Life After Death Studies

• The Bible's claim of life after death is evidenced in recent studies.
• After-death experiences have been documented of resuscitated patients.
• The people involved come from a variety of backgrounds & circumstances.
• Data from after-death experiences fit into a distinct pattern.

• From life to death

A person dying reaches a point of greatest distress.
An almost sound-proof, pain-deadening "curtain" descends.
The person hears himself being pronounced dead.
 
• Out of body

An uncomfortable noise is heard, a loud ringing or buzzing.
He feels himself moving very rapidly through a long, dark tunnel.
He finds himself outside his own body but in the same physical environment.
He sees his own body from a distance as though he was a spectator.
Watching the resuscitation attempt, he is in a state of emotional upheaval.
After a while he becomes more accustomed to his odd condition.
He notices he still has a "body" but its nature & powers are different.
A two inch "cord" from his shoulder blades connects him to his physical body.
 

• Meeting others

The spirits of dead relatives & friends come to meet him & help him.
A loving, warm spirit, a being of light he is unacquainted with, appears.
A non-verbal question is asked to make him evaluate his life.
The being shows a panoramic, instantaneous playback of his life's major events.
 

• Resistance to a barrier

At some point he approaches some sort of barrier or border.
The barrier apparently represents a limit between earthly life & the next life.
He finds that he must go back to earth, the time for death has not yet come.
Taken up by his experiences in the afterlife, he resists returning.
He is overwhelmed by intense feeling of joy, love & peace.
 

• From death to life

Despite his attitude, he somehow reunites with his physical body & lives.
He finds he has difficulty telling others for two reasons.
First, he can find no human words adequate to describe the unearthly episodes.
Second, others scoff at him so he stops telling people.
His life is still affected profoundly, especially his views of life & death.