Near-Death Experiences point to an immortal soul

Is there a way we can know if the soul persists beyond death? Perhaps the closest we can get to knowing without actually dying is Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). The term "near-death experience" was coined by author and physician Raymond Moody. In his book, Life After Life, Moody recounts the story of George G. Ritchie, who was a U.S. Army recruit in 1943 during World War II. George reportedly died of pneumonia and was declared clinically dead for about 9 minutes. During that time, he recounts leaving his body and encountering a being of light, among other things. He was told it wasn't his time to die and was later revived with an adrenaline injection. George G. Ritchie's story is considered one of the earliest "modern" NDEs, although NDEs are not new or novel but have been recorded in ancient texts for thousands of years. NDEs often have many commonalities among them, including:

• Having an out-of-body experience and seeing their own physical body apart from themselves.
• Encountering a brilliant bright light that radiates love and emanates from everything.
• Encountering beings of light.
  
• Encountering people they knew in life that had died.
• Experiencing supernatural abilities, including communicating telepathically, teleportation, panoramic vision, and knowing things without being told, among others.
• Experiencing a reality more vivid and more real than our own.
• A life review.
• Returning to their physical body.
• A life altering experience.

These are but a few of the common NDE themes. There are, of course, several objections commonly cited by atheists and soul sleep proponents. One is that NDEs are just brain phenomena, hallucinations from blood and oxygen deprivation to the brain. There's an easy way to disprove that theory. In mixed martial arts, there is a technique called the rear naked choke. During this maneuver, the sides of a person's neck is squeezed, resulting in unconsciousness due to restricting the blood flow to the brain. Yet in none of those instances does the person on the receiving experience an NDE. NDEs are unique only to those who have had brushes with death.

Hallucinations also wouldn't explain why they see the same or similar things or why they would see a glimpse of the afterlife at all. Why would a dying brain, if it's even capable, create a vision or hallucination of the afterlife and not something? That would imply the brain knows it's dying and chooses to specifically create a hallucination of the afterlife. And for what reason? Hallucinations, like dreams, are random, but NDEs are specific. They are also very different from hallucinations. Those who have had an NDE describe themselves as being more aware and lucid than they ever have been.

Another objection, particularly by soul sleep proponents, is that NDEs are some sort of demonic deception. Firstly, we have no scriptural indication that demons have that capability. But even if it were possible, it has the opposite effect of what a deception is supposed to do, which is to lead people astray from God. NDEs are life-changing experiences that change their lives for the better and cause them to become more devout. Not all NDEs are positive either, which would defeat the whole purpose of a deception. Also, demons cannot possibly always be present when a person is near death, as they are not omnipresent. The mere existence of demons (and angels) indicates that one doesn't need a corporeal body to be alive.

NDEs often recount seeing and talking to others who already died. Soul Sleep proponents will equate this to communication with the dead (i.e., necromancy), something expressly forbidden in the Bible. There is a big difference between what NDEs recount and necromancy. With necromancy, the living intentionally attempt to consult with spirits of the dead with the intention of seeking supernatural knowledge apart from God. None of that is happening with NDEs. They are neither seeking to commune with spirits of the dead nor gain forbidden revelation. Also, it's not the living communicating with the dead, it's the dead communicating with the dead. They are communicating in the same realm. If the afterlife does exist, then that is exactly what we would expect to happen.

One may argue that NDEs are filtered through cultural expectations and what they see if shaped by their beliefs. To some degree that is true, but it doesn't make what they experience untrue or necessarily contradictory. It just means what they see is interpreted through their religious and cultural lenses. That explains why two people could see the exact same thing and yet give two differing accounts. It's a matter of perspective. Watch a court case, and you will see that working in action. Regardless, NDEs have common themes that transcend cultural beliefs. Even atheists who don't believe in an afterlife have experienced NDEs as well as small children who don't have many, if any, cultural beliefs.

Finally, NDEs are often dismissed as being subjective and anecdotal; however, that is not always the case. There have been instances where those who have had an NDE were able to recount things they shouldn't have been able to know, and it was corroborated by others. One very well-documented case is that of a woman named Pam Reynolds. Pam had a bulging aneurysm that required radical surgery. After she was given anesthesia, Dr. Robert Spetzler chilled her body to 60°F/15.6°C, stopped her heart so no blood flowed to the brain, and drained her brain of blood. That gave him a 30-minute window to complete the surgery. Her eyes were lubricated and sealed shut, and her vitals were completely monitored during this time, including her brainwaves. During the operation, she was clinically dead. To further confirm this, they had earplugs in both her ears that emitted a loud 100 dB click every second to stimulate the nerves in her ears so they could record the brain waves. When she stopped responding to the clicks, they knew all brain activity had ceased.

That’s when something extraordinary happened. She recalled feeling being pulled out the top of her head and out of her body. She was able to observe her own surgery, including the operating equipment, the sounds they made, and the conversations in the operating room. This should have been impossible because she wasn’t physically able to see or hear anything, let alone she had no brain activity. She then recalled being pulled through a tunnel of sorts into a place of light. She saw figures, including her deceased grandmother. They communicated to her that if she went any further, she couldn’t return to her body. After the surgery, the doctors warmed up her body, restarted her heart, and brought her back to life. All these events were confirmed by Dr. Spetzler in the BBC documentary The Day I Died.

In closing, not all purported NDEs may be genuine, but neither can they all be so easily dismissed either. There is simply no logical explanation for when someone experiencing an NDE sees or hears something that is impossible for them to know, and those details are verified by others. To those who don't believe in the afterlife, either because of their ideology or theology, they may find a false sense of comfort because it removes the fear of immediate judgment or punishment. But it can also prevent them from challenging their beliefs and admitting they may be wrong. Sherlock Holmes said, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."