We have discussed above the possibility that damnation really exists. When this issue is referred to not only by the great religions, but also by the words of Jesus, which were uttered almost 2000 years ago, it is worth taking this matter into account. (Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam are the kinds of religions that believe in damnation. Also, the concept of karma, which occurs in Hinduism, refers to reckoning and contradicts the "loving and all-forgiving" light being.) Jesus indeed spoke about this matter, but also about how His purpose was to come to save people:

- (Matt 7:13) Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

- (Matt 13:40- 42) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

- (Rev 20:12-15) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

- (John 12:47) And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

- (Luke 19:10) For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

The question is: how probable is it that people will face damnation? Will wrong-doers be judged for their actions? Is the probability that this might happen 10%, or 30%, or even more? Or, if the probability is only in the order of one percent, isn't this small possibility worth taking into account, when it comes to our eternity anyway?

THE WILL OF GOD IN MAN'S LIFE. Although hell exists according to the Bible, there is also another side in the matter. The other side of it is that no one has to perish, but we can be saved from this place and go to Heaven. For God, who loves sinners - we have all been like that - does not want any person to perish, but for all to come to salvation and repentance. He wants people to turn to Him and allow themselves to be saved:

- (1 Tim 2:3,4) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;

4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

- (John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

- (Luke 15:3-7) And he spoke this parable to them, saying,

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say to you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

- (Eze 18:23,32) Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? said the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, said the Lord GOD: why turn yourselves, and live you.

EVERYTHING IS A GIFT. Because God wants everyone in Heaven – that includes you – He has prepared everything for that purpose: He sent his Son Jesus so that we might be saved (John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.). If you personally turn to Him and ask Him into your life (just say, "Lord Jesus, come into my life and forgive my sins..."), you will receive eternal life and be a child of God; these will be given to you as a gift. The only condition is, that you first turn to Him and accept the grace that comes through Him:

- (John 5:40) And you will not come to me, that you might have life.

- (Acts 13:38) Be it known to you therefore, men and brothers, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins:

- (John 1:17) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

- (2 Cor 6:1) We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain.

REFERENCES:

1. Quote from Kuolemastako uusi elämä (LIFE AFTER DEATH) D. Scott Rogo, p. 92,93

2. Timothy M. Warner, (SPIRITUAL WARWARE) Taistelurukous, p. 20