Your thoughts on Near Death Experiences and testimonies

[Raptor]

Many people have had Near Death Experiences and today with social media and YouTube etc, many have posted testimonies about their experiences and recount everything from going to hell and being rescued, encounters with Jesus, being told it´s not their time and to go back, etc.

Some sound very genuine and credible, others sound embellished or filtered through religious concepts, others plainly false. Here are two that sound very genuine, credible and amazing.

https://youtu.be/HAR5MpYNnRE

https://youtu.be/gcqOUg0fvL4


In general, I recommend NOT watching many of these because they can easily inject all kinds of concepts about the after life, and there is no way to verify what is said. What do you think?

[Sons to Glory!]

Originally Posted by Raptor

Many people have had Near Death Experiences and today with social media and YouTube etc, many have posted testimonies about their experiences and recount everything from going to hell and being rescued, encounters with Jesus, being told it´s not their time and to go back, etc.

Some sound very genuine and credible, others sound embellished or filtered through religious concepts, others plainly false. Here are two that sound very genuine, credible and amazing.

https://youtu.be/HAR5MpYNnRE

https://youtu.be/gcqOUg0fvL4


In general, I recommend NOT watching many of these because they can easily inject all kinds of concepts about the after life, and there is no way to verify what is said. What do you think?

I've read some of these over the years. It's usually when another brother reads one they think is good. I too have a mixed reaction and agree it's hard/impossible to verify.

I read one book that appeared to take a fairly empirical approach, and the author and some doctors were evidently converted by the evidence of the situations presented. (I forget the name of the book now . . .) One thing that was convincing was how a child gave an accurate account of things that happened in the hospital room when they died. Then they saw and described in detail a pair of tennis shoes on an outside hospital ledge several stories up - as their spirit floated upward. They sent a maintenance person to find the shoes, and they were found in an obscure lace no one could see and they couldn't figure out how they even got there. So could it all have been set up? Sure, but the author didn't think so (or at least that's what they wrote).

Again, no way to conclusively verify.

Vivid and wildly beautiful colors that one couldn't even imagine was something that stands out to me from many of these accounts. (but Satan is able to present himself as an angel of light)

To me the bottom-line is if any of these accounts does not give Jesus Christ the utmost glory and preeminence as Lord and Savior, then they are to be discounted.

(also reminds me of those talking about being tormented by aliens - when they invoke the name of Jesus, the visions flee away)

[Curious]

My mother had such an experience when she nearly died of polio at 18 years old. She was unconscious, in hospital, the medical team panicking as she had stopped breathing. She found herself looking down at herself from above, floating under the ceiling. She could clearly see and hear the medical people discussing her situation, working at trying to revive her. She accurately noted all the words spoken, including her very high temperature.

Her experience only went that far, no tunnels or bright lights. Also, she has only ever talked about it once or twice. It remained a very personal matter that she mostly kept to herself. She said she did feel very calm at the time, not scared. Her faith in God was not very deep though, I don't think.

I've heard stories of people seeming to 'jump out of their bodies' during a serious trauma like a car accident for example. Momentarily only, with the experience living on as a strange memory associated with the incident, without any clear explanation. That's potentially another related mystery!

Its a subject that will remain debated, yet I wonder what Lazarus and others that Jesus raised from the dead may have had to say about their own experience. It's not recorded in the bible, but may well have been discussed at the time.

[OBW]

While there are some accounts that provide some kind of details that the person could not have known, most appear to be based on the culture/religion that the person is trained in or grew up with. Accounts given in Far Eastern locations tend to be recounted in terms of the imagery of Hinduism or other local religion.

Not saying there are no real cases. But that there are too many that result in almost cult-like belief and/or awe, or draw people to the story and the person rather than to Christ.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by OBW

While there are some accounts that provide some kind of details that the person could not have known, most appear to be based on the culture/religion that the person is trained in or grew up with. Accounts given in Far Eastern locations tend to be recounted in terms of the imagery of Hinduism or other local religion.

