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Health & Fitness

Near Death Experience, book review-Part 1

Today's "Sunday Reflections" blog begins the first in a four part series reviewing recent books on the subject of Near Death Experience. The commentaries are written by four clergy in the Forest Hills and Regent Square area. Today's column is by Rev. Ben Black, looking at the book, Heaven is For Real:

It has been reported that somewhere between four and fifteen percent of Americans claim to have had a Near Death Experience (NDE). Essentially, a NDE is the vision that one experiences following a traumatic injury in which the person is usually at least rendered unconscious and more generally pronounced clinically dead for a period of time before being resuscitated and/or regaining consciousness from a coma.

There are many accounts of people experiencing this type of phenomenon. I recently read of an account of a NDE from a review of Heaven is For Real (http://thegospelcoalition.org/book-reviews/review/heaven_is_for_real/) that recounted the story of John Clute, a riverboat captain who was gravely ill. Mr. Clute’s story dates back to 1834 and upon his recovery was quoted in saying "I died and heaven was opened and then I saw more human beings soaring through one another so happy." The problem, as this review points out is that Mr. Clute did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and his experience did not convert him to become a believer. How then, if the Bible is true, could he witness such a thing if the gates to heaven are reserved for only the faithful to Christ? The intentions of story’s such as these are primarily geared towards providing affirmations of the existence of heaven- but the question remains how certain can we be of these testimonies?

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The book I read recently was Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo about the NDE of his son Colton. Colton suffered from a burst appendix that was misdiagnosed. After suffering for more than a week with this life-threatening condition, a physician finally correctly identified his situation and performed an emergency and life-saving operation. When Colton was opened up, it was revealed that his body was riddled with infection and toxins. Simply put, Colton should have died.

In the aftermath, Colton began to recount his experiences he had while in critical care. Colton knew things he should not have known. He met his deceased great grandfather and proved it by correctly identifying him via an old photo he had never seen before, met his miscarried sister whom his parents had never spoken of to him about, and even remembers sitting on Jesus’ lap. In addition to meeting people he described Heaven as being full of light with people flying with wings.

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It was an enjoyable read but one that left me with questions. The words of Jesus in the story in Luke 16 continually popped into my mind as I dove into this book. There is a rich man who is suffering in Hell and he argues with Abraham to send someone back to the realm of the living to warn his family about the grave consequences of their sin. Abraham answers him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'" Basically, if those living can’t come to faith by the testimony of scripture then someone coming back to life to warn them won’t convince them either. Also there is a warning from Paul in Colossians 2:18 where he advises his readers that they should take "visions" with a grain of salt (big words from a guy who was converted by a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9).

What then, do we make of Colton’s account and others like his that seem to bear witness to heaven? Well, I am not going to say that he didn’t experience heaven. I don’t want to diminish what he witnessed. However, I do wonder where it leads us? Do visions like these bring us closer to God and fill our lives with more purpose and meaning? Some find these experiences reassuring, but for me, being a Christian is not primarily because I seek to arrive in heaven. Do I believe heaven exists? Yes. Do I want to get there? Absolutely! However, I am not a Christian because I want a "get out of jail free card" from Hell. It’s a perk to a greater life.

I believe whole-heartedly in the words of Paul in Romans 6 that when I put my faith in Christ I died to my old self and am living anew. "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." For me, eternal life began as soon as I put faith in Christ. On that day, my life became one filled with purpose and a peace that surpasses all understanding and circumstances. For me, how we live our lives and where our faith is placed is a much bigger issue then answering "where am I going." While there is comfort to be found in stories such as Colton’s, I don’t think we can get away from Jesus’ warning in Luke 16. If our lives aren’t impacted by scripture now, then the revelations of those from beyond the grave will impact us little, in the end.

The Reverend Ben Black

Forest Hills Presbyterian Church

(Sunday Reflections for July 21, 2013)

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