A curious aspect of Near Death Experiences

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
I am reading a lot of these, as I am curious.
One thing that strikes me is that all types of people, from all walks of life have very much the similar experiences. Both religious and atheists - this seems to me very important.

That all are met by a bright light, unconditional love and no harsh judgement. Invariably most people want to stay there but are told it is not yet their time. All the ones I have read about DO feel changed, but not necessarily into going to church or into organised religion.

I am a believing Christian and yet I don't dare to put this matter onto a Christian group, because they argue so much. What would they think if they found out atheists are as welcomed by God as they are!

Personally I am delighted. I do believe God is all about love and definitely does not judge us as we do each other. I have friends of all kinds, some who are atheist, some believers. I like the thought that God looks at our hearts and loves us all.
 

We have some things in common, @Rose65. I've been reading accounts of NDE's and also of past lives recalled through deep hypnosis and
of some young children's memories of previous incarnations........many of which have been confirmed by their families' inquiries.
I believe that our consciousness and individual identities are eternal and that there is a spirit dimension where we've all come from and will return to on our journeys in the direction of the Divine.

I've chosen to not make an issue of my beliefs with my Presbyterian church.....except with a few members with whom I enjoy a personal relationship. We'll all of us experience the transition out of our bodies when the time comes and while here in the material world,
my church affiliation is a source of meaning, purpose and useful contribution to the larger community. There's no need to "swim against
the current" so to speak, with the dogma of organized Christian churches, in my opinion.
 

MACKTEXAS said:
So we can just believe (or not believe) whatever we want and all will turn out fine?
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Yeah if it goes against the Bible I don't believe it. I don't believe all these NDE's. I have seen some though that I do believe. Atheists who got saved last minute and saw Jesus and heaven. Ian Mc Cormack who I copy pasted here.

My brother translated a movie about that years ago. God told his mother he was nearly dead. She had to pray. He was dying, saw the Our Father and prayed it, heard God speak. That built my faith. Ever since I saw that video I just pray for anyone who is about to die. 1 Timothy. Pray for everyone cause God wants everyone saved.
 
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Rose65 said:
I am reading a lot of these, as I am curious.
One thing that strikes me is that all types of people, from all walks of life have very much the similar experiences. Both religious and atheists - this seems to me very important.

That all are met by a bright light, unconditional love and no harsh judgement. Invariably most people want to stay there but are told it is not yet their time. All the ones I have read about DO feel changed, but not necessarily into going to church or into organised religion.

I am a believing Christian and yet I don't dare to put this matter onto a Christian group, because they argue so much. What would they think if they found out atheists are as welcomed by God as they are!

Personally I am delighted. I do believe God is all about love and definitely does not judge us as we do each other. I have friends of all kinds, some who are atheist, some believers. I like the thought that God looks at our hearts and loves us all.
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I bolded what I was responding to in your post. :)
I think most Christians understand that people of all walks of life are loved and accepted by Christ. He loves us before we're saved and meets us where we are. There are just some Christians who are inexplicably judgemental and rude and cruel. God knows a person's heart.

God has various ways of showing himself to people when they are open to it I believe. For some it is likely through these near death experiences. For myself it was in a dream that later came true in exact detail.

You don't have to go to church or be a part of organized religion to be a believer or come to Christ. You can still be saved without that. Obviously they are experiencing his love first hand and maybe it is so they can return to be a witness to his love. Or maybe it is simply to change their hearts.

I have always found it interesting and I'm glad that these people get to experience that and have better lives because of it. In the bible it talks of God hanging on the cross with two other sinners. He accepted them both. I don't quite understand why some Christians don't seem to understand the concept. God can and does love anybody and everyone. Sinner or not. The sheer science of these experiences even baffles the doctors and I think some of them are changed by the experiences of the patients or at least giving it some thought.
 
Rose65 said:
I do believe God is all about love and definitely does not judge us as we do each other.
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I agree with you that God "does not judge us as we do each other." But, I assume you believe what the Bible says, since you wrote "I am a believing Christian." The Bible teaches there will be a judgment day when God will "render to every man according to his deeds." That quote is found in Romans, chapter 2, which also teaches that we are not to judge each other.

I liked parts of both posts that appeared before mine so I reacted to them that way, but Jesus did not forgive both thieves on the cross. He said to only one of them (the one that repented) "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
 
Stories about NDEs sell. Just like stories of UFOs, ghosts, etc.