Not saying there are no real cases. But that there are too many that result in almost cult-like belief and/or awe, or draw people to the story and the person rather than to Christ.

This is an oft-repeated disclaimer concerning near-death experiences.

Everyone views events thru the lens of their own acquired life learning and experiences. That is completely normal. As an engineer, I remember events often quite differently than my wife, though we both experienced the same thing.

I tend to place greater credibility on their actual witness. When people recount events, like what was happening in the next room, or learning things which they had never known before, all corroborated with the truth, I find their stories quite believable.

And to take a step further, these accounts gathered together provide overwhelming evidence of an after life. If an after life exists, then the existence of God as the creator of all things is irrefutable. These stories of near death experiences are definitely supported by the Bible.

But, as with everything in this life, there will be counterfeits and wild stories from those with mental illness or drug-induced psychosis. The bad and the false do not negate the true and the good.

[OBW]

Originally Posted by Ohio

The bad and the false do not negate the true and the good.

But since we are talking about faith and not logical, verifiable certainty, the true do not prove anything. At best, they are comfort to the one who got the vision, or possibly to a few close to that person. As stories to underpin a gospel message, they almost point to a pseudo-Christian religion that rests on visions and feelings rather than faith in the work of Christ.

[awareness]

Like Nee told Lee : "Christians lie."

The boy who didn't come back from heaven: inside a bestseller's 'deception'
"the “Burpo-Malarkey doctrine”. Johnson believed that Colton Burpo, whose story was told in the hugely popular Heaven is for Real, and Alex Malarkey, who had co-written The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, drew false pictures of heaven in their books."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...-alex-malarkey

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by OBW

But since we are talking about faith and not logical, verifiable certainty, the true do not prove anything. At best, they are comfort to the one who got the vision, or possibly to a few close to that person. As stories to underpin a gospel message, they almost point to a pseudo-Christian religion that rests on visions and feelings rather than faith in the work of Christ.

We are not talking about "logical, verifiable certainty." That belongs in a high school chemistry class. The Bible, and also our law courts, always deals with witnesses, and their credible witness or testimony. Is the faith and work of Christ a "logical verifiable certainty?" Can the person and work of Christ be scientifically proven? Hardly.

The bible does require two witnesses. Two credible witnesses. How did Colton Burpo know that he had a sister? That his mother had a miscarriage? Were there credible witnesses? I say there are, his sister and his mother. If Colton says he has a sister, and his mother never has a miscarriage, then we don't believe him. But now we have two reliable witnesses, both providing independent corroboration.

The Malarkey situation is complicated by an unbelieving mother, which does not negate the story. The boy's brother, father, and grandfather have all confirmed events in his testimony. The Malarkey boy is not the first person I have heard of who has denied his testimony of faith. It's sad, but understandable. Of course, all unbelievers love stories like this. The Bible is filled with these stories too.

Our faith comes to us by other witnesses. Faith comes by hearing these witnesses. Some of them have written scripture. Some have given us their teachings, or their testimonies. The Holy Spirit is a witness also to our faith. Nature and creation are witnesses. Faith is simply believing these good reports.

Those who demand "logical verifiable certainty" are those who have rejected God and His ways. God has demanded that we believe Him. Faith is the way of salvation. Those who refuse to believe, generally use science, what Paul calls "falsely named knowledge," as a false god to worship and trust, instead of trusting and worshiping the only true God.

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by Curious

My mother had such an experience when she nearly died of polio at 18 years old. She was unconscious, in hospital, the medical team panicking as she had stopped breathing. She found herself looking down at herself from above, floating under the ceiling. She could clearly see and hear the medical people discussing her situation, working at trying to revive her. She accurately noted all the words spoken, including her very high temperature.

An account my wife had passed on to me was her mother's experience. She was bitten by a centipede and nearly died.