Near-Death Experiences
An article was posted on September 7, 2023 by Walla! that describes an atheist becoming a “believer” after having a “near-death experience.” Jose Hernandez was an avowed atheist, but he changed his views after nearly dying in a hospital after the truck he was a passenger in crashed into a tree. Although he didn’t believe in God, he promised to change if he was able to survive. He says he felt a mysterious presence in the room. A shadow had been standing by the door, and it touched his toe. He says he felt an “immediate sense of relief, calm, peace, and love” which had engulfed him. A cynic would wonder how he might have felt if the shadow took hold of his entire foot. It might leave him in a state of euphoria.
The shadow spoke to him as he found himself suspended in the corner of the room, looking down on resuscitation attempts. The shadow told him that it was time to bid farewell to his body, which was worn out; he needed to move on. Okay. So, why didn’t that happen? Did the shadow lie, or was he just mistaken? At this point, Hernandez descended into a black hole, where he was able to fly. He saw marvelous cities, lush forests, and herds of wild animals in motion. Then he was able to see his children and was reunited with his father. The former atheist now thinks there may be an afterlife.
“Well, surely, you can’t deny that such experiences are real?” No—wouldn’t dream of it. But do people actually go to heaven? Most everyone’s experience is positive—even an atheist’s. Jesus spoke of the deaths of two men—not near deaths. One did go to Abrham’s bosom (Paradise). However, the other one went to torments (Luke 16:19-26). Why is it that so few people come back from a place of torments, ready to be faithful servants of God henceforth? Furthermore, no one returns, profiting from their experience. They don’t say, “I now know Jesus is the Son of God,” or “I have discovered that I need to repent and be baptized.” They usually don’t even say, “Now I know that I really need to study the Bible seriously so that I can please God.” Just like angel experiences, few change their way of living.
What do scientists say about these experiences? They attribute them to being oxygen-deprived, and the light at the end of the tunnel could result from “falling oxygen levels in the retina.” In other words, they don’t know, either. That people have fairly similar experiences cannot be denied, but are these excursions into fantasy or legitimate reports of what happens after death? One thing we know for certain is that many people were resuscitated in the New Testament—not to mention a couple of lads in the Old. We don’t know what these people saw or heard because none of their experiences is mentioned even one time. Lazarus was dead four days, yet we don’t have a word from him on what happened. Hmm.