What's most interesting is the idea that all the stories are the same.

Would these stories be believed if they differed in every case? No because then they would be considered made up.

People believe what they want to believe.

If I ever have an NDE, I'll come back and tell you all about it. But until that time, I remain skeptical of these stories.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I agree with you that God "does not judge us as we do each other." But, I assume you believe what the Bible says, since you wrote "I am a believing Christian." The Bible teaches there will be a judgment day when God will "render to every man according to his deeds." That quote is found in Romans, chapter 2, which also teaches that we are not to judge each other.

I liked parts of both posts that appeared before mine so I reacted to them that way, but Jesus did not forgive both thieves on the cross. He said to only one of them (the one that repented) "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
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my apologies. i don't have my bible memorized so i'm guessing i misspoke. nothing out of the ordinary. i at least try. if i missed it thanks for catching it and setting it straight. :)
 
MarciKS said:
my apologies. i don't have my bible memorized so i'm guessing i misspoke. nothing out of the ordinary. i at least try. if i missed it thanks for catching it and setting it straight. :)
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You wrote a good post, so no need apologizing. Besides, we only know what Jesus said to the one thief. The other one may have repented moments later - we just don't know, same as we don't know what's in the hearts of other people.
 
OldFeller said:
Stories about NDEs sell. Just like stories of UFOs, ghosts, etc.

What's most interesting is the idea that all the stories are the same.

Would these stories be believed if they differed in every case? No because then they would be considered made up.

People believe what they want to believe.

If I ever have an NDE, I'll come back and tell you all about it. But until that time, I remain skeptical of these stories.
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What about that man who was dead for 3 days in a mortuary? There are photo's, a video, they talk with the doctor, the man from the morgue, there's a death certificate.



 
Rose65 said:
Not exactly. I gather from numerous stories that we do face our own life review in which we realise how our behaviour impacted others.
Beyond that we cannot know until the time comes.
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"We cannot know until the time comes" - that's true. Belief in God is a matter of faith rather than reliance upon what we know that can be proven. In the Christian faith, that belief relies upon trusting in God and what the Bible teaches, rather than near death experience accounts, however well intentioned those people may be.
 
this is indeed heady stuff!! - I like it ; I like it!! wouldn't and couldn't discount any of it - used to be a lay preacher with a church that is fairly well known and criticized by some but the name is unmistakable "the Church of Christ" - any contestors?? Ite is good for us all to have these discussions without harsh responses - a peaceful discussion of what we know as humans?? - David writes some heady stuff also - I do enjoy is precision approaches!! [he hasn't appeared here yet I don't think?}
 
MACKTEXAS said:
So we can just believe (or not believe) whatever we want and all will turn out fine?
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No. What happens in an NDE is different for us all. Not all bright lites and making decsions. So you can believe whatever, and when the time comes it will be the way you least expect it. I never expected to die on my bathroom floor at 31 yrs and watch from the corner of the bathroom ceiling as the medics tried to save me. I watched and heard one medic say ' come on, Carol stay with me' several times before my soul left the ceiling and I was pulled back into my body. I am not a religious person but others that are might not believein NDEs.
 
I have had all kinds of near death experiences in my life . Most of them I was floating above my body watching what was going on but some of them I had reached the other side where I was greeted by all my loved ones who’d passed before me including my beloved pets. There was a loving presence of white light which was unconditional love. Unfortunately each time I went there I was sent back. Apparently it wasn’t my time to die. It’s left me with a longing to get there again but I have to patiently wait for my time. I’ve gotten to the point of not caring whether people believe me or not. Others will find out when it comes their time.
 
I was born dead.. stillborn... of course I have no recollection of that at all.... however when I was 7 years old I was rushed in to hospital for an emergency apendectomy...

I'd never been in a hospital theatre so I had no knowledge of what one looked like or how surgeons and theatre staff dressed.

During my operation..I remembered watching from high up in a corner of the room, as they worked on my little body. I don't remember hearing any voices, like a colour filled silent movie . The surgeon was wearing a very long green gown, and mask.. ..and I was just watching this as tho' it was something on TV...yet we didn't have a TV at home then so I'd never seen one..

The next thing I know is waking up, in a dark ward.. and throwing up.. and the nurse who had been sitting at her desk at the end of the ward with just little night lamp on cane running to my bed.. with a bed pan

No-one told me I'd died during the operation or anything of the sort , but then I was 7 no-one would have told me... and maybe even if I did die.. perhaps the surgeons never told my parents.. who knows, I certainly don't and there's no-one left to ask...

However to this very day 63 years later..I can still see that vision clear as I could back then..
 
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Rose65 said:
Not exactly. I gather from numerous stories that we do face our own life review in which we realise how our behaviour impacted others.
Beyond that we cannot know until the time comes.
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I think this is exactly the point. We are judging ourselves at the moment we do face our own life review.

It's like a bank account, bad actions vs. good actions. Not only against humans, but against other animals as well.

But in my opinion it has nothing to do with God, since being an atheist God doesn't exist for me.
 
Rose65 said:
I am a believing Christian and yet I don't dare to put this matter onto a Christian group, because they argue so much. What would they think if they found out atheists are as welcomed by God as they are!
Click to expand...
In the beginning, there was no religion, there were only people,
when they started being bad, some kind of policing was needed.

The elders of each family probably had meetings, to try and fix it,
they came up with the idea of heaven and hell, I believe, to try to
control the hotheads, every group/village would appoint an elder
to speak to everybody, every few days, thus the Sabbath came about,
this would be the birth of religion and the police at the same time,
they stayed together for a long time, then divided into the different
religions and the police after many, many years.

That's what I think.

Mike.
 
IMO it has more to do with using religion to explain science/nature.

I believe that seeing the light, feeling at peace, etc… are the body’s natural way of easing us into death as it shuts down.

I wouldn’t overthink it, choose the explanation that gives you peace and allow others the same courtesy.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I have had all kinds of near death experiences in my life . Most of them I was floating above my body watching what was going on but some of them I had reached the other side where I was greeted by all my loved ones who’d passed before me including my beloved pets. There was a loving presence of white light which was unconditional love. Unfortunately each time I went there I was sent back. Apparently it wasn’t my time to die. It’s left me with a longing to get there again but I have to patiently wait for my time. I’ve gotten to the point of not caring whether people believe me or not. Others will find out when it comes their time.
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We had some people in church years ago. Their grandmother died and they weren't sure if it was her time, so they ordered her to come back and she said: Let me go. I was just walking with Jesus. So then they let her go.

A friend, her dad died when she was a teen and her little brother saw him wave at him just after he died. He was dressed in white and going up to the sky.

My FIL saw family members who had already died years earlier, coming to pick him up before he died.
 
When I was 19, a massive bolt of lightning struck a 525 ft tower. I was working for the local cable company and showed TV shows at night from a windowless concrete block building at the base of that antenna tower. As I was talking on the telephone that night with my girlfriend, the lightning that had struck the tower, got into the phone line and instantly knocked me out. I felt nothing. One moment I was talking to my girlfriend and ten minutes later, I awoke wondering why I'd gone to sleep while talking on the telephone ... and also wondered about the curious "dream" I'd experienced while "asleep". I posted in the diary section here on this forum, a longer and more detailed narrative a couple of years ago.

At that time in 1972, I'd never heard of near death experience (NDE) and it would be several years before I did hear of those experiences. All I knew at that time was that He gave me a choice and He sent me back.

ND accounts are difficult to dismiss out of hand. The consistency is striking, especially across people who had no expectation of anything at all. When atheists, believers of different faiths, and people who never gave the subject much thought describe the same or similar elements, it raises interesting questions about what lies beneath our labels.

What also stands out to me is that the experience does not seem to recruit people into institutions. Instead, it often softens them. They come back more patient, more compassionate, less afraid of death, and less interested in judging others. That alone says something worth paying attention to.

Christians should not find these experiences threatening. If God truly is love, then love would not be conditional on correct theology or proper membership. Christ spent far more time challenging religious certainty than He did welcoming it. The idea that God looks at the heart rather than the resume feels very consistent with the Gospel.

I do understand hesitation raising this topic in some Christian circles. Many people are more comfortable with boundaries than with mystery. Near death experiences tend to dissolve boundaries, and that can be unsettling.

I and others can share NDE but to many if not most others, it doesn't prove anything beyond doubt. In fact, it sometimes creates doubt. Some have a need to experience things for themselves before being convinced. That said, the experiences point toward a higher power that is bigger than our arguments, gentler than our fears, and far less interested in sorting us into categories than we are.
 
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